The Sterling Boys(83)

"Thanks," I mutter when the guy walks off.

"You shouldn't be letting them hang all over you if you don't want them expecting more," he says through a bored tone, but his jaw clenches as if he's pissed.

That makes no sense.

"I was trying to keep you from possibly humiliating me. It seemed best if I had a guy around. I should have picked someone a little soberer," I say shamefully, frowning.

His right eyebrow raises questioningly, and then his panty-dropping smile comes up as he leans down to get right in my face, letting his breath bathe my lips with a taste I shouldn’t want. "You thought that twerp could stop me from doing anything I want to you?"

Was that... seduction? Surely not. He's not trying to seduce me. It's Kode. This is a game.

I swallow hard, denying my body the right to shudder under his heated gaze. There's no way he's looking at me this way. He's fucking with me. He knows I once had a crush on him, but that was years ago—before he tortured me to damn death and grew an unhealthy obsession for my sister.

"Let's play," he says, and my guard goes up a little stronger.

A warning? Kode Sterling doesn't usually warn his victims of his impending attack, and I don't feel like playing his games.

"I knew you were going to—"

"Pool," he says while setting his glass down on the rim of the pool table, interrupting my would-be rant.

My mouth opens and closes a few times as he starts chalking one of the pool cues. What is going on?

"I'd rather not," I murmur, backing up. I'm almost worried he's going to jerk my dress up while I'm bent over the table, just so he can embarrass the fuck out of me in front of everyone here. It would be like high school all over again when he ripped my skirt up in the hallway after a tiff I had with Rain. People still make fun of my hello-kitty underwear.

He smiles a little as his eyes lift up to meet mine.

"It's not a trick, Tria. It's just a game of pool."

He has to be shit-face drunk right now to even think I'd fall for something like that.

"What're you drinking?" he asks.

I glance down at the fourth glass of vodka I've had. I hit the strong stuff once I realized Kode was here.

"Vodka."

He motions for a waitress and he orders us two more glasses of our drinks before he walks over to me, making me falter for my footing. I wish he'd stop looking at me like that. Is this my punishment? What game is he playing?

"Hitting the hard stuff, Tria?" he asks, coming to stand behind me while placing a pool stick directly in front of my body. "One game."

I shiver when my body refuses to be as strong against him as my mind.

"I'll even let you go first," he says, making it sound so much dirtier than necessary as his breath coats my ear with a teasing touch.

Damn him.

"Fine," I mutter while taking the stick away from him, and ignoring his hard as hell length against my back before stepping away. "One game. And if you do anything to embarrass me, I'll break this stick on your balls. Got it?"

Why am I doing this? Any sane girl who knows Kode as well as I do would run away before he can execute whatever terrible plan of torture he has in mind.

"Got it," he says, grinning like he has already won.

I warily step to the other side of the table, and I do my best to focus on breaking the balls. I strike the white ball hard, but it rolls right instead of into the triangle.

Crap.

"Here," he says, walking around the table to come stand behind me again. Damn. Why is he so hard? "You're doing it wrong. Let me show you."

His body rests over mine as he leans against me and wraps his arms around me to change my hold on the stick. "Like this," he says against my ear, pressing harder against me. "And then one easy stroke with just the right amount of force will be perfect."

I swallow hard. I really don't like this game.

The waitress returns with a glass of vodka for me, and I almost run out of the intimate position we're in before I guzzle it down. I should leave. But I can't. My twisted mind keeps wanting him to play with me a little more. I really need to get laid if I'm fantasizing about what it would be like to be bent over a pool table by Kode Sterling.



***

KODE



I'm about to explode. Every time I help her line up her next shot, I press my cock as hard against her as I possibly can. Surely she's felt it by now. She has to be turned on. Doesn't she?

I need a CAT scan.

Maverick and Corbin are still clueless about who I'm with. Apparently they don't recognize her any better than I did, but they're staying on the far side of the bar, completely engulfed by the women around them. I've ignored the curious looks from Raya and Kade. If I don't find a way to fuck Tria and get this over with, I might commit myself to the asylum.