AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Give a girl warning, will ya?” I reply as he takes the tray and nods at me to lead him to wherever we’re heading.
When we reach our table, he puts the tray down and looks around us. “This won’t do. How many of you are there?”
“Too many.” Obviously, my reply goes way over his head as he sets his sights on Alice.
Oh God.
The two of them on their own are incorrigible. The two of them together…it’s going to be a long, long night.
6
PARKER
The place has never been so packed. The music is pounding, and every two seconds, I search the floor for her.
Summer’s red hair sways in the spring breeze. Every time I set my eyes on her, she’s laughing and dancing, and I feel my control slip that bit more than it already has.
Harrison’s words from that night taunt me again, exactly like they’ve done since the moment they left his mouth.
No excuses. I recall his remark whenever I look at her and think of all the reasons we can’t go any further than we already have. The two of you…lovesick puppies.
He always exaggerates everything, making a mountain out of a molehill of the smallest whim and whisper.
The girl likes you.
She was a sure thing.
If there’s anything that I’m certain of, it’s that nothing is a sure thing in life. There’s always something lurking in the background, waiting to pounce on you. The way every fiber of my being aches to engulf her. Every furtive glance she beams my way, the recollection of her touch and the heat of her body consume me.
I know you want me…
Want her? Summer has no idea of all the ways I crave her. All the ways I’m senseless and starved for her. Every day that passes where I keep my distance, the hankering morphs into a desperation so deep that my insides are constantly knotted. And it never dissipates. Whether she’s in front of me or out of sight, Summer is always on my mind.
I wasn’t expecting her to come tonight. I wasn’t prepared for the sight of her. In my bar. In that dress. With that look in her eyes. The flush in her cheeks and all that gorgeous hair tousled and messy and begging to be tangled around my fingers.
The same way I hadn’t anticipated her to walk into my office the day she turned up for her interview, a big smile lighting her eyes with something that made me pause. My world was in complete chaos, but her calm was so catchy that I didn’t even have to look at her resume twice to hire her. I knew then, the first second I laid eyes on her, that she was incredible, and there hasn’t been a day since where I’ve regretted my decision or thought otherwise. Because Harrison is right: I am one lucky bastard…where she is concerned.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I’m at a complete standstill behind the bar while the crowd builds and builds, waiting for their drink orders.
“Hey!” a guy calls with a wave of his hand, drawing me back into action. “Can I get a beer and whatever fruity cocktail you have for the lady?” Nodding to the girl beside him, he goes back to the conversation they were having.
There’s barely any acknowledgment when I hand him the beer and then mix the easy punch that Summer taught me for these kinds of orders. I turn and place it on the bar top, but as I glance up, my heart drops to my stomach.
What the fuck?
The question roars in my ears at the sight of Summer dancing with some random guy. Fucking Harrison was meant to be watching her like I texted him to. All he had to do was make sure that she wasn’t molested by any of the assholes here. Instead, he’s dancing with her friend, and she’s…
Fuck.
With her back pressed to the guy’s front, they move in time to the music. My blood pounds harder the longer I watch until my anger builds to blind rage because his hands are creeping lower and then higher. And I can’t bear the sight of him touching her.
Without a single pause, my feet carry me to the middle of the dance floor.
“Dude!” Harrison pulls me back, grasping my shoulder harshly, which jars the last of my sensibilities.
“You had one fucking job!” Spinning, I push him off me.
When I turn, Summer is standing stock-still, staring at me, completely shell-shocked. The surprise splayed over her face infuriates me further. The pounding in my ears makes it impossible to think straight as I snatch her hand from the asshole still holding on to her as though she’s his. I tug her to me with her stunned yelp adding to the chaos in my head as I pull her behind me.
