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“Nothing, man. Life. Complicated.”
“It can be. Life or chicks?” A smile tugs at my lips as I nudge him. “Maybe you should slow down on booze, then go talk to her and take all of her attention.”
“Who?” The fucker is playing dumb, not even meeting my eyes, then he changes the topic. “It’s your birthday, dude. If you’re bored, we can change up the scene. What do you feel like doing?”
“My hot assistant.” I see Kat in the crowd of people across the room. She looks gorgeous and watches me with a playful smile. “Who happens to be my girlfriend.”
A quick laugh escapes Marlow. “Lucky bastard.”
“I am. Thanks for this.” I motion around. Celebrations lost their meaning to me a long time ago, but this, for the first time in many months, feels like family.
“Nah. It’s all Kat.”
My heart tightens at the thought.
If I didn’t know Kat, I would’ve picked her from the crowd, hit on her, done a whole lotta filthy stuff to her in my mind, and then probably talked her into coming over to my place and doing it there.
The thought stuns me. I thought she wasn’t quite my type when I first saw her. Now, looking at her, I realize she’s perfect, so different from anyone I ever met but easily fitting with the crowd of the posh elites, or with the security guys at the Diggs, or the Outcasts on the Eastside. It’s a gift she’s not aware of, the one I didn’t spot right away.
I slowly make my way to her, and she watches, her body scandalously sexy in the red minidress and sparkly high-heeled boots.
God, I fucking love red.
“Hey, birthday boy,” she says with a smile that I love.
I’m falling for her so fast that it makes my head spin. Feelings are not my forte. Anger or extreme affection—I can’t control them. The first has become familiar. The latter…
“You’re too serious for the number of drinks you’ve had,” Kat says, studying me.
“Are you counting?”
“Yes.”
That’s a surprise. “Why?”
“Just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. But after you promised alone time, this dress feels almost disrespectful.”
Now, she looks worried.
I tongue my cheek. “It’s my birthday, and I was looking forward to you naked. Instead, you have a zillion people and are staying as far away from me as possible.”
She bites her lip, batting her lashes at me. These eyes, makeup, lipstick, long legs, and hourglass figure make me feel almost bitter that I’m not yet showing everyone that she’s mine.
“I wanted to give you time with everyone,” she says apologetically. “They’ve missed you. You might not realize it, but they talk about you, the old times, and how you all used to be. They forgot what it’s like to have you as a friend. Trust me, many of them want you back.”
The sincerity in her soft voice does that familiar thing to my heart where it pumps as if trying to break out of my chest and latch onto her. I haven’t heard words like these in a while and appreciate them.
Someone comes up from behind me, snakes his arms around my neck, and weighs down on me.
“There you are, birthday bitch.” It’s Qi Shan. “Dude, so good to finally hang out,” he says, his rum breath grazing my face.
Kat lifts her brows in a silent, “I told you so.”
I immediately feel bad for making Kat doubt herself when I really appreciate her effort to reconcile me with the old crew. So when Qi Shan leaves me alone, I step closer to her and put my hand on her waist, gloating at the glances that start darting in our direction.
“I’m teasing you, wild thing,” I say softly. “One, you look drop-dead gorgeous, and I haven’t taken my eyes off you since I stepped into this villa. Two, I have this urge to punch the guys who openly stare at you.”
