His face heats to crimson, and a few people around him jeer. “Get out of here,” and “no means no!” can be heard as he turns his back and stumbles toward the front door.

I sidle up behind her and put both my hands on her hips. “Fuck, baby girl. Watching you go all sassy lawyer on him was so hot.”

She scoffs quietly and places both of her hands over mine. We stand like that, in the middle of the bar, surrounded by dozens of people, reveling in what feels like the calm after the storm.

“Yo. Haas. You’re still on the clock. A little help here?”

Jake’s words jolt me back to reality. Then Maddie’s peeling my hands off her hips, providing another wake-up call to the situation. She turns and meets my gaze, blowing out a long breath. Looks like the reality of what just happened—of what we just revealed—is sinking in for us both.

“It’ll be okay,” I assure her, glancing down to where Cole’s watching our exchange before looking over at Teddy and Anwar, who are drinking at the other end of the bar.

My brother’s closest friends just had a front-row seat to what feels like a relationship reveal party.

“It’ll be okay,” I mutter again, more to myself this time, as I take her hand and walk her over to a bar stool next to the ice machine along the back bar.

“Please stay here so I can finish out this shift.”

“I will.” She doesn’t hesitate, squeezing my hand once before hopping up on the barstool. “Promise.”

I give her one last glance—just to calm my own nerves—then step up to help Jake at the bar.

“Make me eight Sex on the Beaches, and please tell me you’re not sleeping with Fourth Wheel,” he deadpans.

I wordlessly line up glasses, my silence telling him all he needs to know.

“Fuckin’ A, Dempsey. What happened to ‘they can never know’?”

29. Dempsey

Chapter 29

Dempsey

What did happen to ‘they can never know’? How the hell did I go from swearing off Maddie Wheeler to essentially pronouncing her as my girlfriend to a room full of people, including some of my brother’s closest friends?

The honest answer? I have no fucking clue.

Jake’s words play on repeat in my mind as I go through the motions of closing out for the night. Maddie hasn’t moved from the chair behind the bar, which is the only reason I can get anything done.

I keep glancing back to make sure she’s still there. That she’s unharmed. That she’s still mine.

I’m desperate to know what the hell she’s thinking after my very public claiming. But every time we lock eyes, she just smiles sweetly, like she’s trying to reassure me.