My sister and best friend were married.

They were married and so deeply in love, and for the first time in my entire life, I felt truly jealous of what they had.

We had been celebrating for the last hour or so, and Staci had managed to avoid me for the entirety of it. She had barely even looked my way.

But I was tired of it.

Livy and Parker were out on the dance floor, and Staci was taking a shot at the bar with Brandon. She had been drinking since we had arrived at the club. Far more than I had ever seen her drink before.

I walked up beside her at the bar and reached for the next shot she was about to take. She narrowed her eyes at me as I threw it down my throat, but she didn’t say a word to me. She just held out her hand for the bartender and ordered another shot.

I could tell she was drunk, and I knew that it wasn’t the time or place to have an argument with her, but I couldn’t just stand back there watching her while she pretended like I didn’t exist.

“I think you’ve had enough. Don’t you?”

Brandon raised his eyebrows before he picked up his own drink off the bar and walked away.

“I’m pretty sure I already have a dad, Mason, but thank you for your concern.” She patted my chest with her hand, and I felt that touch like a brand.

“Do you?” I cocked an eyebrow at her.

“I wouldn’t know considering you never tell me anything.”

She started to turn away from me, but I touched her cheek to stop her. “Like where the hell have you been for the last three weeks?”

“I went home to see my dad.” She pulled her face away from my touch.

“Just like that. You decided to go and left without saying anything.”

“I don’t have to tell you what my plans are, Mason. I don’t owe you any sort of explanation.”

“Don’t you?”

She looked away from me again, but I wasn’t done with her.

“So, what? You get to tell me to fuck off and because you said so, I’m supposed to just stop having feelings for you?”

“You don’t have feelings for me, Mason.” She stepped away from me, but I followed her.

“You don’t get to tell me what I feel.”

She kept walking ahead of me, but I knew she could hear my words. I knew they were affecting her.

“Just stop, Mason.” She spun toward me and I almost ran into her. “I’m done talking about this. I’m going to my room. Just let me go. Okay?”

“Okay.” She looked as shocked by my words as I felt. “But you’re not walking to your room alone. I’ll walk you there then I will leave you alone.”

She rolled her eyes, but she didn’t argue as she led the way to our rooms that were all beside each other.

We walked down the hallway to the elevator which was packed with people who were either leaving the club or the casino, and I couldn’t help but smile when she was forced to stand right on top of me due to the lack of space.

Her arms were crossed and she refused to look at me as the elevator stopped floor by floor letting people off, and as soon as there was enough room, she moved away from me as if she was on fire.

An older gentleman at the other side of the elevator raised an eyebrow at me. “Lover’s quarrel?”

Staci’s gaze jumped up to him before she turned to look at me.

“Something like that.”

Staci huffed, but the man just continued.

“My wife has always been stubborn as a mule too, but let me tell you, son, she’s worth it.”

I started to reply to him, but Staci beat me to it. “I am not stubborn, and I am not his lover.” She hiked her thumb over her shoulder to point at me.

“Could have fooled me, sweetheart.” He winked at her as the elevator came to a stop, and he walked off.

“The nerve of some people,” Staci mumbled to herself but still didn’t look at me.

When the elevator finally stopped on our floor, she was walking out the door before it had completely opened.

I could feel the anger rolling off her, but I didn’t know what the hell she had to be angry about. If anyone had the right to be angry, it was me. Not her.

She stopped mid-stride down the hallway and turned toward me with her finger in the air. “You know what?” Then she shook her head and kept walking.

“What, Staci? What could you possibly have to be angry about?”

She pulled her keycard out of her handbag, and I watched her hand shake as she readied it to go in the door.

“You don’t think I have a right to be angry? I have every fucking right.” She pushed the key in the door and the little lights turned green.

“Then tell me why? Why the hell are you angry?”

“Because.” She practically growled before she looked up at me. Really looked at me for the first time since we had been in Vegas, and I could see something inside her breaking.

She took a step toward me, and I let her as she pushed me against the wall right outside her door. She pressed her lips against mine in a rush. Her teeth hit my bottom lip as she desperately clung to me, but I didn’t stop her. I let her take what she needed from me. I let her take and take and take until I wasn’t sure what I would have left to give her. It was both heaven and hell.

I could taste the liquor on her lips along with her lust. I could taste her need. Her need for me to take away whatever she was feeling. Her need to use me.

“I’m not sleeping with you.” I gripped her arms in my hands and gently pushed her away from me.

“What?” She pushed her hair out of her face, and she looked so angry in that moment. I was glad. We could both be angry. “Why not?”

“For one, you’re drunk. Two, I’m not going to let you keep using me.”

She reared back as if I had slapped her. “Fuck you, Mason.”

I advanced on her until her back hit the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. “I would, you know,” I whispered against her ear and watched as chill bumps broke out across her skin. “I would fuck you so good if you would stop pushing me away.”

She closed her eyes and tried to block out my words, but I leaned closer into her.

“If you just want me to fuck you, then fine. I’ll fuck you. But this will be the last time.” I could feel my anger for her boiling to the edge. “You can treat me like one of your one-night stands, and this time, I will know the score.”

The words tasted disgusting on my lips. I hated them, and I regretted them as soon as I said them.

She was looking up at me, her eyes filled with pain and I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached out to touch her, to feel her skin beneath my fingers, and she flinched. She flinched as if I was going to hurt her.

I pulled my hand away from her and searched her eyes. “Staci?”

My voice was broken, as broken as I felt, but I couldn’t keep the emotion out of my voice. I couldn’t handle the way watching her flinch away from me as if I was some monster made me feel.

“Please, Mason.” She wiped a tear from her eye that was just starting to fall.

“I’m sorry.” I took a step back from her. “I’m sorry for what I said. I would never hurt you.”

She nodded her head, but it was weak and lost. “I know that. I know. I’ve just had too much to drink, and I need sleep.”

“Okay.” I took another step away from her and toward my own room.

Whatever Staci was keeping from me and whatever the fuck we were feeling for each other, it was all too much for her. I could see it in her eyes. I could practically feel how tired she was from whatever it was she was going through. So, I didn’t push her. Instead, I walked to my room and pulled out my own keycard.

I was one step through the doorway when her voice called out to me.

“Mason.” She sounded so weak and so unlike the girl she normally was.

“Yes, Staci.”

“Can you just hold me tonight?”

I was back out into the hallway before she could say another word, and I watched tears fill her eyes as I scooped her into my arms and carried her into my room. Neither one of us took off the clothes we were wearing. It wasn’t even a thought. I just cradled her against my chest as I climbed into my bed and pulled the blanket over us. My hands held her firmly against me as she cried, and I promised her that I would never let go of her. And I meant every word.