Rocking Kin (Lucy & Harris, #3) - Terri Anne Browning Page 0,37
hated myself for leaving you the way I did. Don’t think it was easy for me, Kin, because it sure as hell wasn’t.”
Lifting my hand, I pulled my hair free from his grasp and stood. “I’m thirsty after all,” I told Lucy. “I’ll be back.”
As soon as I was out of sight of the other three, I closed my eyes and sucked in a few deep breaths. He didn’t get to say things like that. That wasn’t fair. Jace St. Charles shouldn’t still have the power to slice me open with just a few words and leave me bleeding to death from the gaping wound. That he still could, that my heart was still racing after hearing words it had longed to hear for so damn long, only pissed me off.
I marched over to the bar. The place was overcrowded with a mixture of people in and out of costume. I pushed my way between a guy in a suit and some dude dressed like Dracula. I felt both of them eyeing me, but ignored them as Nate turned from handing over a beer to a sexy angel at the end of the bar.
There had been people waiting longer, but as soon as he saw me he set a glass of ginger ale in front of me. I wished it were a shot of tequila or Jameson, but I took the glass gratefully and took a thirsty swallow before reaching into one of my cop belt pockets and pulling out a tip for him. Nate knew I was with Lucy and he never made us pay for drinks. Harris probably would have lost his shit if the bartender did.
Nate took the five I offered, tossed it into the jar behind the bar that was already overflowing with tips, then turned back to face me. Leaning his arms on the bar-top, he let his eyes drift over me for a moment. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the way he looked at me. It was nice to have a guy look at me with that mixture of lust and appreciation, but without being all creepy about it.
If only Nate could make me feel half of what Jace did, I thought with a sigh as I leaned forward until there were only a few inches between us. “Hi,” I murmured. “Nice costume.”
He was dressed like a male stripper with just a pair of dress pants on and a bowtie around his neck. Which explained why his tip jar was overflowing even more than normal with large bills that would probably pay his rent for three months. Who wouldn’t willingly hand over a fifty or a hundred to see what Nate hid under his shirt? All those yummy muscles flexing as he moved around was enough to get anyone’s heart rate up.
He smirked. “Back at ya, babe.”
I blew out a frustrated breath and shook my head at the sexy bartender. “If only, Nate. If only.”
Nate winked. “Again, babe. Back at ya.” He tapped me on the nose with a long finger and then headed off to fill more orders.
I stood there, drinking my ginger ale until it was nearly half gone, continuing to ignore the two creeps I was standing between. I wasn’t interested, not even a little. I was off guys forever.
Nate refilled my glass before I returned to Lucy. Instead of sitting between her and Jace, I asked Marcus to pull a chair over for me and I ignored Jace for the rest of the night. By the time we left, I was exhausted from working so hard to ignore him, but Lucy was smiling so the night wasn’t a complete loss.
By the time I got back to my father’s house it was after midnight, but I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there. The house was dark as I made my way upstairs and pulled off my clothes before climbing under the covers. I should wash my face and brush my teeth, but I just wanted to stay under the blankets and hide.
My phone chimed with an incoming text and I reluctantly reached for it. The message was still lighting up the screen when I looked down at it.
Miss you!
I felt tears burn my eyes as I opened up the messenger and sent back a quick reply. Miss you too, Ang. Love you.
I started to put the phone on my nightstand when it chimed again. Dashing my tears away with my fingertips, I glanced at it again.