The place was built from the ground up for Hyde Garage and Sweets You Rock, along with additional spaces to be rented out. Other than Posey’s studio tucked away close because Eli was as bad as the rest of them, the two successful businesses ended up needing to utilize all available space. And none of it was faded, dodgy, or cheap like a typical strip mall.
“Don’t take your size envy out on me,” he tossed in while raising his other middle finger to give a double dose.
“What size envy? Rye isn’t exactly lacking.”
“I’m sure your patrons tell you it’s the perfect size. That they don’t like the bigger bars.”
“Or maybe I’m not overcompensating for something.”
He gestured outward. “Can’t overcompensate for what I already have.”
He was talking about more than just his building, and an unfamiliar punch of envy hit me in the gut. Not about the size of anything, but for the happiness he’d managed to secure. For the life he’d built with Piper.
I didn’t want her. Sure, once upon a damn time, I’d thought I did. I’d barely even known her, but I’d seen her sweetness and let myself imagine what it would be like to have it in my life. What it would be like to let someone in again for longer than a few hours.
But that wasn’t my life. I didn’t do more than those few hours where I told them what to do, they obeyed, and then I sent them on their way with a smile on their face.
Jake might’ve been mostly the same, but that was before Piper. As soon as I’d seen how badly he wanted her—even while he’d lied to himself—I happily backed off. It wasn’t a chivalrous move on my part. I would’ve lost even if I’d brought my A-game and pursued her with the determination she deserved.
Because she and Jake were it for each other, and I never stood a chance.
That didn’t mean the burn of a past betrayal didn’t occasionally team up with those what-ifs to remind me what I could never have.
Happiness with a woman who understood me.
With big brown eyes.
And awful suits.
And thighs I wanted wrapped around…
I wasn’t going there. Not in reality. And not in my head.
I just needed my damn dick to get that message.
Conceding Jake’s win with a grudging glare that was fake as hell and only meant to make him laugh, I dragged my focus back to Hollywood. “What’s the deal? Is Glitch slow-walking his process to bill me more, or is he losing his touch?”
The biker barked out a laugh. “Don’t let him hear you ask that. He’ll fuck your life up with a few mouse clicks. Bye-bye, bank account. Bye-bye, credit score. Bye-bye, porn access.”
“He’d have to lock the back room to really make a difference,” Eli put in.
He was wrong. That room went unused for anything other than downtime or the employees taking quick hits of their vapes when the weather was shit—something they thought I didn’t know about.
Even the loss of porn would make no difference to me right then. That wasn’t what fueled my self-given orgasms.
“He might do all that out of frustration alone,” Hollywood said. “Something is fucked with your system, and it’s pissing him off.”
“He’s the one who installed the system,” I said.
“Which is why he’s so pissed. He swears someone must’ve messed with his perfection.”
I put my hands up to plead innocence. “Wasn’t me.”
“What wasn’t you?” Xavier asked as he joined us.
I went alert at his sudden appearance, ignoring his question. “Where’s Lo?”
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Working the counter. They’re almost out of inventory, so it’s slowed down.”
