twitches in agitation. What the fuck business are my needs to him?
“We’re going to be parents together,” I remind him. “It’s literally nothing more than that.”
I shouldn’t answer his questions, but I can’t help thinking about the direction I’d hope my life had taken and where I wanted him in that. With his attitude right now, I’m thinking those hopes were a mistake.
“Why are you here?”
“Jinx didn’t want you to be alone.”
“Do you do everything Jinx wants?”
“We aren’t fucking, are we?”
“He still has a problem with that?” This isn’t really the right thing to focus on but I’m not ready to imagine that he actually wants to be with me, even in that way. Unbidden, my leg twitches with the memories of his skilled tongue, hands, and cock.
“Clearly.”
So is he saying that if Jinx didn’t have a problem, things would be different now? I squirm in the recliner with thoughts of how differently the last couple of weeks could’ve looked like. I’d liked to have had a little help getting myself off. Manual orgasms are never as good as the ones given by a man who knows what he’s doing.
I shake my head. Sex is the very last thing I should be thinking about, especially around a man who has made a habit of shooting down my most recent offers. My ego can only take so many hits before I’ve learned my lesson.
“But you want to?”
His jaw clenches, and I have to look away. So much for keeping my thoughts to myself. I blame the spicy food I’ve been eating for the hoarseness of my voice.
“Go to bed, Simone.”
What a ridiculous request, unless he means…
“Are you coming, too?”
He looks away, his sexy blue eyes refocusing on the blank television screen. “No.”
I stare at the side of his face, trying to figure out his thoughts, but the man is a damn vault. He doesn’t relent no matter how long I glare in his direction.
Beyond frustrated, I close the recliner before placing the uneaten food on the table. He doesn’t look in my direction, and it only pisses me off more. Somehow, his friend has declared me off-limits, and regardless of his own wants and needs, he’s allowing another person to dictate his actions. I thought Cerberus men were brave, all alpha-like and possessive. Clearly, those traits skipped this asshole.
I know he’s aware of me as I walk away. I can feel his eyes on me, but after putting the leftover food in the fridge and walking back into the living room, his eyes are straight ahead just like they were when I left him moments ago.
Even when I walk up to him and stand to the side, he doesn’t acknowledge me.
So don’t ask me why I cup both sides of his face and turn his head in my direction. I feel possessed, as if someone else has taken over my body as I lower my mouth to his. I plan on just giving him a chaste kiss, but then I feel his stubble beneath my palms and his warm breath ghosting across my lips. Combine that with the softness of his lips, and I lose all control.
I kiss this man like I’ll never get the chance to kiss anyone ever again. He doesn’t disappoint, licking into my mouth with as much passion as I exude.
But he doesn’t touch me. He doesn’t grip my hips and urge me to settle on his lap.
He’s breathing just as heavily as I am, his eyes barely open when I pull away, but he doesn’t ask me to stay.
I’m disappointed when I walk away, but I refuse to let my feelings be hurt.
And when I bury myself under my covers and get myself off as loudly as I possibly can over and over until I fall asleep, I don’t let even a hint of regret touch me.
Chapter 25
Rocker
“Piece of shit,” I grumble as I shove my fist into the throw pillow on the couch for the hundredth time.
I don’t know how Jinx sleeps on this damn thing night after night, and the longer I lie here, I wonder if he hasn’t started sleeping in her bed.
She said there’s nothing going on between them, and I fully believe her, but you don’t have to fuck a woman to sleep in her bed. I’m well versed in doing just that. I spent weeks lying beside her, smelling her bodywash, listening to her breathe without laying a finger on her.
Just the thought of Jinx sleeping beside her pisses me