“Eight months, Victor!” My voice rises before I force it back down. “Eight fucking months of sneaking around, of watching you check for witnesses before you touch me.”
His jaw clenches. “My business, my reputation?—”
“Is more important than me. Message received.” I try to slide past him, but he blocks my path.
“Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I should just go back to Emily. At least that makes sense to everyone.”
The words slice through me. “Great idea. Go back to Emily. She can be your socially acceptable arm candy while you jerk off thinking about me.”
Victor slams his palm against the shelf beside my head, sending a spray bottle clattering to the floor. Then his mouth is on mine, hungry and desperate. I turn my face away.
“Don’t.”
“I don’t want her,” he growls against my neck. “I don’t want anyone else.”
I push him back. “You have a funny way of showing it.”
“I met with her,” Victor admits, his hands falling to his sides. “After our fight. She invited me to dinner, tried to kiss me, spent the whole night flirting. Tried to bring me back to her place.”
“Congratulations. Did you enjoy your heterosexual redemption?”
“My dick was soft the entire time.” His voice breaks. “All I could think about was you. I couldn’t even fake interest because I only want you, Theo.”
His words knock the wind from me. “Your dick was soft the entire time?”
“Completely. Couldn’t even fake it.” Victor’s eyes hold a vulnerability I’ve rarely seen. “She kept touching my thigh under the table, and all I could think about was your hands, your mouth...”
Something cracks inside me. Despite everything, despite my anger and hurt, my body responds to his confession like it’s hardwired to him. I reach for his face, sliding my fingers into his short hair.
“Fuck you,” I whisper, but there’s no heat behind it.
Victor surges forward, mouth claiming mine with desperate hunger. I taste whiskey on his tongue as his large hands grip my waist, lifting me effortlessly. The shelving rattles behind me as Victor presses me back, sending something—cleaning supplies, maybe—clattering to the floor. I don’t care. All that matters is Victor’s body pressing against mine, solid and real.
He pins me against the shelf, one hand cupping my ass, the other braced beside my head. I wrap my legs around his waist, drawing him closer. Through our pants, our cocks align, hard and urgent. The friction is maddening—not enough and too much all at once.
Victor breaks the kiss to mouth along my jaw, my neck. “I missed you,” he breathes against my skin. “Every fucking day, I missed you.”
I roll my hips, grinding against him, making him groan against my throat. His teeth graze my collarbone, and I drop my head back, lost in the sensation of his weight, his heat.
“Victor?” Marco’s voice cuts through our bubble. “Boss, you in there? Main event’s about to start!”
We freeze, breathing hard. Victor lowers me to my feet with surprising gentleness, our bodies still pressed close. His forehead touches mine for a moment, intimate in a way that hurts more than anything else.
“Thursday,” he says, voice rough. “Coffee shop. We need to talk. Really talk.”
I straighten my jacket, trying to regain composure. “I’ll be there.”
Victor adjusts himself, runs a hand over his face, and opens the door just enough to slip through. I watch him leave, his broad shoulders disappearing into the dim hallway.
31
VICTOR
The announcer’s voice booms across the warehouse as Jenkins and Alvarez circle each other in the ring. I should be watching every move, analyzing their form, tracking the patterns that’ll make or break their careers. Instead, my eyes keep drifting to the VIP section.
Theo throws his head back, laughing at something Julian said. The sound doesn’t reach me over the crowd’s roar, but I can picture it clearly—that deep, genuine laugh that vibrates through his chest when something truly amuses him.
I grip the edge of the barricade, knuckles white. This jealousy churning in my gut is fucking irrational. Julian Frost is completely devoted to Elliot, who’s sitting on his other side, nursing what looks like a whiskey. I know this. I’ve seen them together countless times at Purgatory events.
