the light switch and closed the door behind me. I threw Jamie’s gift on the counter and leaned on Skye’s cool porcelain sink. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Sometimes I wished my happiness weren’t dependent on how other people felt about me. Wouldn’t life be easier if we weren’t all so preoccupied with the need to be loved, the need to be needed?
And if I was so desperate to be loved and needed, why didn’t I keep kissing Wex?
The door to the bathroom flew open, jerking me out of my musings. I jolted in fright.
The sight of Jamie storming through and slamming it shut made my breath catch.
There were those butterflies again.
And the heat … the heat that was always missing when someone else kissed me flared to life just being in Jamie’s presence.
At night, in bed, under the cover of darkness, when I slipped my hand beneath my underwear and touched myself, I did it imagining it was Jamie.
There is nothing wrong with my body, I reminded myself.
It was just my desire wired inextricably to my heart.
Even with him standing there pissed about something, I wanted him.
“Jamie?”
He dragged his gaze down my body, lingering on my cleavage, before traveling south, leisurely. Almost insultingly.
I stiffened. “What is it?”
Those ocean eyes came back to mine.
Was it Wex?
My breath caught at the thought. No. It couldn’t be.
“Jamie?”
“So, you put on a sexy dress and suddenly my teammates are fair game?”
I noticed his fists were clenched at his sides.
Anger flushed through me, and I knew I was blushing with it. “I didn’t think you’d notice or care, what with the champagne blond and the three girls before her.”
Jamie’s head jerked back like I’d hit him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Lorna filled me in on the girls, and I saw the blond for myself.”
“What girls?”
“The three girls you made out with before the party even got started.”
He scowled and closed the distance between us, his chest against mine, forcing me against the sink. I leaned away, curling my fingers around the edge of the porcelain. I couldn’t breathe properly with him this close.
“Lorna is talking shit as usual. There were no girls. As for the blond”—he bent his head toward me, eyes hot with anger—“she cornered me. I didn’t initiate that.”
I ignored the fact that Lorna lied about the girls. “Yeah, you looked like you were not enjoying that at all.”
His eyes narrowed at my sarcasm. “Why do you care who kisses me?”
“Why do you care who kisses me?” I countered.
Jamie leaned his hands on the sink, caging me in. “My teammates are off-limits to you.” His breath whispered against my lips as he pressed his whole body against mine.
He was hard.
I gasped and his eyes flashed.
“Everyone but me is off-limits to you, Jane. You got that?”
“I don’t belong to you,” I whispered. It sounded weak. I hated that it sounded weak. Why did he do this to me? How could one person affect me so much?
“Yes, you do.” His voice was hoarse. “And I belong to you.” He swallowed hard. “I was going to wait. I’m supposed to wait.”
“For what?”
“For you to turn eighteen.”
I knew that I should feel euphoric that Jamie wanted me, but his words hurt. He could wait? And what would he be doing while he waited? I mean, according to him, all other men were off-limits to me, but a player like Jamie didn’t give up sex for nine months.
He must have seen the fury in my eyes because he tensed. I pushed against his chest, but he wouldn’t budge. “Move.”
“What just happened?” He pressed even deeper against me. “What is going on in that busy head of yours?”
“You were going to wait nine months? And I’m to believe you weren’t going to have sex with other girls in that time?”
That telltale muscle in his jaw ticked. “I’ll never lie to you, Jane.”
Bastard!
I pushed against him harder, but he wouldn’t be moved. “Move out of my way.”
“You never yell,” he suddenly whispered, dropping his head to the crook of my neck. I felt his lips on my skin and shivered, despite myself.
God, I hated him in that moment.
He pressed a soft, sweet kiss to my neck and then lifted his head to whisper in my ear, “I’ve tried to fuck other girls. To fuck you out of my head.” He pulled back to stare into my eyes. The intensity of his searing emotion caused a ripple of need low and deep inside me. “I