Page 24 of Love Hate Relationship
Relaxing a bit with Harlow’s touch, I answered, “My mom gave me that name because of my eyes. She said they were the same color as my dad’s.”
That was the truth. And also the extent to which I ever spoke about my mother. I breathed a sigh of relief and took a large gulp of my drink when my answer didn’t spur on any further questions.
Pepper downed her drink and shot to her feet.
“Let’s dance!”
Gladly.
I was losing my fucking mind. The wrought iron railing groaned under the force of my white-knuckled grip.
“Dude, you look like you’re about to have an aneurysm. Just step away from the damn railing already.” Griffin’s voice held far too much amusement as he gave me shit for the millionth time in the past three hours. Feeling a sense of guilt at being out without his wife, Dex had bailed about an hour before, so I was stuck with my asshole cousin as my only company while the women took to the dance floor.
“Shut the fuck up,” I ground out between clenched teeth, my eyes remaining stuck on Navie’s writhing form as she and her friends danced below us. I’d gotten a semi the moment she walked up in that tiny piece of fabric she was wearing as a dress. But the moment she turned around and I saw the damn thing had no back…whatsoever, I about lost my shit completely. I bounced between wanting to bend her over the closest available surface to wanting to gouge the eyes out of every fucking man who looked her way. Which was just about every motherfucker in the club.
It was official. I was going insane.
From my peripheral vision, I saw Griffin come up to me, resting his hip on the railing next to my hand as he joined me in staring down at the girls. The only reason I didn’t wring his neck for looking was because I knew damn good and well who his focus was on. And it wasn’t Navie.
“Then do us both a favor and make a move already, cuz. You’re a serious buzzkill tonight, you know that?”
I didn’t bother with a response as I trailed Navie’s every movement from below. Everything about the way she moved made me crave her. The sway of her hips, the move of her perfect legs, and good Lord, when she reached up to lift her heavy mass of hair from her neck, revealing that glistening skin… I wanted to mark every inch of her body. Watching her was so addictive I physicallyachedto touch her. My cock throbbed from behind the zipper of my pants.
I was so enthralled by her that I barely noticed the waitress sauntering up to me. It wasn’t until she pressed her big, fake tits against my arm that I pulled my attention away from Navie to look at the woman beside me.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked in a seductive voice that, in the past, would have had me laying on the charm in order to get her to go home with me. But looking at the waitress just then, with her overdone hair and caked-on makeup, for some reason I just felt…empty. And the only reason I could think of that would turn me off of meaningless sex with nameless women was currently shaking her ass with every man who approached her.
Pushing down the ball of fury that rose from the pit of my stomach at that thought, I offered up a smile to the woman giving me her bestcome fuck meeyes. “No, thanks.” Her smile fell just slightly before she turned and walked away.
Laughter bellowed from Griffin as he punched me in the arm good-naturedly. “Jesus, man, you’re whipped!”
Ah, hell. He wasn’t wrong, and that realization scared the shit out of me. Navie made me feel things I never wanted to feel for another woman, things I swore I’d never feel again.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I grumbled, but it sounded weak even to my own ears.
“You just turned down free pussy. That chick offered it up to you on a silver platter and you flat-out rejected her. You want my advice—?”
“I don’t,” I interrupted, but it was pointless.
“I say fuck the girl out of your system and move on.”
I couldn’t deny that he had a point. He’d also planted a bug in my head that there was no ignoring. Maybe that was exactly what I needed to do. Lord knew my body wanted her like crazy. Maybe one night would get my brain on board as well and I could get over this screwed up obsession that had been plaguing me.
When I didn’t immediately respond, he continued. “Whatever, man. You want to sit up here all night pining away for your personal assistant, go for it. I’m gonna find me someone to warm my bed for the night.”
Before he had a chance to walk away, I turned from the railing and looked at him. “Banging some random chick isn’t going to make you want her any less.”
I could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew exactly what I was talking about, even if we’d never discussed the screwed up relationship between him and Pepper.
Despite his casual shrug, I knew I’d struck a nerve. “That’s the difference between me and you. I already know you don’t always get everything you want.”
With that, Griffin turned and left, undoubtedly on the hunt for another one-night stand. I, on the other hand, already knew who was going home with me. It was just a matter of convincing her.
I cast my gaze back to the dance floor and had to clench my fists at the onslaught of fury that invaded my body at the sight of another douchebag approaching Navie. I took the stairs at a quick pace, dead set on breaking the bastard’s hands for touching what was mine.What the fuck?I gave my head a brisk shake. She wasn’t mine. I didn’twanther to be mine. I just needed one night, that’s all. One fucking night and I could get her out of my head. The moment my feet hit the dance floor, the song changed. I didn’t recognize it, but the beat was slower, the music more seductive. It couldn’t have been a more perfect song if I’d requested it myself.
The crowd parted just slightly, giving me the perfect line of sight to the middle of the floor, just in time to see Navie smile sweetly at the guy with the soon to be broken hands. A possessive growl rumbled up in my chest at the sight of that smile and I had to swallow it down, biting the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood to keep myself in check.
I was only a few feet away when I saw her shake her head at the guy, the mass of blonde hair swishing across her shoulders. She was giving him the brush-off. I wanted to throw my hands up in victory as she turned and began walking away from him. Before she could get too far away, I snaked my arm around her slender waist, pulling her back to my chest. Just the feel of her body against mine had me groaning with need.
