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“Fuck. Lia.”
“Right.” Julian leaned forward on his knees and took a swig from the bottle. “Fun fact: she hasn’t had sex in three years and she’s planning on fucking some sad sack to get you out of her head.”
My brows lifted then pulled tight as I stared at him for what felt like a full minute. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I finally asked.
“I heard her and a friend downstairs at the coffee place. There’s a coffee place across from your apartment with surprisingly decent espresso.”
“I don’t need a review of the espresso right now, asshole, I need details on what the hell you just dropped on me.” A sudden sense of urgency rattled my bones. “When is she meeting this guy? She’s about to go home with him now?”
“Easy.” Julian pulled me back down. “I don’t think so but you also better not go Cam on him. You’ve known this girl one day. Try to wait till you’re dating before you break any arms for her.”
“That’s not going to happen. I just don’t appreciate when others reap the benefits of my work.”
“Shit. What did Cam do now?” Emmett asked upon joining us.
“We’re actually not talking about him,” Julian replied with amusement. “We’re talking about some guy who gets to claim Lukas’s prize. He got the neighbor all worked up and now she’s trying to forget him by having mediocre sex with someone else.”
“Oh, shit.” Emmett faced me with a look of gravity more befitting of an emergency room. “So you got her pussy wet and some other dude gets to fuck it?”
“That’s an extra charming way of putting it but yes, apparently.”
“Well, shit, that’s not fair. Go find her,” Emmett implored. I turned to Julian.
“She was still at the café when you left?”
“Yes.”
“Then hold down the fort while I’m gone,” I said, getting up and handing Emmett my drink. Two fingers of Scotch and he shot it like vodka. I had to stare at him as Julian handed me my keys.
“Bring her friend back if you can,” he said, already back to work emails on his phone. “She looked better from the back than any of the girls here look now.”
“I’ll try,” I said. “You piece of shit,” I added as I headed for the door. Since I spotted Ponytail and Redhead on my way, I whispered for them to Google Julian Hoult and waited around till I could witness them bursting into shrieks over the fact that he’d just bought the New York Empires. I swung the door open just as the stampede of heels clattered over to him, grinning from ear to ear with a feeling of petty justice.
And right as I ambled out into the hall, I saw Lia coming up the stairs.
My smile faltered only because I wasn’t prepared for what she was wearing – a casual black dress that went down to her ankles. Thin straps to show off those gorgeous shoulders and an even thinner belt to cinch that waist. Topping it all off was her hair piled loosely at the top of her head, a couple strands falling down to frame her face. I couldn’t stop staring even when she caught my eye.
“Why are you already shaking your head at me?” I laughed.
“Variety of reasons,” Lia said slowly, a hint of suspicion in her voice as she walked toward with me with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
“Care to share?”
“Well, we can start with the extremely loud party you’re having right now.”
I glanced at my door then back at her. “Right. I figured I’d made the worst possible impression on you already. Might as well go all in.”
She almost laughed but bit it back. “Seriously, Lukas, what’s going on in there?” she asked, stopping two feet from me. I eyed the distance between us.
“Well, I came in around eight with two friends, and Rochelle from downstairs ambushed me with about six or seven of hers. Emmett took it upon himself to invite them up, so apologies on his behalf.”
“I see.” Lia studied me. I grinned because I knew she was trying to figure out if I knew – if the guy she’d spotted at the café was in fact my friend, and if he did in fact tell me everything he heard her say. But instead of confessing that, I let her play detective. She was too fucking adorable biting that lip and squinting at me, somehow pissed off, embarrassed and playful at once. “And this friend Emmett… what does he look like?”
“Why? Interested?” I teased.
“Maybe. Just answer my question.”
“Alright.” I blew air out of my mouth as I thought about it. I’d known Emmett nearly ten years, but I could probably name the Empires twenty-five-man roster faster than I could physically describe him. “I don’t know. He’s my height. Same dark hair as me. His eyes are brown or blue. I think? I think they’re brown. I’m not totally sure.”
