Boyfriend Bargain(21)

I’m outright giggling. “Dude, I can’t even bend over.”





* * *



After picking up some donuts, I drive to Z’s, and I have a hard time finding a parking place. I end up on the side of the road one block over, and I curse myself for not agreeing to let Z come pick me up. While it was kind of him to offer when he texted me today, I like knowing I can leave when I want to.

The house is lit up as I turn the corner, shivering from the gust of cold wind as I cross my arms over my North Face.

Finally at his house, I walk up the sidewalk and open the door. It’s loud inside with music blaring over a sound system that I can’t see. Happy Birthday Eric! is written on a gold banner strung up on the wall near the staircase, and black and gold balloons float around the room.

There’s a coat rack overflowing with jackets, so I fold mine up and tuck it neatly inside the hall closet. “Stay safe, Coat.”

I feel exposed in my dress, as if I’m on display. Several girls are huddled in a pile on the couch in the den, and I search their faces for anyone familiar I might know, but it’s pointless. I don’t know these people. One of the girls turns around to get a look at me, and my eyes narrow. Veronica. She sniffs, turns her nose up, and whispers to one of the other girls.

I’m almost to the kitchen when she gets up and cuts me off, giving me an overly bright smile.

I blink. “Hi?”

Dressed in a slinky black pantsuit with a silver sash around the middle, she looks sophisticated and snooty. She’s wearing her I smell something bad expression.

She arches a brow and looks down at the donuts.

“They’re for Eric.”

“I see. How thoughtful. I’ll take them and put them on the food table,” she says, pulling them from my grasp.

“Okay.” Whatever. I let them go. I’m sure at some point, Eric will see them, and I feel awkward carrying them around in the crowded house anyway.

I go to step around her but she moves in front of me.

“Yes?”

She gives me a condescending smile, her eyes running from the top of my hair down to my shoes. “Just wanted to tell you to enjoy yourself tonight. After all, who knows how much longer you’ll be with Z. He tends to go through girls on a regular basis.”

She doesn’t know about the agreement we made, and I’m glad.

I bat my lashes, playing her game just as well as she does. I know her type. She can’t have Z, and she doesn’t want anyone else to get him either. “Oh, I know. Thanks for reminding me that he’s quite the player. And his one-month deal? Suits me just fine. Bye now.”

Then I’m shoving past her and into the packed kitchen. There’s a makeshift bar set up on the table, and a girl wearing one of the player’s jersey is pouring drinks for everyone. Easing in between people, I grab a glass of punch and pretend to drink. Someone jostles into me from the side and some of it sloshes out of the cup, splattering down my dress.

I glance up, but whoever it was has already gotten away. I exhale, trying to wipe at the fabric. At least the dress is a dark burgundy color so it doesn’t show up.

“I’m already regretting this,” I mutter to myself.

Eric appears at my side, his hair tousled as if someone’s had their hands in it. He picks me up and twirls me around as much as he can. “You came! I told Z you’d chicken out.” He leans down conspiratorially. “Did you bring me a gift? If not, that’s totally fine since we told everyone no gifts, and I’ll take a little kiss instead.” He points to his cheek. “Right here will do just fine.”

I brush my lips against his skin and step back. “I brought donuts, but Veronica confiscated them.”

His eyes go around the room as if looking for someone. He shakes his head at me. “Ah, man, Z must have it bad for you.”

“Why do you say that?” I ask, sipping my drink, doing my best to relax and blend in.

“Because he’s staring at us right now.” He grins, a bit maniacally. “I love it when he gets riled up—which doesn’t happen much when it comes to girls.”

I look around the room. “Where?”

Eric wiggles his eyebrows and tilts his head toward the stairs. “Up on the ledge. I guarantee he saw you when you first came in, and I’m dashing before he kicks my ass.” He goes to leave but turns back around, his face serious. “Also, don’t hurt him, okay? I’m not sure he can take it.”

How would I hurt him?

“He’s the one with a girl of the month,” I say.

