Ethan (Alluring Indulgence #5)(69)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“Would you possibly be up for babysitting?”

Ethan had to clamp his mouth shut to keep his answer from forming too quickly. Babysit? Really? Did they trust him enough to be left alone with their baby?

Zoey must’ve taken his lack of response as a negative because her face fell and she glanced over at Kaleb.

“Sure,” Ethan said, trying to harness his enthusiasm. “When?”

“I wanted to take her out this weekend,” Kaleb explained. “Saturday night? Just for a few hours.”

“Count me in,” Ethan said easily, glancing past the two of them to where Beau was heading their way. He tried to act unaffected, but it was harder than he thought it would be. Seeing the man, watching all that power and grace as he made his way toward him was an intoxicating feeling, more so than if he’d consumed all the alcohol behind the bar.

“Yay!” Zoey exclaimed. “Thank you!”

When she reached over and kissed him on the cheek, Ethan laughed and then glanced up to see Beau standing just a few feet away.

“Hey,” he greeted Beau, surprising not only himself, but obviously Kaleb and Zoey.

“What’s all the excitement?” Beau asked, glancing between the three of them.

“E’s gonna babysit for us on Saturday,” Zoey explained and then clapped her hands wildly, causing Ethan to laugh again.

“What. The. Fuck?” Zane bellowed, moving close to the table where the three of them were sitting.

Ethan immediately got defensive, fully expecting Zane to lay into him after their last turbulent conversation at the shop the day before. He prayed that with Beau standing that close, they wouldn’t have it out here and now, but with Zane, there was no way to tell what was going to come out of his mouth.

“Did he just laugh?” Zane asked seriously as he glanced back and forth between Zoey, Kaleb and Beau. “I seriously think he did.” Zane turned to address the bar. “Hey! Hey! Seriously, y’all pay attention here!”

Fuck.

Ethan hated when Zane felt the need to spout off. Although it was something Ethan had grown accustomed to, he seriously hated when his younger brother singled him out. It went against everything he was to be called out in public. There was a reason he kept his head down and out of the limelight. Being around Zane didn’t help in that regard.

“Ethan Walker does know how to laugh. So, for all of you assholes who said otherwise… you owe me ten bucks.”

The group at the back laughed along with Zane, and even Ethan found himself grinning. Granted, he did so behind the lip of his beer bottle, not wanting to encourage Zane any further.

“Fucking faggot!”

The words came from someone on the far side of the room, but Ethan heard them like they’d been shouted through a megaphone and apparently so did the rest of the bar.

That wasn’t the unsettling part.

The part that had Ethan’s heart rate jumping was the sound of chairs scraping against the wood floor, pool sticks being tossed onto the felt table tops, beer bottles slamming down on tables. It all came together as a line of Walkers made a stand and turned to face whoever had spouted the nasty comment.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Sawyer’s deep baritone boomed through the small bar.

Fucking hell.

Ethan stood from his chair, backing away from Beau as best he could because he surely didn’t want to drag him into the middle of the chaos that would likely ensue. This was the exact fucking reason he hated being out with people. It was the main reason he usually kept himself isolated from his brothers – yes, isolated. Even when they were all hanging out at their local bar.

“You heard me.” The mumble came from a bunch of guys sitting near the door. Ethan searched the shadows to see who was there, and he noticed Ricky Dillinger was amongst them. The rest Ethan didn’t recognize, but there was one whose face he couldn’t see.

Ethan knew immediately who that was, and the past nearly came back full throttle, making his legs shake from the effort to remain standing.

Jimmy Reardon.

Gavin’s older brother.

The guy who’d almost beaten Ethan within an inch of his life all those years ago.

Fucking hell. Ethan knew without a doubt he wasn’t going to be able to hold Sawyer back this time. Especially since Sawyer was the only one of them who knew what happened back then because Ethan had needed someone to help him, someone who could keep a secret. And then he had needed a place to go, refusing to let his parents see him in that state.

At the time, seeking Sawyer’s help had been a no-brainer because Travis had been in the Army. His oldest brother would’ve been his first choice, but now that he thought about it, Ethan was glad Travis hadn’t been around. It probably would’ve ended badly, all things considered.