She huffs but climbs inside. I chuckle as I shut the door. I race around the front, slide in next to her, and pull out of the garage.
“You’re kind of annoying, you know that?” she says once we hit the road.
“I can be, but I’m not annoying because of this. I just…I want to take care of you, Nessa. You deserve it. Let yourself enjoy it, okay?”
Her features soften at my words, and I hope she knows it’s not some line I’m trying to feed her. I mean it. Shedoesdeserve it, and not just because of what happened with her douchebag ex-husband. She deserves it because she’s an incredible woman. She’s smart, funny when she wants to be, kind even when she doesn’t think she is, and worthy of someone treating her right.
“Okay,” she agrees quietly.
“Good,” I say with a grin, but there’s really nothing to smile about.
No, there’s just tension, and a lot of it. It’s nearly suffocating as I navigate my AMG through the Seattle streets. It’s not a bad kind, though. If anything, it’s the opposite, and it grows the closer we get to the penthouse. By the time I pull into my parking spot, it’s so damn thick I can barely breathe. Or maybe that’s just how badly I want her. My head is all foggy, and I can’t tell the difference.
I nod to security as we slip into the elevator. Nessa settles beside me, my hand at the small of her back. I feel her lean into the touch as the doors begin to close. They’re just about touching when a very familiar tattooed arm appears between them.
Keller gives me his version of a grin—which isn’t one at all—as he looks at Nessa, then me. In that instant, I know he knows we’re sleeping together. Maybe it’s our body language that gives us away, or maybe he can feel the tension too, but he knows.
“Well, well. What do we have here?” he says as he steps into the car.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually run into Keller in the years we’ve lived in the same building. Why the hell does tonight have to be one of those times? With Nessa right here? I tug her a step closer, and he lets out a half-laugh, not missing it.
“How’s it going, roomies?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Don’t be a dick, man.”
“Me? A dick? Never. That’s not my style.”
We both know it is.
“Keller…”
“What? A guy can’t just say hello to his neighbors?” he says innocently, though he’s anything but. “Beautiful night out, huh?”
I don’t answer him, and neither does Nessa. He’s being such a shithead, and if the twitch of his lips is telling at all, he knows it. When we reach his floor—a few below mine—he gives us one last look before shaking his head.
“You two have a nice night now.”
I swear I hear him laugh before the doors close. Nessa relaxes, and I hate that she was even on edge to begin with.
“He won’t say anything,” I promise, and she nods.
The elevator doors open on my floor, and we hurry out. When we make it into the penthouse, I’m not sure who grabs for whom first, but suddenly we’re nothing but mouths and hands and sighs and moans. Running into Keller should have quelled this urge. It really fucking should have, but it didn’t.
I’m not sure anything ever will.
CHAPTER 17
VANESSA
“Wine?”
I shake my head at Auden’s offer. “No, but thank you.”
She nods, grabs a pitcher of water from the fridge, pours me a glass, and slides it my way. The last thing I expected this morning was a text from her inviting me over for a girls’ night, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m sure she’s getting antsy being home alone with the baby and is likely dying for a night of fun. I know I would be in her position.
“I’ll take whatever she doesn’t want,” Lilah says. She shakes her empty glass at her best friend, then gives me a wink.
I smile back. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect tonight, especially given that my last group of friends dropped me so fast after everything came out about Neal, and I haven’t exactly worked on making new ones. So far, it’s been nice. Auden’s twin sister, Rory, and Hayes’s girlfriend, Quinn, are here too. According to them, they get together like this often when the guys go on road trips. They call it their Seattle Serpents Singles Support Group. I’m not quite sure what that means, but it made them all giggle when Auden said it, so I laughed too. It’s the first time I have since Gavin walked out the door yesterday.
