“Why are you telling me all of this?” I ask not trying to be callous or cruel, but because we both know nothing was ever going to come of this.
“Because I fucking like you, Tori. It has been a very long goddamn time since any one person has consumed my thoughts like you have mine, and I know you like me too.”
“So what?” I shrug best I can, considering the awkward but very seductive position he has me in. A position that has me struggling to breathe, think, or feel anything but the growing throb between my legs that his very close proximity is bringing.
He cocks his head to the side as he lets go of my hands. He takes a step back with shock and confusion lacing his gorgeous features. The streets have quieted as people on the streets have sought out shelter from the falling rain. “What is that supposed to mean?” he asks me, clearly not accustomed to being told no.
The space between us helps me to find my resolve that was threatening to waver. “Zane, what were you trying to have here? What is it you thought this,” I gesture between the two of us, “was going to be?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I wanted to figure out.”
“What’s the point?” I ask as the lust-induced fog continues to dissipate. His jaw goes completely slack. “Zane, we live two thousand miles away from each other. You have a job that requires a lot of your time for over half the year. There was no way this was going to work. Besides, I don’t do relationships. I haven’t had a relationship for more than a couple of months. If I can’t make a relationship work with someone in the same city, how could I ever with you? I don’t have a clue about relationships. Do you?”
His features morph through so many different emotions it nearly gives me whiplash. Frustration, anger, disappointment, before finally settling on resolve. But what he’s resolved to I couldn’t begin to guess. I move to go back inside when, just like before, he catches me completely off guard with how fast he is. He, once again, pins me to the wall. His eyes are black pools of heat. In less than a second, his lips find mine. I try to fight him off the next half second before I find my hands tangled in his dark blond hair that’s longer since I saw him a few weeks ago. A moan escapes my throat as lust pools in my belly.
He grabs me low lifting me. I wrap my legs around his waist grinding against him. His lips move down my jaw toward my ear. I tilt giving him better access. "Fuck Zane," I moan into the city night.
“What the fuck, asshole?” I hear a very familiar and very unwanted voice say beside us. Zane is grabbed roughly away from me. Somehow, he doesn't drop me. He maintains his balance then sets me to my feet while my belligerent brother yells. “Stay the fuck away from her, football player.”
Zane rolls his neck around as a slow smirk forms on his lips. “You gonna make me?”
“Dane, stop,” I plead worried this is going to get out of hand fast. With Zane's celebrity, it could be very, very bad for him and my brother to get involved physically with each other.
“No, Tori. He doesn’t get to treat you like trash then just put his hands all over you,” he yells at me. Then he’s back in Zane’s face with venom pouring from his tone. “Stay the fuck away from her, or I will fucking make you.”
A smile that’s anything but friendly stretches across Zane’s face. His eyes light up in an eerie way. A way I don’t entirely understand, given his laidback persona, but one I’ve seen in others that lets me know that he’s more than just dangerous looking. There’s something there that gives me the same feeling I got from Jax and his brother.
Maddox walks out as Zane starts moving closer to Dane. His eyes roam the situation and grow tight with nerves. Mine dart to him, pleading with him to do something. “This is between me and your sister,” Zane says with a calm that rattles me more than a little.
“No. This is between me and you. I’m not going to let you walk over her like one of your random fucks just because you’re some hotshot football player.”
Zane’s smile stretches impossibly wider as he looks to the ground with a dark chuckle.
“Dane, go back inside. I can take care of myself,” I remind him, but my voice gives my nerves at the situation away.
“Tori can handle herself, man,” Maddox encourages with a hand to Dane’s shoulder, but his eyes are on Zane. A silent message passing between them.
Dane shrugs Maddox’s hand off. He has had too much to drink and common sense seems to be fleeting as his mouth opens again. “Fuck that. You think because you’re some fancy football player that you’re a badass? Why don’t you stick to catching footballs?” Zane closes the distance between him and Dane.
“Badass?” he smirks as he is in my brother’s face. “A goddamn ball has nothing to do with how I’m about to kick your fucking ass, and that will be me being nicebecauseof your sister.”
I move to put myself between them. Maddox grabs me by the waist halting my steps, but not before Zane sees. His eyes scan me like they’re asking permission or begging forgiveness. I’m not sure which but I give a slight shake of my head letting him know he won’t get either. I watch as he inhales, and I can almost see the change in his body language. On his exhale, I see the danger blazing in his eyes transform into a simmer. Somehow in a split second he has went from the verge of eruption to dormant again. He’s not going to do anything. I can see his written clearly on his face. He won’t do anything because of me.
He takes a step back. Then one more as his eyes focus completely on me.
Then my stupid, drunk brother swings at Zane, catching him off guard with a sucker punch.
“Fucking hell,” Maddox hisses.
Dane moves to get another hit, but Zane, I have come to realize, isn’t the best receiver in the NFL for nothing. With lightning quick reflexes and speed, he dodges Dane’s incoming fist and has my brother on the ground with his knee in his back. “Stop,” Zane orders. He moves to get off of Dane, but Dane doesn’t stop.
Zane moves out of the way again, his patience visibly wearing thin at Dane’s drunken relentlessness. That is until Maddox punches him square on the jaw, knocking him out. My mouth falls open in surprise. I notice he and Zane exchange nods of understanding, but I don’t fucking understand. “What the hell did you just do Maddox?”
“I saved his ass,” Maddox hisses. “Dane thinks he’s a fucking badass. Especially when he’s drunk.”
“And you don’t?” I mock.
“I can hold my own but, no. I don’t. And I don’t pick fights with guys I know nothing about. You should know that better than anyone, Tori.”
