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He sets his piercing gaze on me.
What the hell did I do now?
“You and Celeste. What are we dealing with?”
“Meaning?” I shrug. “Didn’t we cover this yesterday morning? I was on my best behavior last night.”
“Until you locked yourself in the elevator with her,” Ty retorts with a devious smirk.
Great, I didn’t think anyone had noticed that.
If Ty starts his shit today, I will not hesitate to pummel his ass right in this field.
I laugh like it’s the most inconceivable conclusion to draw. “How do you know she didn’t lock me in the elevator with her? You saw how feisty she was last night.”
Like a feisty feline.
Their eye rolls, scoffs, and peeved grimaces suggest they’re not buying it. Not that I expected them to, but it bought me a minute to think … of nothing. I’ve got nothing if they launch an inquisition on me. Fucking Christ.
“Where is your goddamn head at, Graves?” Wells grits out his growling demand as he swipes his hand through his hair.
“My head is where it’s always been when it concerns Celeste.” I scrub my hand over my sweat-soaked stubble, too exhausted and stressed for this. “She’s impossible. A complete pain in the ass, grating on my every last nerve.”
He says nothing, but his boisterous roar rips through our hundred sixty acres to slice me like a knife.
“What the hell is that for, Chief?” I scan the other two jackasses to see them biting back laughter too. Motherfuckers.
Wells sighs, hands moving to his hips, head tilting with a patronizing slant. “Your description.”
“Fuck this.” I start walking toward the house, my hand flinging into the air. “No idea what the hell you’re getting at.”
The three plod after me, staying in step. Wells reaches for the back of my neck—a move reserved for mentor mode, which always parks right on my chest, suffocating me with uncomfortable emotion.
“Stop.” He waits until I forgo my trek and meet his eyes to continue. “The women who captivate men like us aren’t the pieces of ass you generally convince to drop their panties. They’re the pains in the ass—independent, doing-fine-without-you, crawl-under-your-skin women who fuck with your head.”
“Yeah,” Ty interjects with a chuckle. “You’re so fucked, man.”
“Shut the hell up,” I spit at all of them. “I’m nowhere near fucked. I’d like to fuck her. Is that what you want to hear? Because while she’s a pretentious bitch, she’s hot as sin. My dick is raging. That’s it.”
Jesus, that tastes like bile on my tongue.
“I’m just spitballing here,” Gage says with an uncharacteristic benevolent glint, ordinarily reserved for Ivy.
My throat dries. Regarding me, it’s not a good look on the Big Guy.
“Your whole Graves mantra is that you take whatever you fucking want—seize your pot of gold, right? So, maybe,” he drawls, “you like thinking of her as a pretentious bitch because then if she rejects you, it’s about her character flaw, not about yours.”
And I’m out. Again. “Get the fuck outta here, Dr. Phil. You want me to psychoanalyze your ass-backward way of viewing women? Got a year to set aside, Porter?”
I rarely snap his last name. It’s reminiscent of who he isn’t anymore, which triggers scathing memories of who screwed him over, but desperate times.
“Been throwing me under the damn bus a lot lately, Graves,” Gage snarls. “My views aren’t the ones disrupting the household.”
Disrupting the household? What the hell is wrong with everyone? I’ve been putting up with their crotchety dicks for years, keeping everything easygoing. One thorny week from me, and they mount their goddamn high horses.
“Makes sense,” Ty says, tromping alongside me. “You’ve never fucked anyone twice—that you know of—because you hate getting involved. Never chased anyone before, certainly not anyone with long-term potential. Even that shit with Ivy didn’t start until she was on Wells’s arm, essentially taking anything serious off the table. You’d never really looked at her before. That’s not true about Celeste, is it? But she’s got these politicians, except she doesn’t really want them … or maybe she does. Terrifying, huh? It’s got you acting like a damn lunatic.”
I break into a jog, ever thankful that I know this pain I’m feeling is weakness leaving my body. Pushing through. Unfortunately, the three men I’m trying to avoid have the same perseverance.
