Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,23
strings Austin pulled for me? I did it for you.” His fingertips land on the bare skin above my waist, and shivers run up my spine. He rests his forehead against mine. “Aren’t you happy? I thought you’d be happy.”
I close my eyes and inhale the smell of his cologne. The same kind I have a sample of in my keepsake box at home. “I am, but this thing has caused so much trouble already.”
“What has?” He inches closer and my body aches for him to kiss me, to touch me.
“Us. You and Owen are acquaintances at best now, when the three of us used to be inseparable. What will this do to him if we get together?”
“Fuck, Stella. No one gave a shit what it would do to me if the two of you got together!” He backs away from me, his hands going to his hair.
Guilt floods me like a dam burst because he’s right. But he never told me he felt anything for me. I thought my feelings were one-sided and I was confused when Owen asked me out. But Owen told me that he’d cleared it with Kingston.
“I thought you wanted this like I did,” Kingston finally says.
We’ve never had a conversation about us being together. Sure, there’s this underlying current of want that’s like a live wire between us, but he’s never actually said the words.
“I didn’t say I don’t. I don’t know. I’m just surprised and—”
His lips are on mine before I can finish speaking and at first, I melt into the kiss. His tongue eases into my mouth with a gentleness I didn’t think he possessed. When our tongues meet, a current rushes through my body and centers between my thighs in a dull throbbing of need. His hands skim over my ass and presses me closer to him and that’s when I come back to myself and the reality of our situation.
I press on his chest and pull away. “We can’t.”
He stares at me for a second, betrayal in his eyes. “Forget it!” he yells, and whips open the door. “I’m an idiot.”
Owen stands there with his fist raised as though he was about to knock. “What the hell is going on?”
“Nothing.” Kingston slides past him and heads to the kitchen.
Owen looks at me, and I stare back at him, probably looking as guilty as I feel. “Fuck this, Bailey. Why the hell were you in a locked bathroom with my girl?” He follows Kingston’s path to the kitchen, and I rush to keep up.
“Last I checked, she’s not your girl anymore,” Kingston throws back at him over his shoulder.
“Let’s go. It’s nothing.” I pull on Owen’s arm, but he yanks it out of my grasp and I fall back, hitting the counter and the cabinets.
“Ouch,” I mumble.
Kingston whips around and asks if I’m okay. “What the fuck, man?”
Kingston moves to come back to me, but Owen shoves him with both hands and Kingston stumbles out onto the deck.
“I didn’t do anything,” Owen says. “You’re the one who needs to explain why you were in the bathroom with her.”
“It’s none of your business,” Kingston says. “It’s between Stella and me.” Kingston looks over Owen’s shoulder and winks at me.
Dread fills my every cell.
“This is the way it’s going to be then? You’re just going to try to steal her away from me because you were too chickenshit to ask her out in the first place?” Owen lets loose a cruel laugh.
They circle one another, their fists at the ready. The other partygoers start chanting “fight.”
“Talk about stealing. You knew I was going to ask her out, but once again, you couldn’t handle me having something you wanted.” Kingston’s charismatic smile is plastered on for the masses. The one he uses to make people believe he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“This has been a long time coming.” Owen throws the first punch, but Kingston ducks and jabs Owen in the ribs.
“Someone stop them,” I say, busting through the crowd. I dodge and weave as they continue to go at one another. “Just stop!”
Kingston does and looks right at me, his strong facade cracking, but Owen tackles him around the stomach. Kingston is knocked back and they both tumble down the stairs of the deck. Everyone rushes to the deck railing, but it’s Kingston’s wail of pain that silences the crowd.
Owen stands and spits on him. “Fucking baby Bailey. Eat shit.” He disappears to the side of the house.