AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It blazed so hot I could practically hear the crackling of the flames.
But I forced myself to snap into a cheerful mood when one of the guys came up to me.
“Drink for you, sweetie?” he asked, nodding at the bucket of bottles.
I blinked a few times to let myself transition to my normal voice.
“Oh, sure,” I smiled, delighting in the way this guy was grinning at me, because while I didn’t know his name, I already knew his intentions.
And I knew Iain was watching.
So maybe I’d go ahead and play dirty.
“What can I mix for you?” he asked.
“Oh, umm.” I tilted my head to look at the selection, eyeing Iain for a swift second and enjoying his hot, rapt stare on me before I brought my gaze back to Adam’s friend. “Anything with tequila is good,” I said.
“Tequila girl? Damn, I wouldn’t have guessed.” He raised his eyebrows and took the excuse to look me up and down. “Or I don’t know. Maybe I should’ve,” he smiled just as a tanned forearm lowered itself between us like a security gate.
And when we turned, we saw Adam standing there, staring down his extended arm as he made a sound like the wrong answer buzzer on a game show. Then he looked up at his friend. “Love you Sully, but fuck right off, pal,” he said with a big grin that turned into an even bigger laugh as Sully muttered goddammit and indeed fucked right off with a sheepish smile.
Which I probably would’ve laughed at under normal circumstances, but considering my currently enraging predicament, all I could do was cut my eyes to brother.
“Really, Adam?” I said under my breath, arms crossed as he held his out and kept smiling that Adam smile.
“I’m sorry, okay? I promise I’m not trying to become one of those overprotective brothers. It’s just these animals are only here for the weekend, and—you know what?” Holding his drink up, he turned to the group. “Here’s an announcement, ‘cause my beautiful sister is here tonight, and I think everyone needs to hear this, alright?” he said, easily getting the amused attention of the group and already making me want to shrivel up into a ball. “If you’re here tonight, you’re my good friend, which means I vouch for your character, which also means that any one of you is welcome to take my sister to many dinners and treat her like the absolute goddamned queen she is,” he said, looking to A.J, who nodded approvingly, since she clearly taught him that phrase. “But let’s be real, you filthy bastards are only here for the next thirty-six hours, so if you’re flirtin’ up Hollie Bear tonight, it’s for reasons I’ll kick your fuckin’ ass for, and if I’m too drunk to do that—because let’s be honest, I’m getting there—you know damned well who’s gonna do it for me,” he warned, setting off a chorus of laughter and whistling that acknowledged what a stone-cold badass A.J was. “And as you can see, you don’t want to test this one tonight,” he said, shooting that boyish grin of his at A.J, who was doing her best not to smile because she was definitely still mad about her phone. “So long story short,” he clapped my shoulder, “don’t fucking try it. Alright? As you were.”
Great.
Now that I was thoroughly cock-blocked, I had no options or form of retribution for tonight, which meant I was going to have to play this more aggressively than I thought.
So I went to mix myself a drink, letting Iain watch me walk over to the table and bend over right in front of where he sat. I knew he was thrown off because he stared hard then tore his eyes off of me, finally looking away to answer the brunette’s question.
“Sometimes, but not always,” he said, making me wonder what she asked.
Making me wonder if she was Camila.
“Mm. What about next week?” she asked.
I clenched my teeth as I poured the tequila in my cup.
“You want me to get that for you?” Caleb asked since it was a heavy bottle.
“I got it, thanks,” I smiled, and when Caleb sat back down behind me, I peered up to see Iain staring at him, all but confirming Caleb’s eyes on my ass.
I was still fuming as satisfaction seeped through me, and once I was done mixing my drink, I stood up straight, smiling brightly right at Iain.
“Hey! Iain. I meant to ask you some questions about that fellowship program you told me about,” I said, playing the kid sister card since whatever bullshit I just said certainly sounded like something I would ask Iain Thorn if I were just some younger girl and he were just some older, wiser friend of her brother’s.
Iain stared at me, in no rush to speak. But when he did, all he asked was, “Come again?”
You prick.
“I just have some questions,” I shrugged, taking a sip of my drink and then making a face down at my cup. “I think I need to order something sweeter at the bar. Will you come with me?”
At worst, I looked like a little girl with a crush, and at this point, I just didn’t care.
I was so livid my breaths were trembling in my throat as I paced ahead of Iain to the bar, every inch of my skin on fire as I felt him stalking behind me.
