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“I know that,” Isaid.
I did kinda know. Was really nice to know it for sure,though.
“Anyway,” he added, “I don’t fuck women who’ve beendrinking.”
He looked so fucking serious I almost held back the laugh. “Right. Smoke potmuch?”
“Totally different. Doesn’t bother me thesame.”
“Bother?”
That’s what we were callingit?
I’d seen the man drunk, pretty much constantly, for the first few months I knew him, andbotherdidn’t even begin to touch the state he got into after afew.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said, breaking eye contact. “Temptation isn’t the right word, but since I don’t have a better one… booze and women together… that’s a temptation I just can’thack.”
Shit.
Shit.
My incredulous laughter died as I suddenly sobered. And now I felt even worse for jumping on him… and shoving my pickled tongue down histhroat.
Okay, not like I was drunk or anything, butstill.
It wasn’t as if I knew when I drank that vodka that Zane was gonna show up and cockblock Coop, much less that I was gonna throw myself at him and attack his face. If I’d known that, I would’ve left the boozealone.
Butstill.
It was extremely impressive that Zane hadn’t taken a drink in almost six years, especially when you considered the world in which he lived, and I was proud of him for that, but we both knew those six hard-fought years of sobriety could come screaming to an end with a single sip. Which was why I wasn’t letting him off that easy,either.
“No? How about women who snort coke off the kitchencounter?”
He stared at me, unfazed. “I got rid of them, Maggie. What more do you want me to say? If I knew you were here, I wouldn’t have brought them up.” It was decent of him to say, and I knew he meantit.
And therein lay the most dangerous thing about ZaneTraynor.
That being, that I was just masochistic enough to care about his ass, which made him and everything he did a threat to my well-being… especially when he looked at me like he was doing right now; like he cared about me, even more than he cared about getting laid. And Zane cared about getting laid alot.
“Look, we can’t have shit between us, Maggs. So let’s just get this out.” He took a final hit off his joint and mashed out the little roach in one of the big tacky planters shaped like a smiling sun. “Take your fucking sunglassesoff.”
I took them off, casually, like I’d been meaning to do it anyway. Actually, I’d forgotten I was wearingthem.
It wasn’t as dark out on the patio as I thought. The twinkly lights dangling along the walls really lit it up. It was kinda magical,really.
Romantic.
Too bad I wasn’t gonna get to enjoy it likethat.
“Didn’t mean to push you away, Maggie,” he said, his tone soft and sincere. “Really fucking sorry about that.” He stared at me a long, long moment, unflinching, his cool blue eyes burning into mine. “You feel me onthat?”
“Yeah, Zane,” I said softly. “I feelyou.”
Maybe a little toomuch.
Chapter Four
Maggie
