THE HEAVY KNOCKING ON MY front door makes me jump. Shane places his fork down and leans back, waiting and ready. I’m sure his every instinct is telling him to lead, but instead, he’s waiting for me to take that role.
“Ten minutes. I figured he would have gotten here quicker than that,” he adds, wiping his mouth and standing. He offers me his hand, helping me to stand from my chair. My lunch feeling unwanted in my stomach now as my nerves make me nauseous. “Trust me, Nikki.”
“I will. I mean, I do. I do trust you, Shane.”
Even through the hardness that he’s holding himself, his touch is tender. “Nothing will ever touch you, Nicole. I mean it. You’ll see that I’m worthy of that trust with time.”
The knocking starts again, this time louder and impatient.
“You ready?”
I answer with a nod of my head. Wrinkles deepen in the corner of his eyes as he smiles a toothy grin at me. I stand mutely when he tugs his sweats lower on his trim hips, his deep V more pronounced and the fact he’s not wearing underwear obvious. He shifts, pulls them even lower, and assesses his handiwork. Then he lifts my hands and pulls my fingers through his hair. He looks tussled and well loved, if I’m being honest.
“Kiss me, mon colibri. Kiss me and let your hummingbird purr.”
Well, who am I to say no to that? As the knocking starts again, I run my hands through his hair again—without his help—and kiss him hard. When he pulls away, there’s no doubt that he’s a man who’s been pleasured and used. I look down, his shirt swallowing me in size. My nipples hard against the cotton, pressing against the fabric, my piercings only highlighting them more. He rubs his knuckles against the stiff peaks, and I look back up.
“This will be the only time that another man sees what you look like right now. If it wasn’t for the point that needs to be made, I would never let it happen, but when he takes a look at you and sees what you give me every time you welcome my touch, he won’t be able to deny who and where you belong.”
“Nik Nac!” I hear bellowed through the door, breaking the moment, followed by more pounding.
“Go open the door, Nikki.”
I nod, walking over and placing my hand on the knob. After a calming breath, I flip the locks with my free hand and pull the door open.
Seth’s rumpled appearance is the first thing I notice. Then I see one of the guys from my neighboring apartments. Thing Two, I think.
“Dude, shut the fuck up!” he yells at Seth. No, that’s Thing Three. Thing Two sounds like a prepubescent boy.
“Fuck you!” Seth calls back.
I pop my head through the open doorway and give my neighbor a small wave. “Sorry about the noise. Won’t happen again.”
He looks at me briefly then glares at Seth. “Yeah, whatever.”
“Don’t look at my girl,” Seth continues, ignoring me.
Thing Three just laughs. “Your girl? Right. Tell that to the other dude who got here earlier, dumbass.” He flips Seth off then he’s gone, door slamming in his wake.
“Hello, Seth,” I tell him calmly, ignoring my strange neighbor. I assume he must have seen Shane earlier. “How are you?”
“What did that motherfucker mean?” he snarls, his cold eyes narrowing as he steps closer.
“Who knows?” I shrug, acting clueless even though my nerves are full blown now. “You wanted to talk, so come in and let’s talk.” I turn from the open door, walking into the middle of my living room. I look over at the kitchen, not seeing any sign of Shane. What the heck?
“Fuck, you look good, Nik Nac,” Seth says, slamming my door; his words making me feel as if I’m cheating on Shane.
It takes everything in me not to cover myself more. I know Shane’s shirt has me covered, but the way Seth is licking his lips and looking all over my body has me feeling sick. No, exposed. And … so very wrong.
“Look, Seth,” I tell him, snapping my fingers when he continues to peruse my body, eyes lingering on my chest. His eyes come up slowly, and he adjusts himself. Gag. “You wanted to talk, so let’s hurry it up. I’m a little busy.”
“Doing what, baby?” he questions, his tone sleazy.
“Me.”
I’m not the only one who startles at Shane’s hard tone. Seth jerks, rocking back on his heels and looks over my shoulder. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost.
“Who the fuck are you?!” Seth thunders. Gone is the lazy way he had slithered in moments before as he puffs his chest and stands taller.
Seth loved the gym when we were together. Part of what had initially attracted me to him had been his muscles. I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth. However, seeing him trying to match Shane in height and build, only to fail miserably, makes me see what I hadn’t since he started to sniff back around me.
He’s let himself go, and honestly, he looks terrible. His hard muscles softer. His abs gone and a small pouch in its place. Even his clothes seem to be too large in some places and too tight in others. For the life of me, I don’t know how someone can change so much. Or how I hadn’t seen it before now.
“It’s real fucking cute that you want to act clueless when I know my girl’s already told you about me.”
Seth’s eyes cut to mine, and I see the anger grow. “You told me to come over!”
I shrug, his accusation not mattering much to me since it’s true; I had told him to come over—at Shane’s request.
“You,” Shane continues, stepping around me and placing his body between me and Seth. The muscles on his back bulging. “You just can’t take a fucking hint, can you? I know she’s told you about me. Pretty sure she told you fucking weeks ago. I know before that she told you to leave her alone, but still, you kept trying to weasel your way in.”
“She’s fucking mine, asshole. Has been for years.”
Shane’s shoulders move, a bark of laughter sounding like a gunshot in my small living room. I push my fingers into the waistband of his gray sweats and press my forehead to his back, gripping the fabric like a lifeline.
“She stopped being yours when you fucked up. Not my problem, though, because of that, she was free to move on. She might have been yours at one point, bud, but I think we both know that stopped being true long before she found you fucking someone else.”
“Bullshit!”
“Though,” Shane sneers, “I can’t for the life of me figure out why you would even think about another woman when you’ve got the best fucking one right at your fingertips.”
