And there she is. Walking down the path toward Flame and Fury, probably meeting up with Ani. At least she can still count on him, which is more than I can say for the rest of us fucking degenerates.
Brotherhood, my ass. She’s one of us. We should be sticking together.
“Baz?”
Fuck, she saw me. No use trying to play it off now.
I step out of the shadows, give her a smile. Shove my hands in my pockets to keep myself from touching her.
“Hey,” I say, real fucking smooth-talker. I try to maintain eye contact, try to feign polite disinterest, but she’s wearing tight black leather pants that hug her delicious curves, and a silky low-cut number with sequins on it that’s basically a death trap for my eyes.
One look, and I’m about to fall in headfirst.
“What are you up to tonight?” I ask, because if I don’t say something inane, I might just say something real, and then we’ll all be up a river of shit.
“I’m supposed to meet those guys for karaoke. Ani and them,” she says, but her heart’s not in it. I can see it in her eyes, staring up at me with the same deep well of desire I feel in mine.
Talk me out of it,she seems to be saying.Give me a reason to bail.
“I thought you couldn’t sing,” I say.
“How’d you hear that?”
“Kirin told me.”
“So you guys were talking about me?” She’s smiling now, a soft blush creeping into her cheeks. But then it fades, and she frowns like she just remembered something unpleasant.
Fucking Kirin.
Fucking me.
“Where have you been, anyway?” she asks. “I haven’t seen you outside of class much. We haven’t… hung out.”
“Yeah. Just… busy.”
Disappointment flashes in her eyes. Maybe a little hurt.
Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. Not because I want to hurt her, but because it would mean she thought of me.Wantedto hang out.
So I’m standing there with my dick in my hand, trying to figure out one decent thing to say to the woman, one thing that isn’tfuck all this shit just come back to my room with me and we’ll start over,when out of nowhere she just leans in close and grabs the front of my jacket.
“If you don’t tell me to stop right now,” she says, “I’m going to kiss you.”
And I’m looking down into those eyes, the deep well of them, and remembering the taste of her creamy skin, the feel of her nipple on my tongue, and I’m so hard for her I’m about to lose it right here.
Fuck it.
I lean in close. Her breath hitches. My heart’s doing double time.
My lips brush against hers for the briefest instant, fucking bliss, and then there’s a dark shadow looming over us both, and I look up to find Carly.
She rolls her eyes so only I can see, then comes around and grabs my arm, putting on her innocent face.
“Oh, hey, Stevie. You look… available.” Then she looks up at me and goes, “Come on, Baz! We have reservations, remember?”
I feel Stevie’s sigh, the weight of her frustration settling over my shoulders as she waits for me to send Carly away, or make some pithy comment.
But Carly’s got her arm around me, holding me close, and this time, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
