Play Mine (Brooklyn Dawn #3) - Cari Quinn Page 0,25

that place.”

Her lower lip trembled before she grinned. “I can handle that part all on my own.”

“Mmm. I bet you can.” I didn’t know what impulse made me step forward until I was crowding her even more. Some dominant part of me liked that she had to crane her neck to look up at me.

A muscle twitched madly under her jaw. Or maybe that was her pulse, hammering just like mine was in the head of my goddamned cock at being this close to her. Her juicy peaches scent would be branded on my skin.

“So, we gotta go. Out there—with our band. Where they’re waiting. For us. You know?” She stumbled backward into the wall.

Suddenly, I was calm as could be as I reached out to steady her. “You all right?”

“Fine. Awesome.” She evaded my grasp while her gaze tracked over my shoulder. Silent but hulking was probably watching our byplay.

Even with Riggs right behind me, it was nearly impossible for me not to grin. I’d affected her. She didn’t know what to make of it, and maybe she wouldn’t like it once she figured it out, but for one moment there, I’d been firmly dislodged from the friend zone.

And thank fuck she was looking anywhere but at my groin right now, because the current situation was hard as hell.

“Then why are you so jumpy?”

“Just tired. Noises still spook me. Plus, leftover nerves from last night at the club, and oh, my place almost being reduced to dust. The usual.”

“You’re sure that’s all it is?” Not that any of those things alone wouldn’t be more than enough. But my battered ego in her direction just wanted a small bone.

Yeah, probably shouldn’t think about that particular analogy right now.

“Of course. What else would it be?”

I dropped an arm around her shoulders. Casual. Light. Best friendly-like. Kill me. “You know we won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know. Noah has it handled.”

I slid my arm away. “Right. Chuckles always has everything under control.”

“Back on the Chuckles brigade.” She rolled her eyes.

“Oz is onto something.”

She sighed. “He’s just doing his job. I don’t know why you guys have to get all bitchy about it.”

“Did you just say bitchy?” I nudged her shoulder.

“Shut up.”

She sailed into the U-shaped cluster of our friends, shaking that ridiculously delectable ass of hers. Some days, I hated my job. Especially when my current level of self-inflicted torture was at somewhere around an eleven.

Then again, being twisted up with want was better than focusing on someone possibly wanting to do her harm. That it could be her ex somehow made it even worse.

I jammed my fists into my pockets so it wasn’t so obvious that I had less than innocent thoughts about everyone’s favorite little sister. Watching our bandmates’ faces soften as she came toward them made me feel even more like an asshole.

Until the appreciative gaze of Jonas Decker made my palms itch. He was the owner of Purgatory, a slick Mick with his perfect black-on-black suit that probably cost the same as my entire drum set. A ruby stone winked from his forefinger in a thick, hammered pewter ring that looked like it belonged on Game of Thrones.

The minute Teag got close to the circle of our band mates, Decker started spinning his ring with his thumb.

Every man had a tell.

It was just a flicker of reaction. Then again, I couldn’t exactly blame him. I lived with that jaw-clenching frustration daily. Didn’t stop me from wanting to throat-punch him.

I’d had relationships, some longer, some shorter. But hell, if I’d ever been as possessive as I was of this woman. And I didn’t know how to throttle back.

She was all smiles. Petite where the rest of the ladies in our band were Amazonian. She was the kind of beautiful that made a man want to take care of her. I knew she was fully capable of handing a man his nuts—I’d even witnessed it a time or two when a few men got too familiar around her in the autograph lines.

I scrubbed my fingers down my bunched triceps and tried to find some semblance of calm. Then Noah came forward with his ever-present clipboard. Lila spent her life consulting her iPad, and Noah was old school annoyed with a perpetual checklist.

Both of them lived to ride herd on us. Granted, this situation required a lot of patience and scrutiny of the most minute details.

Not so rock and roll.

At least Lila did what was required with cool professionalism. Noah