He hooked his finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him through the dusky confines of the enclosed room. “You think I don’t see you, Red. Watching. Wanting. Just because you refuse to let the words fall from your mouth, doesn’t mean they’re not true.”
My teeth ground, every inch of me at war, my hatred of how he made me feel—hatred of that old, na?ve weakness—up against the seeds of trust that wanted to make their way out.
It felt like a tornado gaining speed.
Lights flickered behind my eyes and a thrill rushed through my nerves.
No. No. No.
“What would be so bad about spending a night with me?”
And that was just it.
The only thing I’d ever be.
Easy, forgettable sex.
Another in a million faceless women.
A quick fuck that didn’t even last long enough to be considered a fling. Hurt balled behind my ribs. Funny how his proposition felt like a rejection.
“Oh, I could think of plenty of things.” Like my heart and the sanctity of my mind.
I struggled to resurrect the fa?ade. To erect that rigid, impenetrable armor.
I wiggled the fingers of my free hand in front of his face and fired the words like bullets. “Believe me, I’d rather spend the night with these than with you.”
He snatched me by the wrist.
My mouth dropped open in shock. At the heat of his hold. At the weight of his stare.
The man took full advantage of my momentary stupor, those dark eyes gleaming as he slowly sucked my middle two fingers into the fever of his mouth.
A panicked, strangled gasp wheezed from my throat, expanding my too-tight lungs.
Flames ignited, a fire set to my veins, spreading fast and coalescing as a hot melting point right between my thighs.
That smirk was in full force when he let my fingers free with a pop.
Then he went and shocked me again when he pressed my hand to his chest. It felt way too strong, and damn it, his heart had to have been beating just as hard as mine.
Something flashed in those eyes. Something soft. That was all it took, and something soft inside me wanted to give.
To give up and give it all.
Then that wicked mouth ticked up at the side, and he guided my trembling hand down.
Down.
Down.
Down.
While I stood like a sucker allowing it.
He stopped just above the obvious bulge straining from his too tight jeans.
“Oh, I’m sure your hands work wonders, but honestly, I had other things in mind.”
My senses came rushing back.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
That’s what soft got me.
It left me no more than a pawn in an elaborate game.
I jerked myself free, begging my feet to cooperate as I scrambled for the door with all the confidence I had left, digging deep for the strength that was dwindling fast.
By the time I got to the door, my chin was lifted high.
Because I remembered.
Remembered who I’d fought so hard to become.
At the door I stopped and glared at him from over my shoulder. “Not on your life.”
He just smiled that smug, cocky smile, as if he could see right through me. “All you have to say is no, Red.”
I raised a middle finger.
Take that as my no, asshole.
“You can go fuck yourself.”
He laughed and those black eyes shimmered. “Nah, baby. Unlike you, I’m not so keen to go at it alone.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“And you, Red, are an uptight bitch.”
He wasn’t the first guy to call me a bitch.
Usually, it didn’t bother me.
Hell, most of the time I took it as a compliment. An affirmation that no one would dare mess with me.
But Lyrik calling me a bitch? It was the first time it stitched these thick, suffocating threads of sadness and anger through my heart.
God, he was such an egotistical, shameless bastard.
And I was an idiot for allowing it to hurt.
I should have turned and walked.
Closed my mouth.
But I couldn’t stop it from tumbling free.
“So a girl’s a bitch just because she won’t jump in your bed?” I was sure the shake of my head revealed too much.
Disgust. Disappointment. Defeat.
“You know what, Lyrik? Maybe I want more in my life. And I won’t allow you to reach out and take what I don’t want to give.”
I was pissed.
Shaken.
Determined to put Lyrik back in his place.
They’d ordered another round of drinks.
I was quick to mix them, whipping up something extra special for one Lyrik West. Just because I liked him so much.
An hour had passed since he’d cornered me in the storage room, and just as much time had gone by since he’d returned to the booth, the table now sporting the addition of three girls.
Shea and Sebastian had called upon their good sense and vacated.
Now Zee was sitting there basically alone, playing on his phone while one girl sat sideways across Ash’s lap, arms laced around his neck, garnering all his attention.
It was the two hanging like sparkly ornaments from Lyrik’s sides that had me on the rampage.
His arms were draped around their shoulders as he sat kicked back in the seat.
Not a care in the world.
A low growl gathered at the base of my throat.
Didn’t take him long.
What a pig.
And why the hell did it piss me off so bad?
But it did.