I watched her drive away.
Grinning like a damned fool.
Heart pressing full and pulse pumping wild.
When she disappeared from sight, I roughed a hand down my face like it could rid me of the haze of lust and need, that sweet, sweet spell she had me under, and pulled the door shut behind me as I turned back into the house.
Shock punched the air from my lungs, and I froze, before I was harshly shaking my head.
“Goddamn it, Deak. What the hell is wrong with you? Always slinking around like you’re some kind of peeping Tom. Scared the shit outta me.”
He was sitting at the small round table just on the other side of the bar that separated the living area from the kitchen, his ankle crossed over his knee, rocking back in the chair with a cup of coffee lifted halfway to his mouth. Chest bare and the mess of his wavy, dark blond hair ratted on his head.
“What? A man’s not allowed to enjoy his coffee early in the morning? In his own damned house?”
He said it like he was doing nothing more than flitting the morning away. Relaxing. But the way he was eyeing me was far from casual. The jolt he’d given me quickly morphed into a rustle of disquiet.
One brow quirked just as he cocked his head. “Though seems to me you were enjoying a sample from a different kind of menu this morning.”
Yeah.
Guess I should have expected that. Didn’t mean it didn’t piss me right the fuck off.
“Not any of your business, man.”
“No? Because I could have sworn you and I had a conversation right in this very room just a few nights ago. Seem to recall somethin’ about you promising you had no intention of hurtin’ that girl.”
“That’s exactly what I said and that’s exactly what I meant.”
“So what’s she doin’ sneaking out the door with the sun just coming up?”
I exhaled, hoping it might quell some of the annoyance churning in my gut.
Deak didn’t have the first clue about my intentions. As far as he saw, she was just another chick skating out at dawn, never thought of again.
I raked a hand over my head, moved across the floor toward the kitchen. “I also told you there was all kinds of history between us that you don’t know about.”
“Yeah, mate? And what kind of history is that?”
Felt like a lifetime of history.
Forever.
I grabbed a mug from the cabinet, poured a cup of coffee, hiked a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “She’s my girl.”
Simple as that.
And so fucking complicated it made my head spin.
He needn’t know any of that.
A disbelieving chuckle fell from him and he sat forward. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, man, that’s so.”
Damian was suddenly lumbering down the hall, scrubbing a hand over his face, looking about as irritated as I felt. “What the hell, assholes? Anyone ever heard of a little thing called ‘respect your roommate’? Because there I was, having about the best damned dream I think I’ve ever head, and all of a sudden we’re interrupted by two voices that did nothing but kill the mood. So not cool. Not cool at all.”
I stirred a shot of creamer into my coffee, smirked his direction. “Glad you’re at least getting some in your dreams, my friend.”
“Hey…I’ll take what I can get. And believe me, this was a lot.”
He held both hands up, palms out and stretched like they were mitts.
Dirty paws, no doubt.
Taking a sip, I stifled a laugh. “You’re hopeless, Dam.”
“Nah, man. This boy here doesn’t have anything if he doesn’t have hope. I’m just practicing.”
You’d think he was twelve and not twenty-four. But there wasn’t an ounce of disgrace in his admission, his grin all kinds of wide. Just as fast as it’d come, that grumbling displeasure had vanished, and he was pouring his own coffee and clapping me on the back. “What’s on the agenda today?”
Deak pointed at me. “Our boy here was just telling me about his girl, weren’t you, Austin?”
Damian frowned, slanting me an eye. “Which girl?”
Asshole so knew which girl.
The one that made me crazy with want. The one who’d had me so tightly wound I couldn’t see straight. Last night she’d finally let me spin.
“Edie.”
“So the girl.”
See, Damian had it right.
Deak?
Not so much.
Because he was looking at me like he was imagining the two of us in a ring, going a few rounds.
“Worked with her for the last couple years, mate,” he said. “Told you before, she’s a good girl. Doesn’t need you mucking her up the way you like to do. And I’m pretty sure Jed-boy called dibs a long time ago. He’s been waiting for her for a long damned time.”
Well, I’d been waiting longer.
Deak continued, “From where I’m sittin’, seems to me you’re asking for trouble.”
Trouble.
Yeah.
That girl was disorder and the perfect kind of chaos.
Sweet as sin.
Soft as snow.
Firelight.
Sighing, I forced myself to keep my cool and not let loose on my friend. “Pretty sure dibs weren’t Jed’s to call. She’s a woman, not a fuckin’ toy.”
Deak cracked a smile. “Well, well, well…someone’s getting all riled up over a girl. Never thought the sun would rise on this kind of day.” He sat back like it was settled. “Get you, man. Better on you than me. Just watch your back, because I consider her a friend, and I won’t hesitate to kick your arse if you do her wrong. Bettin’ Jed won’t for that matter, either.”
“Won’t be necessary.”
That was a promise I’d damned well keep.