I’d been ready to move past her drunken slip and actually apologize to her for the way I’d taken off, but then she’d ducked behind the counter when she’d seen me walk in. I don’t know why that made me so irate, maybe because she’d promised she wouldn’t regret anything we did, when clearly she regretted the fuck out of it. But I lost it. I breezed past her and ended up making my cover reason to be there—to talk to Pick—the only reason I was there.
I’d been ready to forget about her completely after that—or, you know, at least try to—but then I’d bumped into her in philosophy class and then she’d bitched me out afterward for ignoring her at Forbidden, when actually, I had kind of thought that’s what she’d wanted me to do since she was the one who’d hidden from me in the first place. But now I had no idea what she wanted. I just knew that whatever I did around her was going to be wrong…which irritated me even more.
Dropping the philosophy class we shared had been tempting, but ridiculous, so I’d stayed on, thinking it was such a large class we’d probably rarely cross paths anyway. Hell, we’d probably run into each other at a party more than we’d be forced to interact in that class.
But I should’ve never had that thought because shit, here we were, running into each other at a party.
Jinxed myself.
I should’ve let her walk on by, but the words of her scolding me earlier after class, telling me I needed to be less contentious, echoed through my head. And before I knew it, I was lifting up my foot to stop her and smarting off some stupid comment about how I was only talking to her because she’d pretty much demanded it and I didn’t want her to bitch me out again.
Except that wasn’t the reason at all. What was worse, I didn’t even know why I felt the pressing need to make her see me and acknowledge me and talk to me. I just knew blood surged through my veins when she turned her glare my way, only for her expression to freeze with shock when she realized who she was looking at.
My heart began to pound and my breathing stalled as if I was actually worried about what I was going to say to her next and how it needed to be exactly the right words. But that wasn’t something I ever worried about, which pissed me off too, so I blurted out the first angry thing that popped into my head.
“You do realize how much you put every guy here in danger by sashaying around dressed like that, don’t you?”
Her wide, surprised eyes squinted, then her eyebrows crinkled with confusion. “Excuse me?”
I swept my gaze over her, every single spectacular inch of her. “You’re lethal, baby doll, and way too gorgeous for your own good. All the guys are going to want to hit on you, and they’re all going to limp away after you reject them and stomp on their testicles with those pointy heels of your boots. It just doesn’t seem fair to them.”
She blinked once before her lips smirked as if I’d complimented her and she was proud to be labeled such a way.
But then she chased it with a scowl.
Focusing on the red Solo cup I held, she swiped it from my grip. “What the fuck are you drinking?” After taking a sip and tasting it, she sighed and shook her head like she was disappointed. “Alcohol? Really?”
I shrugged. “What?”
“Honey, I’ve seen what alcohol makes you do.” My stomach hitched the moment her dark, intense gaze met mine. I knew she was going to do something bold a split second before she tipped the cup down and let the rest of the contents splash out onto the ground. “So no alcohol for you.”
I shook my head and sniffed. Typical. But also kind of hot. The way her brown eyes met mine was full of daring challenge. Red hot, savage challenge. It made my dick hard as a rock.
“I paid three bucks for that,” I said, making sure my expression didn’t alter and give away how much she turned me on.
Keeping eye contact with me, she dug her hand into her pocket and pulled up a roll of cash. After peeling off three ones, she stepped closer, making my body tense with craving. Then she came in closer still, nearly stepping between my parted legs where I sat, and she continued to look me straight in the eye as she slowly tucked the cash into the front pocket of my T-shirt.
I released a breath. My cock throbbed and my skin buzzed with the need to be touched. “You know, you could’ve paid me back another way,” I murmured, lifting my eyebrows in invitation.
I didn’t even think about what I was saying or how I’d labeled her a no-go zone in my mind. I just knew she turned me on like nothing else, and I wanted to taste her again.
God damn. I swear her mouth was like five inches away.
When her lips pursed into a smile, I almost groaned. “Sorry, that would’ve been worth a hell of a lot more than three dollars.”
Shit. The need to tug her in and grind her into my lap was almost painful. “Then you definitely should’ve paid me back another way.”
Her smile only grew, letting me know my words amused her. Then she reached out and traced the longest, blue-painted fingernail I’d ever seen gently along my cheek. I gave a full-body shudder as she murmured, “Be good tonight, Little Gamble.”
“Good?” My lashes wavered as I met her gaze. “What’s the fun in that?”