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She raised her hands palms out in front of her. “Phil is so much more than a pig.”
“You’re right. He’s a manifestation of you trying to win our little game.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she denied, getting up in my space once again.
I opened my arms to accommodate her, leaned back against the wall, and pulled her between my legs. “Bullshit.”
“Hey, guys,” Wes said as he approached us, easy smile lighting up his green-hazel eyes. He was always running fifteen minutes behind schedule. Luckily, he’d somehow managed to make himself important enough that people waited for him.
I half expected Cassie to move away, go talk to Georgia or one of her other friends, but instead, she turned her back to my chest, pushed her ass to my crotch, and settled into me the way I was on the wall.
She pulled out her phone and glanced at it as she waved at Wes, but his eyes never left mine. And they were mighty fucking amused.
“Hey, Cass, did Thatch tell you—” Wes started, and I waved a wild arm frantically to head him off. I shook my head to emphasize the point just as her eyes left her phone and met Wes’s.
A Wes who had paused midsentence because I’d activated the bat signal.
“Did Thatch tell me what?”
It wasn’t that she wouldn’t know about Sean eventually, but I knew she’d both flip her shit and be angry with me that I hadn’t said anything sooner, and I wasn’t ready for the negative side of that coin. My plans for tonight were going to be flirting the line with pissing her off enough.
“Um,” Wes stalled and widened his eyes at me uncertainly. “Did he tell you how much he sucked at rugby practice earlier?”
I closed my eyes and waited for the fallout. I was surrounded by absolute shit liars. How could I be so gifted in something all of my friends struggled with? Wouldn’t I start to rub off eventually?
But Cass didn’t call him on it, instead dissolving into a gentle laugh. “Yeah, right. Have you seen this guy? He tosses people around for breakfast. Trust me, I know.”
Wes’s smile came back at that, and it’d taken on an air of insinuation. “Oh, yeah? How do you know that?”
“Fuck. Forget I said that shit, or I’ll kill both of you.” She shoved off of me so hard it made me grunt in the middle of my laugh.
Cassie’s hand fell easily into mine as she talked to the people around her. She didn’t notice the way people’s eyes went there, the way they watched and smiled—or sneered in the case of a few women and pricks with dicks—but I did. Their eyes widened just slightly, and the corners of their lips turned up or down just enough. The tiny tics of a person’s thoughts out there for anyone to see if they took the time.
I knew I hardly ever did, and I honestly don’t think Cassie ever concentrated on anyone else’s opinion. But tonight, as I publicly claimed her as mine over and over again, I found myself fascinated.
I gently tugged her hand before releasing it and sliding a possessive hand around the curve of her waist to settle on her opposite hip. She sank into me effortlessly, and I wasn’t sure if she’d even noticed what I’d done.
“Excuse me, ladies, but I’m going to steal my girlfriend for a little while.”
Once again, mouths turned up and down in equal supply, but the corners of mine went distinctly north. Cassie hadn’t even questioned the sentiment. I’d obviously done a stellar job of desensitizing her to it. And tonight, I had practically followed her everywhere she went, touching her without permission and interjecting about our relationship anytime the opportunity presented itself. Pushing the boundaries as always, I’d even told a couple of guys I was planning to propose soon. She’d smiled. Of course, she’d felt secure in the fact that I was joking.
I wasn’t so sure.
It was the most fun I’d had in a long time.
Once we were several feet away, Cassie’s commentary returned. “You didn’t even wink at any of those women, Thatcher. Is your game failing?”
I bit my lip to stop a smile, but I didn’t fight the urge to lean down and press a subtle kiss to her lips. “It wasn’t really necessary.” When I pulled back, I didn’t deny her the pleasure, though.
“Ah, there it is,” she breathed. “Just delayed a little, I guess.”
“Something like that.”
I held the door as we walked inside and then pushed through the crowd until we came to another door on the other side. It read Emergency Exit in big official letters, but I knew there was no alarm on it. At practice, one of the guys had been telling a story about drunkenly stumbling through it while trying to woo a woman. Not exactly A game material, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. That was a lesson he really needed to learn for himself.
