How long ago had I told her I couldn’t date her, and now I needed her touching me to get through a room? It was unreal, but I wasn’t a moron. I wasn’t going to fight it. I was going to hold on to her, keep her as long as she would stay.
Because that was the situation.
She was going to go away. Eventually.
Not today. Not tomorrow, but some day, and it was for the very reason Zeke had been teasing me about. I was the biggest dick here. I’d been physically abused, and that shit had happened for a reason. It was like Griffith knew there was bad in me, and he needed to beat it out.
I grunted, the sound low in my throat, because he’d failed. It was still in me, just pushed down far enough that it only came out in pieces. Aspen was my salve. I was a blistering, angry wound, and I needed her covering me to dull the pain, just a little.
Always fucking angry. What a shitshow I was.
“B.” Zeke moved his foot, nudging mine and motioning.
Gambin watched me, an intense look on his face.
“What?”
Aspen stiffened at my irritation.
I took another shot of whiskey and ran my hand down her back until she was soft again. She nestled into me.
“I was asking how things are with your brother now?”
This cocksucker. He had a sly look in his eye, like he knew something I didn’t. He had an angle. That’s what it was, and hell no. That was personal shit.
Aspen raised her head to watch me.
She knew I was ready to blow, again.
“Who are you?” I asked.
Zeke’s eyes got big, and he fell back into his couch, smothering a laugh.
Gambin straightened. His face got hard, and if he could’ve thrown a punch, he’d have made a show about threatening it. But the guy was weak. He knew it, as we had a whole stare off, and he flushed before lowering his head, because he could tell I knew it too.
I wasn’t some rich, pretty punk.
“You don’t have to be a prick,” he said.
“But that’s what I am.” I flashed him my teeth. “I don’t know you. Who the fuck you think you are, asking about my brother and me? It ain’t your business. And go run your mouth, I dare you. Let’s see if you have a mouth to run by the end of the night.”
The room fell silent.
The bass from the music filled the space, but after staring at me, measuring me, Gambin clenched his jaw and turned to stalk off. Two guys that had been lingering by Zeke’s bed followed him. Lackeys.
Brian whistled under his breath, moving over and kicking his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. “That was cold.”
“You know if he sees your brother in Roussou, he’s going to start something,” Zeke added.
I snorted. “That’d be dumb of him. It’s just me here. Cross has his whole crew.”
“The fuck?” Zeke glowered at me.
“What?”
He shook his head. “It’s not just you. Christ. When you going to get that through your skull?”
I knew what he was saying, and I forced myself to calm down. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Zeke expelled a harsh breath, but he smiled. “Damn straight. Finally.”
Brian lifted his chin, tipping his drink toward me before he took a drink.
“So are you and your brother okay?” Zeke asked.
I took a pillow from the couch and flung it at him. It hit him square in the face and bounced to hit Brian, who snagged it. When Branston, who I hadn’t noticed before, started laughing behind him, Brian threw it at him.
“Fucker.”
Branston caught it and put it behind him in the chair. “Hmmm. I could fall asleep like this.”
I surveyed the group, noting two people missing. “Yo. Where’s Ashlome and Conway?”
Brian stilled and shared a look with Zeke.
“What?”
They didn’t answer, not right away.
Zeke’s shoulders lifted for a moment. “Conway’s with Daniels tonight.”
Brian pointed up. “There’s a whole group upstairs. All the girls are there.”
Zeke’s grin was wry. “I’ve been cut off as long as I hang out with you.”
His words hit me, and I began to laugh.
Mara was trying to ice me out from the guys by using sex against them, the lack of sex.
I shook my head, still laughing. “You going to do it?”
Zeke scowled. “What the fuck?! Did we not just go over thi—”
“You going to give up pussy for your best friend?” I held on to Aspen as I leaned forward. Her arms wrapped around my neck. “When I know