LITMIR.BIZ

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      She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Because Gabe is blowing it up. My mom invited his parents to Brookside Country Club for dinner next weekend and they expect us both to be there. He has it in his head that we should ride up there together and won’t leave me alone about it, so I turned my phone off because he’s making me crazy and I don’t even want to go in the first place.”

      A cocktail waitress chose that moment to walk by so the girls ordered drinks and I got another beer. I pressed Shaw closer to my side and turned so that we were facing each other.

      “So what are you going to do about it?”

      She flattened a palm on the center of my chest right over my heart and looked up at me with sad, green eyes. “I don’t know. I have to go or my mom will make my life hell, but I don’t want to be anywhere near Gabe. I’m trying to just ignore the entire thing.”

      “That’s not going to work for long.” I liked the way she fit next to me, like she was custom-made to be right there.

      “I know.” The waitress dropped off drinks, and Ayden grimaced as the first band started. I laughed and poured her another shot.

      “Just power through the first two; I promise Jet’s band is really good.”

      She made a face. “I like stuff with a little more twang and a lot more banjo.”

      We all laughed a little. “Just help Nash finish the tequila, that’ll get you through it and if it gets too bad I bet Jet has earplugs we can go snag for ya.” She said something I didn’t catch but made Nash laugh hysterically, so I turned back to Shaw. I gave an internal shiver when I noticed she was having some kind of girly stare down with the blonde from earlier. I curled my hand all the way around her waist and yanked until she was pressed full body against me.

      “Hey, don’t.”

      “It’s not like she has to be so obvious about it.”

      “Shaw, look around. There are at least ten guys sitting no less than five feet away I can actually see undressing you with their eyes. It’s cool. I’m hanging with you, not her, and you’re here because of me, not them. That’s what matters, right?”

      She made a face at me, which made me want to suck on her bottom lip. I reached up and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. It felt like satin and immediately slipped back out. “I’ve never waited around for a week to spend time with a girl I’m into before; frankly it blows, and I want to spend time with you.”

      “I really am sorry we ran late. I had to do some work to get Ayden to agree to come. This really isn’t her scene; mine either for that matter, but I’m glad we’re here.”

      She ran her index finger over the tattoo of the phoenix that was sticking out of the sleeve of my T-shirt on my biceps. “I want to spend time with you, too, Rule. I’m sorry my life is so hectic.”

      “Don’t worry about it.” I slid my hand under the heavy fall of her hair and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “So, are you going to come home with me tonight or what?” If she said no there was a good chance I was going to have to take a cold shower before I could get my jeans off. Her green eyes were brilliant as they gazed back up at me. Never had a girl, especially a girl I had known for so long, been able to keep me guessing as to what she was thinking. Shaw was a hard one to read; her eyes just seemed to be reflecting back what I was feeling instead.

      “We took a cab so as long as I make sure Ayden is cool that can definitely be an option.” Her voice had dropped to an even huskier octave and I thought it was possible I had never heard anything sexier. I grunted in approval like the Neanderthal I was and let my hand fall from her waist to the curve of her ass.

      The four of us chatted and had a couple more rounds while we all suffered through the first and second band. The second one would have been all right if the lead singer had focused more on trying to sing than looking a part, but mostly they just hollered and jumped around for an hour until Ayden was ready to jump onstage and wrestle the microphone from the poor girl. I was surprised how fun it was to just hang out. Ayden was funny and sarcastic and she and Nash bounced barbs back and forth like they had been friends for years. By the time Enmity was setting up, the Patrón was gone and the two of them were loaded.

      Shaw was quieter and was watching everyone and everything around her. She asked questions and responded when engaged in conversation, but for the most part she just kept an eye on what was going on rather than fully participating in it. At one point I almost started a brawl. I had gone to the bathroom and Nash had slipped out to smoke. We were only gone for a minute, but by the time I got back to the table some sweaty metal head was trying to press up on Shaw.

      I wasn’t the type that got jealous. I mean I’d lived my entire life not being as good as my twin, so I couldn’t understand the murderous rage that was suddenly flowing through me, the sudden need to claim something, to announce to the world that she was mine. Luckily, Nash got to the table first and sent the guy on his way in no uncertain terms, because chances are I would have pulverized him and ended up spending the night in jail. Still, when I got back to the table I yanked Shaw up to the tips of her fancy-ass blue shoes and planted a kiss on her pretty, pink mouth hard enough that my lip ring stung. I thought maybe she would pull back, maybe give me crap for acting like an idiot, but she just gripped my shirt in her tiny hands and let me do what I had to do. When I finally set her back down her eyes looked glassy and she was flushed. She slicked her tongue over her bottom lip and settled back into my side.

      “Gotta tell you, Rule, I’m a fan of kissing with all that metal in your face. I never thought that was something I would be into, but you sure make it work.”

      Oh man, that was the hottest thing I had ever heard, ever. I hooked an arm around her shoulder.

      I chuckled at her dry remark but didn’t bother to deny what the overt action had been about. We continued to chat and have a great time, but by the time the house lights went down and Jet was ready to hit the stage, I had had enough of friend time and wanted alone time with just her. Unfortunately, Jet knew how to put on a good show and even though Ayden claimed that the racket the band was making could in no way be called music, it only took two songs to have her dragging Shaw up to the front of the stage with her.

      The band was loud and aggressive and blazed from song to song, but Jet was a good-looking guy and knew how to work a crowd, so it didn’t surprise me that when the girls ran off there had been a drunkenly interested gleam in Ayden’s eyes. Unfortunately, it also left me alone to deal with my plastered best friend.

      “You gonna make it?”

      Nash’s violet eyes were at half-mast and I was pretty sure that if the table wasn’t available to hold him up he would be face-first down on the floor. This is what I normally looked like after a night of hard drinking, and it was slightly startling to see it from the other side.

      “Huh?” His words were mumbled and unfocused and I saw visions of sexy time going up in smoke and replaced with the reality that I was going to have to manhandle him back to the apartment and get him in a bathroom, like, right now.

      “Bro, you better not yak in my truck. Let me go find the girls and let them know we have to go.”

      “Smhhh …” Okay, it was mission critical to get him out of here before the tequila came back up. I sighed and started toward the stage only to be intercepted before I got there by the blonde from earlier. Now that Shaw was here and my head—not what was in my pants—was in control I could clearly see there was no comparison between the two. Shaw was flawless and pretty in a way that didn’t require five pounds of makeup and clothes that exposed more than they covered. She was also charmingly unaware of the effect she had on the opposite sex, where this girl was here to be seen and appreciated. She put a finger on the center of my chest and blinked heavily lashed eyes at me.

      “Hey.”

      “Uh … hi.” I would have just stepped around her, but the bar was packed and the band was making the crowd go crazy. People were jumping up and down and banging their heads all around, so unless

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