And tonight, I was going to make sure it paid off to pay attention.
“Where are we going?” Cass asked as we stepped out onto the deserted rooftop patio on the other side.
“Just doing a little experiment, honey.”
“Experiment?” she questioned suspiciously.
She had good reason. I wasn’t really sure how my plan was going to go over, but I had to try. This was the kind of opportunity smart men didn’t pass up.
“Just a little pleasure versus fear tug of war.”
“Fear?” she snapped. “What the fuck are you up to?”
“Come here, baby,” I coaxed with a tug on her hand when she turned for the door. “I promise to make this whole ordeal worth your while.”
“Ordeal? That’s not a fucking promising word. Ordeal suggests pain and suffering.”
I laughed.
“I don’t like to suffer, and if you make me, I’ll be sure to return the favor.”
“Duly noted,” I agreed.
All the way across the patio now, I pulled her toward the fire escape ladder and urged her to go up in front of me. She didn’t exactly do cartwheels.
“You want me to go higher? Are you crazy? You know I fucking hate heights. I already threatened to murder Georgie in her sleep for choosing this as the venue, and she’s my best friend. I like her better than you.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I laughed. “I do love your honesty.”
“Oh, yeah,” she grumbled as I pushed her to the ladder and put her foot on the first rung for her. “Well, I honestly hate you right now.”
Tucking my chin into her neck, I breathed her in before whispering my words out. “No, you don’t.” My lips smoothed over the skin as I twisted my head back and forth. I nipped the soft flesh with my teeth and then sucked it into my mouth, sliding the tip of my tongue over it gently to soothe the sting. My beard rubbed at the surrounding skin, and she shivered.
“Thatch,” she whispered but didn’t say more.
“Go up the ladder, Cassie,” I ordered softly, giving her one last squeeze with my arms before stepping back to spot her.
She paused for a moment but didn’t look back, scurrying up the ladder and moving quickly away from the edge.
As soon as I reached the top and traversed a safe number of paces away from certain death, she charged me. Her nerves were driving the conversation, and it felt unnatural to see her anything but confident and in control. I actually felt bad for a minute, that her discomfort was making me feel special, but when she fisted her hand in the material of my shirt at my chest, any regret retreated immediately.
“What’s this about, Thatcher?”
I smiled. She glared.
“Do you trust me?”
“No.” Her answer was emphatic and immediate and completely devoid of thought.
“Cass,” I stressed.
“Fuck!” she shouted, frustrated, and squeezed her eyes shut. “Yes. For some completely insane reason, I do. And I have not one clue why since you’re a psychopath.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Thatcher—” she snapped, and I lunged.
My lips slammed to hers aggressively, and she didn’t delay or hold back.
A gasp moved from her mouth to mine as I pulled her body flush with a hand at her ass. Her skirt was short, and the tips of my fingers just barely grazed the skin of her thigh.
My hand flexed at the feeling, doing its best to leave my mark on the perfect canvas of her skin whether either of us gave it permission or not.
I nibbled at the plush padding at the center of her lower lip, and she tugged at the short strands of hair where my beard met my hairline.
“You want me to take your mind off the heights, baby?” I asked, pulling my lips off of hers just enough to speak clearly.
“You already were, you idiot. Now I’m thinking about it again.”
When I put my mouth on her, I had a feeling she’d forget again.
I smiled with my lips against hers. “Not for long.”
Starting slow, I wrapped my arms around her body until they met in the middle of her ass. I gripped her soft flesh until she moaned.
“You have on panties, baby?” I whispered against her mouth.
When she bit her lip and shook her head, I couldn’t hold back my groan or desperate need to know if she was telling the truth.
Roughly, I bunched the fabric of her skirt in my hands and slid it up until there wasn’t anything between my palms and skin. I dropped to my knees in one smooth motion, and her head fell back as her hands found my hair and tugged.
