“It looks like you actually want each other,” he added.
Nerissa tsked and shook her head, tapping his forearm as if she was consoling him.“Oh, you poor, clueless soul.You have so much to learn.”
Before Benji could say anything else, Ari stumbled back to the booth, cheeks flushed, grin wide, arms still hooked around the two giggling women.
“Alright,” he slurred happily, “Which one of you lucky bastards”—hiccup—“is gonna get laid twice tonight?Oh wait, that's me.”One of the women in his arms giggled and he squinted around.
“Hey, where’s Jesse?”
“Left with Mercedes,” Benji replied.
“And he didn't say goodbye?Dick.”Ari grabbed a shot off the table, downed it without hesitation, and slapped the surface.“I need bed.Yes, bed is good.”
“Uh-huh,” Jaxon agreed as he stood, slapping Ari hard on the shoulder.
“Ah!Man, what the fuck?I”—hiccup—“didn't even flirt with your girl yet.”
Jaxon rolled his eyes, then his attention was mine again.He extended a hand to me, an offering to stand—and maybe an offering for something else with the dark tint of his eyes.I should’ve wanted to stay away from him, but my body craved the opposite.
Wanting the bad boy will be the death of me.
Against my better judgement, I took it and shimmied out the booth to stand with him.He laced our fingers together then wrapped both our arms behind my back, tugging me closer.
“I knew you'd warm up to me, trouble.”
His breath was on my lips and if I leaned in close enough, they'd connect.My free hand rested on his broad shoulder, gaze bouncing between his eyes and his lips.
God, kissing him again would be a mistake.
“Must be something in the air.”
Chuckling, he pulled back and led us behind Benji and Nerissa.Benji had the job of keeping Ari upward and heading in the right direction.When we got outside, the night air felt like a cool, gentle kiss on my skin.
Ari staggered ahead, spinning in a slow circle with both girls on his arm.
“Hey, where’s my car?”he yelled.“I know it's here somewhere…”
“I have your car, you dickhead,” Jaxon called back.
Benji just shook his head, shepherding Ari and the two women toward his car with practiced patience.Nerissa followed, laughing at Ari's drunken slurs.She opened the front door next then turned to Jaxon and I.
“See you at the house.”She winked.
And just like that, it was only Jaxon and me.
Alone.
The drive back was stiflingly silent.No music.No conversation.Just the hum of the engine and the awareness of him beside me.I forced myself to stare at the road ahead, but every move he made was impossible to ignore.
Every time the car stopped, I felt it.Every breath, every shift of his hand on the steering wheel.All of it played into the desire coursing through my veins.Damn Nerissa for putting that thought in my head.
I can't want Jaxon Cage.
The mantra sang in my head all drive long.By the time we pulled into the sandy drive, I was holding onto my restraint as if it were a lifeline and I was stranded at sea.
Once the car stopped, I was out.
Cool night air filled my lungs as I exhaled sharply, walking straight toward Benji’s car.I didn’t look back, not even when I heard Jaxon's door open and shut.I was too busy watching Benji haul Ari out, one girl laughing too loud, the other barely standing.
