skin on my knuckles.
She rolls her beautiful brown eyes. “Quit being such a baby.”
“It fucking stings,” I mutter.
"Really?" She lifts her sculpted eyebrows. "You can get punched in the face, no problem, but not handle a little antiseptic on your hand?"
My eyes narrow. “I had adrenaline working for me then.”
She throws the cotton ball in the trash and steps back to assess her work. “I’m glad to see most of that blood wasn’t yours. It’s not nearly as bad as it looked.”
I reach behind me, pulling my shirt off. I don’t miss the way Jazz’s eyes hone in on my upper body.
“I could really use a shower.” I gesture to the smeared blood on her skin from being pressed up against me. “You too.”
Jazz nods. "You're right." She grabs a bath towel from the shelf next to her. "You can take this one, and I'll go jump in mine real quick."
I hook my finger under the strap of her tiny dress. Christ, when I first saw her tonight, all I wanted to do was throw her over my shoulder and carry her to the nearest available surface. After I decked Bentley for putting his hands on her, that is.
“We could save water and take one together.”
"Haha, funny guy."
“I wasn’t joking.”
I have to suppress a groan when Jazz wets her lips. “Kingston—”
“What? It’s okay if Bentley touches you, but not me? Why is that?”
Her eyes fill with fire. “I didn’t ask Bentley to touch me."
“You didn’t stop it either. You know, I’m curious, what would’ve happened if I hadn’t arrived at that very moment? Bentley looked about ready to drag you into a dark corner. Would you have let him? Hell, would you have let him stick his hand up your dress even farther, fingering your pussy right there in the middle of a crowded room?”
“I don’t know.” Jazz looks away. “I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have actually slept with him.”
My teeth grind together. “Not the answer I was looking for, Jazz.”
She throws her hands up. “Do you want me to lie? I thought we were done hiding shit from each other.”
“Okay, since we’re being so honest, why don’t you tell me what this is, then?” I flick my finger between the two of us. “Do. You. Want. Me? Do you want to be with me?”
“You seriously want to have the define our relationship talk right now?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Why not now? It seems to be necessary after what I saw down there.”
She mimics my pose. “For one, you just knocked a guy unconscious. Maybe even hospitalized him. Shouldn’t the police be showing up any minute now to arrest you?”
I scoff. “Bentley will take care of it. Did you see all those phones trained on the fight? We have Lawson’s confession. If anyone needs to lawyer up, it’d be him.”
Jazz rubs her temples. “I can’t do this right now.”
"It's a simple yes or no question, Jazz." I pull her hands away from her face and tilt her chin up. "I think I've already made my position clear, but just in case, let me spell it out for you. I haven't fucked anyone else since before we met. Besides a few kisses with that chick in the hot tub—which was all for show—I haven't touched anyone else. I don’t want to. You are the only woman I want. In my bed, by my side, it’s all you.”
“Kingston—”
“I’m not done.” I take her face in my hands and press our foreheads together. “When I found you that night, when I thought I was going to lose you forever, it was like a giant wake up call. I don’t want to push you away anymore, Jazz. I don’t want to pretend like you’re not my goddamned world—not when it’s just us, Ainsley, or the guys.
“I’m sick of being surrounded by all these secrets and lies. I’m fed up with the uncertainty. I know we need to keep playing the game for the greater good, but I need something real, too, and you’re the realest fucking thing I’ve ever known. You want the same thing, Jazz. You can’t deny it. Not to me.”
“This is crazy,” she whispers. “We just met a couple of months ago.”
“Technically speaking, we met when we were babies.” Jazz’s lips are so close, I can’t help myself. I press my mouth against hers, tugging on her full bottom lip with my teeth.
“Kingston.”
“Jasmine.”
Her warm breath tickles my face as she sighs. “I don’t want to keep pushing you