called to me.
I jumped, then forced a smile as my face heated. “Right, well, see you around.”
Then I hurried away, legs shaking, while his gaze burned into the back of me until I was finally out of sight.
Chapter Eight
Jesse
The Mule was at capacity, the bar thrummed with energy, and the band seriously kicked ass.
My gaze slid to the packed dance floor again and I ground my teeth.
Usually, I loved this shit.
Tonight, I was in Hell.
Lila was here with Eves, Trix, and Addie. They all loved to dance. Whenever the opportunity arose, they hit the dance floor and stayed there. Trix let it all hang out, more confidence than any one human had a right to. With her colorful tats, curves, and a style that was all her own, she drew attention wherever she went. Addie was tall with wild, curly black hair, smooth, bronze skin, and legs for days. Same thing. The girl drew attention.
And then there were Eves and Lila. Curvy, bouncy, hot little vixens who had no idea just how hot they actually were.
Lila had her long, dark hair down, and she was wearing her contacts tonight. Christ, those beautiful brown eyes surrounded by long, curled lashes were fucking shouting, “I’m innocent, despoil me!”
I guess she had a kind of Zooey Deschanel thing going on, especially when she wore her glasses—only hotter, and a fuck of a lot curvier. The girl did it for me. Just looking at her made me restless, had adrenaline pumping through my veins right to my dick.
Everything in me yelled to go after her, claim her, make her mine. But then my brain would yell back, “Stay the fuck away from her, asshole, you’ll only screw up her life.”
I’d already hurt her.
My gaze moved over Lila again. I’d arrived an hour ago and she hadn’t looked at me. Not once. Why did that piss me off so much? Because you’re a selfish asshole, that’s why.
My gut clenched. Lila used to look at me like…shit, I made her world brighter just by being in the same room as her. No one had ever looked at me like that. I’d lived most of my life feeling like I was nothing. Shit, my old man told be every single day that’s exactly what I was.
And then that sweet girl had aimed her beautiful brown eyes at me, and I’d felt things I didn’t know I could. It’d scared the hell out of me. She’d seen something in me, something…more. She hadn’t just seen the ink, the club colors, a walk on the wild side. And I’d…yeah, I’d liked that a whole fuck of a lot.
I wanted her to look at me like that again. I wanted to feel the way only she could make me feel. So yeah, selfish asshole didn’t cover it.
Before Lila, I hadn’t cared about much: what I did, what could happen to me, who I fucked. I’d screwed around, a lot. That didn’t cut it anymore. Lila had ruined me. I didn’t want anyone else. And making sure I didn’t end up in a shallow grave had become kind of important as well.
She threw her head back and laughed at something Eves said. Christ, the way she moved made my balls throb. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright, and as she danced, her soft tits bounced in a way I’d imagined they’d move while I fucked her.
“Riff!”
I turned around a moment before Sofia launched herself at me. I caught her, frowning. “What’re you doing here, Soph?”
“I wanted to party!”
By the way she was slurring her words, she already had been.
“Who brought you?”
“I came with some of the guys.” Then she was off, pulling Manic onto the dance floor. He stood there, expression grim, as she danced around him.
“Couldn’t get her to stay behind,” Tiny said. “Girl needed to blow off some steam.”
I gritted my teeth. “Not like this. You should’ve called me first.”
Tiny was pissed off, but I didn’t give a shit.
“She’s my family, you ask me first,” I growled, close to smashing my fist into his face.
“I’m here for beer and pussy, don’t need this shit,” Tiny said and headed for the bar.
Yep, I was going to beat the fuck out of that prick. Wasn’t the first time he’d done something to piss me off. Sofia was still in a bad place—confused, sad, lost—she didn’t need to be drinking right now.
I tried several times to get her to come sit with me. She refused. When Manic had enough, I was forced