Page 24 of How To Catch A Killer … And Date His Best Friend

She barks a sharp laugh as though I just asked if she would like to fuck an overgrown cactus. “I would rather lick the floor of a public bathroom than go out with you again,” she says before smiling at the customer beside me and taking his order.

I let out a breath as I grip the edge of the bar, trying to keep myself from jumping over the damn thing and getting in her face until she can no longer ignore me.

She does her thing, doing her best to tune me out, but the tightness in her body tells me she’s painfully aware that I’m still here. “I’m serious, Savage,” I tell her. “I like you, and I’m not about to just walk away. I know you felt it too. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be so worked up.”

Lyra lets out a sigh, and after handing a beer to the guy next to me, she turns that lethal stare back on me. “I did care. I cared so much that I cut my shift short and put on a nice outfit. But you fucked it up. You fumbled, and I don’t give second chances, especially not to guys who leave me sitting alone at a bar at four in the morning after bragging about how thoroughly he was going to fuck me. A better option came along, and that’s fine. Own it. But now that you’ve likely screwed that one up too, I’m not about to be someone’s consolation prize.”

Her words hit me like a fucking weapon, and I arch a brow as I take her in. “That’s what you think? That I see you as a consolation prize?”

“What else am I supposed to think? You literally got a booty call in the middle of our date and immediately bailed for a better option. You’re an ass and a player. I see right through your game, and I’m not interested. Go find some other girl to screw over because it won’t be me. Besides, I’m seeing somebody else now.”

Her words cut through me like a blade, and while I’d give anything to explain what really happened that night and why I had to leave, I can’t do that without putting her life at risk. Then as if seeing the way her words tear at my soul, a small sharp smile starts pulling at her lips like the little savage I know her to be. “You missed your shot, Hunter.”

Something wavers in her stare, and I realize she’s bullshitting right through her teeth. She’s not seeing someone, though she might have used some poor bastard to scratch that itch. I still have her right where I want her.

I recover almost immediately and scoff. “Oh, Savage. You really think that’s an issue for me?”

Her stare narrows on me. “It should be.”

A grin pulls at my lips, and I lean closer into the bar, my stare eating her alive. “That depends,” I murmur, knowing she hears me perfectly over the loud bass. “Does he make you squirm the way I do?”

Something sharp flashes across her face before she quickly pulls away, turning her focus to the next eager customer when she seems to reconsider and whips back around, fixing me with a stare that’s hard enough to wake the dead. And I know without a doubt, she’s about to deliver the final blow, slamming the last nail straight into my coffin.

“You know what? He does make me squirm,” she tells me. “And better yet, he follows through. He gets the job done and leaves me shaking for hours after, and that’s a shitload better than whatever bullshit you were serving the other night. Now, please, for the love of all that’s holy, get the hint and leave me alone. I might have been interested, but like I said, I don’t offer second chances. I learn from my mistakes, and maybe you should do the same so you don’t screw over the next girl who foolishly falls into your trap.”

Fuck me. She’s got me there.

I should leave. Any smart man would see that the door to this possibility isn’t just closed, it’s bolted and welded shut, but unfortunately for me, I never claimed to be a smart man. I’m a sucker for punishment, and Lyra seems like the kind of girl who loves to dish it out.

My eyes drag over her, and seeing the hurt in her eyes, I realize that’s all this is. There is definitely something here, something worth exploring, but she needs time to heal, time to hate me for letting her down, and that’s okay. I’ve got nothing but time, but that doesn’t mean I’m about to back down. I’ll be here waiting the second she’s ready, and we’ll pick up right where we left off, only by then, the tension between us is going to shred us both to pieces.

Maddox was definitely right. I like this girl, and she could hate me all she wants, but it’s not going to change a thing.

This little Savage is going to be mine, whether she likes it or not.

“Okay, Lyra. I’ll leave you alone . . . for tonight, that is,” I tell her, leaning in and taking her chin, her lips so close to mine. “But this thing between us isn’t over. I feel it, and I know you feel it too. So push me away all you want, but I’m not going anywhere.”

She scoffs as she pulls her chin free. “I’m not interested, Hunter,” she says before crippling me with a savage smirk. “Don’t take it personally.”

And with that, she turns and walks away, busying herself with the people at the other end of the bar. And I realize that winning this spitfire back is going to be the death of me.

7

LYRA

Hunter Cole can go and fuck himself. Preferably in traffic.

God, I’ve never been so irritated in my life.

Who the hell does he think he is showing up at Black Velvet like that? Last week, he left me pissed off, but after the stunt he just pulled, I’m fucking furious.

I shove my apartment door closed behind me before kicking off my shoes hard enough that one of them bounces off the wall and nearly takes out one of my potted plants. And honestly, if the plant dies, that’ll be on Hunter too.

Arrogant asshole.

The man just strolled through my bar, looking all perfectly dangerous with that black jacket and those broad shoulders, and all I could think about was setting his stupid face on fire. And to think he showed up with the audacity to think I was going to drop to my knees, get all stupid for him, and let him whisk me away for another ridiculous date. Is he insane? They have special asylums for people who live in delusion.

As if I would go for round two with him after he left me at that bar anyway. I have so much more self-respect than that. Well, excluding the times where I allow perfect strangers to throw me up against brick walls in dark alleys, but that has no relation to this.