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Ian nodded. “Yes.” He held an envelope in the air. “It was lost in the pile of this,” he pointed to the messy stack of papers and folders on his desk, “shit.”
Confused, I darted my eyes at all of them.
“Amber.” Ian sat in his chair, sliding under the desk, and propping his elbows on the surface. “I need you to work on the project with Alejandro.”
Chance took a step toward me, but Luke reached out, grabbing his arm.
“What project is that?” Craning my neck, I tried to read the label on the front of the manila folder.
“Alejandro has all the information. You just need to help organize the files so I can find them quickly.”
“Bro,” Tyler chuckled, “I told you to keep everything on your phone, not files.”
“Ty’s right.” Luke chimed in, shrugging. “Paper trails like this aren’t good.”
“Neither are hacked phones.” Ian leaned back in his chair. “You will do it, Amber. I trust you.”
“Why me, though? I mean, you trust me, but I have no idea what I’m organizing.”
“That’s the point.”
* * *
“I don’t know why you have to work with him, of all people,” Chance huffed, as we stood in Ian and Jenna’s back yard. He paced beside the swimming pool, sometimes veering so close to the edge that I was waiting for him to topple in. “I don’t like him.”
“I’m doing it for Ian.”
“Still.” Chance came to a stop, lighting his third cigarette. “Something about him rubs me the wrong way.”
I grabbed my hips. “You just don’t like that I danced for him.”
Narrowing his eyes on me, he pouted.
“Chance,” I sighed, “can we just change the topic? We have better things to discuss than me helping Ian.”
“I want to kill that guy, but you’re right.”
A trail of grey smoke lingered in the air as he stubbed the cigarette out on the brick beneath his shoe. Sealing the space between us, he clutched my sides, peering down into my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, lacing my fingers together behind his neck.
“I don’t want to talk about what you did in Cali.” Exhaling a shaky breath, I struggled to fight the memory attempting to flood my mind. “I just want you to know that I’mnevergoing to be over you.”
Smiling, he pressed his lips to my forehead. “I know you don’t want to discuss it, so I’ll respect that, but I need you to know that I’m deeply sorry for the pain I’ve caused you. And I wish I could have protected you from the media shit storm.”
“It’s okay. I mean, it was tough, but it was the price of dating you.”
Shaking his head, he tugged me into his chest, draping his arms around me in a tight hug. The familiar fragrance ofhiscologne and hint of cigarettes comforted me after so long. My eyes began to fill, an involuntary sniffle escaping my nose. Peeling himself away, he held my arms.
“Eventually, I feel like we should discuss it, though.” Suddenly, he cocked his head. “Hey, why are you crying?”
Sliding his thumbs across my cheeks, he rested his lips on the corner of my mouth. Instantly, I felt the earlier tension from the private room return, drawing me to him. Smiling, I shook my head, resting my hand on his cheek.
“I don’t know. I missed—”
Chance’s lips crashed into mine, entwining his fingers into my hair. Gripping a handful of my long strands, he pulled my head back. My entire body succumbed to his embrace and dominant touch. He kissed and nibbled down to my shoulder, growling, “I need to have you. You toyed with me earlier.”
“Mmm.” My breath trembling from his tone, I battled to answer coherently. “What if someone sees—”
“I don’t fucking care. I need to be inside you so bad right now. I’d fuck you in front of the world if I could.” His hands slithered up my dress. “Hold on.”
