Mixed Up(35)

He'd kiss me anyway.

I didn't give him the word.

He didn't say it either.

He pushed off the wall, away from me, and stormed away without another word.



       
         
       
        

Heaviness lingered as I watched him go. A heaviness I didn't want to feel. One I had no right to feel.

It was because of the situation. That was what I was going to tell myself. It wasn't because his mouth had been inches from mine. No way.

I took a deep breath and headed back for the bar. Getting out there was the only thing I could do. It was busy enough that it would keep my mind off whatever the hell had just happened.

The noise and busyness of the bar hit me like a freight train. It was almost as if being inside the kitchen had been like another world. An alternate universe, actually.

"Raven?" Sienna asked, catching my eye. "You good?"

With a firm nod, I headed back to work.





CHAPTER TEN

Parker





The morning came like the bright, cheery bitch that summer in Florida was. Not that summer in New York wasn't great, but Florida had it beat. Except the afternoon storms, which were ironically more welcome than a nuisance. If you were unlucky enough to be out in the humidity all day long, that was.

I'd barely been back here for a week, yet so much had happened.

Loss of my sanity had happened. Inability to think rationally had happened.

Raven Archer had happened.

And she had me fucked up.

She wasn't what I'd expected when I'd come home. I knew that now more than ever. She was so much stronger and controlled than I remembered, and the girl I was once able to walk over, I could barely push back a step. She had a bite that matched her bark. Maybe it even surpassed it. I wasn't sure I'd felt the full force of what she had to give just yet. Whether she was saving it for a rainy day or I hadn't pushed her to that yet, I didn't know.

But, I'd seen it in her eyes when I'd pinned her to the wall. I'd seen the fire that burned in their depths, and I could still feel its heat.

When Raven Archer snapped, she was going to burn the world down with her. And it would be all my fault.

I needed to stop. I'd already gone too far. I'd already gone beyond my own line of what was right.

If I was honest, none of it was fucking right. It was childish, especially for a man who was almost thirty. There was something about her, though, and now, I knew was it was.

Temptation.

I couldn't have her, so I wanted her more. More than I'd ever wanted anyone. It was clichéd to fuck, but I didn't care. Something about the way she looked at me when she got annoyed sparked something deep inside me.

The fuckboy's number from the bar? Bullshit. I made it all up-except the girlfriend part. He had a girlfriend alright, and while I didn't believe for a second Raven wanted his number for anything more than business purposes, I didn't want her having his number at all. 

Of course, it'd backfired.

She'd called me on it, and I'd had no choice but to hand it over.

I didn't know why that pissed me off so much. I had no claim to her, no matter how tempted I was. I could tell myself it was because she was Ryan's sister, but there was only so long I could use that excuse. There was only so long I could tell myself that before I wasted my own damn time.

It was because I wanted her.

I wanted her.

I couldn't have her.

Problem was, I didn't want anyone else to have her, either.

I was selfish, and I didn't give a fuck. The more time I spent with her, the stronger I felt about her. I still didn't even fucking like her. I tolerated her at best, but now, disliking her was less about her being her, and more about myself.

I disliked her because resisting her was impossible. Because I was getting weaker. Because I was so fucking close to giving in and tasting her.

I couldn't.

But soon, I would. I knew I would.

And there wouldn't be a damn thing I could do to stop myself.





***





I blinked at the sight before me. "What are you doing?"

Raven dragged her eyes from the instructions she was holding and met my gaze. "Building."

"What is it?" I scanned the pieces that were strewn across the back area. "And why are you doing it yourself?"

"A pool table. Uff!" She pulled something that resembled a leg and looked like it weighed a ton toward her. "And I'm doing it myself because I'm an independent woman."

I folded my arms and leaned against the wall. "Your dad is busy and Ryan wouldn't help."

A heavy sigh escaped her red lips. Did she ever take that lipstick off?

"My dad is fishing and my brother is an asshole," she said after a moment. "This thing is really heavy, but I have to build it, because I don't have anywhere to store it."