I wish I could see Seth’s face. The sputtering he’s doing now, though, is enough to bring a smile to my face. Shane is so getting lucky for this.
“Is that why you’re trying to get her back? Because you realized way too fucking late that you already had perfection?”
“You fucking prick. Perfection? Might as well be fucking a corpse.”
Shane bellows out a laugh then, easing the all too familiar sting of Seth’s words. “Bud, you fucking nuts? She lights up for me. All I have to do is crook my finger and fireworks. Not my fault you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Fuck you!”
“Uh, no. Here’s what’s going to happen, Seth. You’re going to leave her alone. You won’t call, you won’t show up, and you’ll forget this bullshit of trying to get her back. I’m not a man who shares … anything. I’m being nice right now because I feel like maybe you just weren’t smart enough to get a fucking clue before now. I find out you didn’t listen, and I can guarantee you won’t get my kindness the next time. One thing I’m not is stupid. I know what I’ve got, and there isn’t a chance I’m going to fuck it up like you did. Hear me?”
“She fucking asked me over, prick. Who’s the stupid one?”
Shane reaches behind him, gently taking my wrist in his hand and giving me a small tug. “Chèrie, come.”
I release his pants instantly, his honey-rich tone washing over me, my body remembering what happens when I do what he says when he’s using that voice. He isn’t the only one in the room who isn’t stupid. My feet shuffle until I’m at his side then his arm is around me and my softness is pressed against his hard muscles.
“Have you been trying to get this man to leave you alone?”
“I have,” I answer instantaneously, holding Seth’s angry glare with a calm one of my own—nerves no match for Shane’s soothing touch.
“Even before we were together, correct?”
“Yes, honey,” I continue. Seth gets a little more fired at that. I tried, when we had been dating, to give him a cute name. Unlike Shane, who just laughs me off, Seth would get pissed. I doubt he misses the intentional jab.
“And after?”
“You know I did, Shane.”
“Well, bud, you seem to be the one here who’s confused. I’m trying to enjoy lunch with Nikki, and we have to deal with your calls because, yet again, you seem to forget you no longer have the right to place those calls in the first place. So before you try to use that bullshit on me, let it sink in that she invited you here after I asked her to.”
“You know what?” he exclaims through clenched teeth, his hands thrown up in frustration. “The bitch isn’t even fucking worth it!”
Shane’s body gets tight, and I have a feeling he’s done playing Mr. Nice Guy. He presses a quick kiss to my temple then I lose his warmth. His arm is gone from my shoulders, and he’s on the move. Seth, the idiot, doesn’t even realize how badly he’s screwed up until it’s too late. Shane’s hand closes around his neck, and he pushes him into the wall next to my TV with enough force that two of my frames fall off the bookshelf on the opposite side.
“You were doing fine until you called her a bitch. When you leave here, remember this moment because I promise you if we have another run-in, it will end a different way. She isn’t yours. Never will be again. Get it through your dumb-as-fuck skull and find someone else to fuck with. Nikki is off-limits—now and always. Is that fucking clear enough, you piece of shit?”
He ends his deadly calm rant with a jerk of his arm—the same arm holding Seth by the neck. His fingers white against Seth’s neck and I know he isn’t waiting for a verbal answer from him; there’s no way he could get one judging by the way Seth’s eyes are about to bug out of his head. After another stretch of silence, Shane must get what he wants because he releases him just as quickly as he pounced. Seth wavers on his feet, gasping for breath.
“Get the fuck out of here and remember what I said. You so much as breathe in her direction, and you won’t even see me coming before it’s too late.”
He turns his back, giving Seth an even bigger proverbial middle finger by showing him that he doesn’t think he’s a worthy threat. By doing that, he makes it clear that Seth is nothing. It’s the biggest insult you could have given a man like Seth. Shane’s eyes are only for me and mine only for him.
Until Seth proves that he really is as dumb as I thought he was, heaving himself off the wall he had been hunched on to keep his footing while he caught his breath and taking a step forward. My eyes widen, but Shane just smirks.
Then he turns.
I flinch when he steps up, chest to chest … or something like that with the few inches he has on Seth.
“Fuck you,” Seth grunts.
“No thanks, man. I got the best thing already warming my bed.”
Seth’s arm moves, and I cry out, but I should’ve known Shane didn’t need my help. He ducks then comes back up with his arm already moving with him. His fist clocking Seth in the jaw with the force of his momentum blazing behind it. Seth’s head jerks back, and he almost loses his footing.
“You won’t best me. The next time you think that’s a wise move, I would think twice. Get the fuck out of here.”
Seth drools some blood onto his shirt, looks over at me, and then before he can open his mouth, Shane has him by the collar and drags him to the door. He opens it, shoving Seth out. He trips and falls, landing with a bang against the wall opposite my door.
“Last time I’ll say it. Nikki’s moved on. You’re not getting another chance because I’m not fucking going anywhere. You are going to forget about her; do I make myself clear?”
“Fucking crystal, asshole,” he angrily says, spitting some blood onto the ground next to him. He looks over at me, opens his mouth, but Shane beats him to whatever he was about to say.
“Try me,” he venomously sneers, the words cold, hard, and deadly calm.
Seth shakes his head, climbs to his feet, and starts walking away without another word. Shane shuts the door, engages both locks, and presses both his palms against the door before bowing his head and breathing deeply.
For a man who prides himself on his unshakable control, I can only imagine that—on top of what happened earlier—he’s having a hard time with it all. My hands shake, but something deep inside me tells me that he needs me. And I’ll do whatever it takes for the man who is quickly burrowing himself deep in my heart to work through the tightness in his stance—wildness in his eyes.