His gaze is steady on mine. “I won’t put you in the public eye, Fi. Ever.”
I nod, because I know he’ll protect me. That’s his nature. Unfortunately, I know my nature too. “And I don’t know if I’ll be satisfied with a long-distance relationship.” He opens his mouth to talk. I kiss it, quieting him before speaking again. “But I’ll try, Ethan. For you.”
His response is to walk us straight out of the club.
Chapter Thirteen
Dex
Despite wanting to leave the club as fast as humanly possible and find a bed where I can take my time with Fi, we drive home with Gray and Ivy, sitting in the backseat of Ivy’s cavernous SUV.
Gray is a bundle of effusive energy. “Dude, you were like a rock star up there,” he shouts over his shoulder as he drives, making Ivy wince.
“Inside voice, Cupcake.”
He ignores Ivy’s request and keeps on. “You never told me you could sing like that! Jesus, I don’t know what to think about anymore. My honey knows she’s the worst dancer in the world, and Dex is like a fucking rock god.”
That earns him a slap on the head from Ivy and an eye roll from me.
“I’m not that good.”
I’m all too aware of Fi at my side. She’s warm and soft and leaning against my shoulder in total trust.
I’m going to fuck her. The thought is a stark declaration splashed across my mind. It’s all I can do not to burst out of my skin. My heart is beating a frantic, anxious pace, and my dick is throbbing against my leg with impatient need. He wants out and in. I take a breath, ignore his demands.
“I’m just a mimic.”
“A mimic?” Fi asks. Her face flashes in and out of view as we speed past light posts.
“Yeah. I can sing all right, but I basically pretended to be Dan Auerbach up there, used his style and intonations.” I shrug. It was no big deal. So I sounded a bit like the lead singer of The Black Keys. It was fun. “It’s easy being someone else up there.”
Fi looks me over, her gaze penetrating. “And yet you loved it, didn’t you?”
I find myself grinning, remembering the powerful surge of energy and joy that had gone through me, knowing I was entertaining her. “Yeah,” I say quietly, “I did.”
And because I suddenly feel exposed, the car too quiet, I call up to Ivy, “Hey, what happened to the Fiat?”
Ivy and Gray met when Gray borrowed her tiny pink Fiat. The guys had gotten a lot of laughs and given him endless shit when he squeezed his ass into that car.
Ivy’s nose wrinkles with her grin. “Still have her. I don’t think I’ll ever let her go.”
“You’d better not,” Gray says. “That’s our car of love.”
Beside me, Fi makes a gagging face, sticking her finger in her mouth as if she wants to vomit. I chuckle and settle down closer to her, taking her slim hand in mine.
“Anyway,” Ivy drawls, her smile still in place. “When Leo was born I thought it better to have a family car.”
“And I told her it would be over my left nut that we’d get a minivan.” Gray makes a face.
Ivy pats his knee. “And because I like his nuts—”
“Aaand we’re done,” Fi cuts in. Thank God. The word “nuts” calls attention to my own. They’re aching now.
The car’s gone quiet again. Gray turns up the stereo and drives. Which leaves me cocooned in darkness next to Fi. The lazy tones of Flunk drift over us, and my awareness becomes the soft breaths she takes. Her faint scent grows stronger—girly shampoo and a faint musk I realize, with a kick to the gut, is arousal.