“Nope.”
“Ever see him at The Body Shop?” I prod. “Maybe he recognizes you?”
She rolls her eyes and bites the inside of her cheek, hiding her smirk. “Trust me, I’d remember a face like his.”
We all would. His hair is a little lighter than Jagger’s. A little longer, too. Messier, maybe. If I close my eyes, I can still see his piercing green eyes from the first time we met, though they’re shadowed in this moment. Yup. The man is gorgeous. A little terrifying, but gorgeous nonetheless. I turn back to my best friend. “Was he watching you when you saw him, or did he catch you watching him on accident and now he’s staring because he saw you with me, and after my knee’s run-in with his older brother’s crotch, he kind of figured it might be wise to keep an eye on things?”
“Well, if that isn’t specific, I don’t know what is,” she quips. “And the first one…I think. He was already looking this way when I noticed him, but it’s not like I can read minds. Was he still staring when you stole a peek?”
I do exactly that a second time, but as soon as our gazes connect across the crowded warehouse, regret explodes in my belly. Okay, the dude is scary. “Yup. Still staring.”
“Did he tell you never to show your face again or something?” Lexie prods. “Because there are at least a hundred girls here, and…”
“What’s that fucker doing?” Ethan growls.
Where the hell did he come from?
We flinch at the sound, but Lexie recovers faster, hooking her thumbs in the back pockets of her mini skirt. “What fucker?” she asks innocently.
He doesn’t buy it for a second. “The one staring at you,” he seethes.
“I mean, who wouldn’t stare?” She motions to her outfit. “I look…” Her words die on her tongue, her body threatening to wither under her brother’s glare despite her bravado. It makes me dislike him even more. Seriously, what is this guy’s problem? Lexie peeks over at Hawke again, then lifts a shoulder, striving for nonchalance, but I doubt I’m the only one who can see through it. “No idea what he’s doing. But if you’re so curious, you’ll have to ask him.”
Stepping closer, Ethan crowds Lexie even more, and she swallows thickly.
“You know him?” he demands.
“Aren’t you supposed to be over there?” I interrupt, pointing toward where his posse is currently hanging out while hoping the distraction will calm his egotistical and completely unwarranted reaction.
He ignores me and crowds Lexie even more. “Lex.”
“Come on, big brother. You’re needed over?—”
The warning in his voice causes a shiver down my spine. “Lexie.”
“No, I don’t know him,” she answers.
“He’s Harden scum.”
Her laugh sounds forced as she tucks her thick dark hair behind her ear. “Figured as much, which is why I don’t know him.”
“Ethan!” one of his friends interrupts. “Come on, man. Let’s go.”
Jaw tight, he backs away. “Stay away from him.” Then, he jogs toward his posse at the edge of the ring, leaving me alone with a quiet Lexie. I feel like I’ve just been scolded by my dad, or I’ve been called to the principal’s office for skipping school. And if I feel this way by simply witnessing the exchange, I can only imagine how Lexie feels. Seriously, the man needs to lay off the steroids because if that wasn’t an overreaction, I don’t know what is.
“Lex,” I murmur. “You okay?”
She blinks, then turns to me. “Fine. Why?”
“Because that was…intense.”
“Stop being dramatic.” She waves me off. “He’s not my dad, and he’s not your dad, either. Promise. He’s just amped up because of the fight.”
My eyes thin, and I study her carefully.
“Stop giving me that look. The show’s over there.” She grabs my chin and twists me toward the just-emptied ring as two men carry off a crippled body.
Yeesh. This sport is brutal.