Eric winces. “Is he really? That’s mostly gossip, you know, and I don’t know of any girl who has a bad word to say about him—other than maybe Veronica on a bad day—so that pretty much clears that up.” He continues, lowering his voice. “He’s just got a lot going on with hockey. We didn’t win a championship last year, and it’s important to him that we do this year.”

I nod, seeing the slightly worried, earnest expression on his face. “Okay.”

And then he’s off, his head bobbing through the crowd as he makes his way to the back door where people are spilling out onto the deck.

I turn and look for Zack on the steps, my eyes going up to the top of the staircase, and there he is, his face in a bit of a scowl. Wearing a pair of low-slung jeans and a tight black shirt with the HU Lions logo on the sleeve, he draws the eye—straight to his muscled chest and those rock-hard abs below it. He motions with his head for me to come to him.

You come to me, my eyes say, and his nose flares.

Even though I know he’s annoyed, even that small action makes my heart jump. He’s like dynamite, and I never know what’s going to set him off.

Why do I like it?

I lift my shoulders in a nonchalant shrug and take a sip of my drink.

He exhales a breath and eases down the stairs, pushing past the people who’ve taken up residence there. A girl calls his name and while he gives her a smile, I know it isn’t real, because I’ve seen his real smiles. He keeps moving, coming down, and I eat him up. What man has the right to look that damn good? Lithe and graceful, he jumps the last three steps and lands at the bottom, and never once has he taken his gaze off me. I swallow. It’s intimidating to be the center of his undivided attention, and I wonder if all his girlfriends get this treatment. There’s an earthy, dominant warrior quality to him, one that calls to the softness in me. He’s confident and has purpose, and shit, he wants me. I know it in the way he can’t take his eyes off me.

I count the seconds it takes for him to cross the room. One, two, three, four, five and here he is. I try to speak—even a hello would do—but nothing comes out.

Why does he make me so tongue-tied?

“About time you got here,” he says in a gruff voice.





18





Zack





My cock gets hard the second she walks in the door, her face uncertain as she looks for a place to stash her coat. I’ve never known someone who was so attached to a coat. Maybe it’s a Southern thing. It makes me want to dig deeper into her past, into her family and figure out who she really is.

Her dress blows my mind, tight and short and hugging her tits.

The entire day I’ve been itching to see her, and my eyes follow her, taking in the long legs and the way her blonde hair spills down her back.

My hand is shaky as I stick it in my pocket. I want her. I fucking want her and it has shit to do with any resemblance. She ticks all my boxes. She’s introverted and awkward and funny—everything I didn’t know I liked—and her luscious lips with that indentation on the bottom are made for kissing me.

My breathing deepens, watching her face as she speaks to Veronica, and the male in me wants to jump over this railing and get between them. Something in her expression makes me pause, though, and I watch as she handles Veronica with a smirk on her face. Good job, babe. I smile as she flips around and flounces into the kitchen, ass swinging. Veronica glares after her, color rising on her cheeks.

I lean down to watch her walk into the kitchen. Between hockey and therapy, we’ve spent scant time together lately, but I want to change that.

I know she doesn’t know what to think of me yet, but I’m not giving up. There’s no quit in me. I’m a persistent, stubborn sonofabitch, and I’m going to be the last man standing until she’s mine and in my bed.

Reece comes up behind me and exhales.

I can feel his displeasure even though I’m not taking my gaze off her.

He leans over the rail with me. “You’re playing a dangerous game, brother.”

“So you’ve said a hundred times already.”

He sighs. “Look at her. She could be Willow’s sister, man, and you don’t get a redo with someone who’s dead.” He pauses. “She makes me uncomfortable.”

“I’m well aware that she looks like her. That isn’t what this is. If you got to know her like I do, you’d see what I mean.”

He holds his hands up. “Really? Are you listening to yourself? I know you’ve been having nightmares. I hear you. You’re willing to do anything to make those stop.”

“You don’t understand.” My hands tighten, and I look over at him. He’s been walking on eggshells with me since the night I kissed Sugar in front of everyone at the Tipsy Moose, and I’ve been too busy to address it. Frankly, I have too much on my plate right now to indulge his pettiness. Dr. Cole says I need to remove stressors from my life, and fuck if he isn’t one. Sugar isn’t.