I hesitated. Not because I couldn’t answer the question but because I was thinking about what I would say to Tate tomorrow.
As I hesitated, I missed the anger swirling in the depths of Jared’s eyes, so when he stood up and threw his drink, I flinched, watching it smash against the wall, glass shattering to the floor.
“What the hell, Jared?” I yelled. I ran my hands through my hair in disbelief, holding it back and then releasing it to fall around my shoulders.
“Do you know how f**king hard it was to stand there and see his hands all over you, his lips on you?” he shouted. “I felt sick. I wanted to break his face.”
I sank to the bed. “I didn’t know. I thought you and I―”
“Please don’t start this just friends bullshit, Evie. Because you know that’s not what this is, right? You and I are way more than that. Don’t try and tell me you aren’t feeling what I am, especially after that kiss in the dressing room.” Jared’s entire body was tense but then he swallowed hard, the hurt in his eyes a brief flash as he made for the door.
I grabbed his arm in a panic. “Jared, wait. Please.” He shrugged me off and kept walking. “Look at me.”
Clenching his fists at his side, nostrils flaring, he turned around, and I felt his anger crash over me like a wave. Tears pricked my eyes because I hated being the cause of it.
He looked up at the ceiling in frustration and let out a huff. “Baby, don’t cry.” He pulled me towards him and into a tight embrace. “You know what you have to do, Evie,” he whispered in my ear and I shivered. “Just be with me.” His voice, low and husky, shook with need.
The gentle plea almost broke my heart, but the longing made my body throb, giving me the confidence to push him backwards until he was sitting on the bed. Then I walked towards the door.
“Evie, what are doing?”
What I should have done a long time ago, I thought. I closed the door and returned to the bed. Flipping my leg over, I sat down and straddled his lap. “Just be quiet and kiss me.”
He slid his arms around my waist, his big, warm hands moving up my back until they threaded into my hair and pulled my head down towards his lips.
“Come here,” he said in a lust filled whisper.
His lips crashed hard against mine, and my hands rested on his shoulders, feeling muscles bunch and shift as he moaned and rubbed his hands up and down the small of my back. He sucked hard on my tongue, tugging it into his mouth.
“Jared,” I murmured, pulling back so I could breathe for a moment.
His eyes shifted down, following the movement of his hands from my back to the bare skin of my thighs. He traced lazy circles with his thumbs, watching his hands move as they slid their way slowly up along my shorts until they reached under the camisole to rest on my hips. I felt his hard length press against me as he gripped my h*ps tight.
Letting go for a moment, he impatiently tugged at the hem of my camisole, taking it off in one quick movement.
“Christ, baby, you are so f**king beautiful.”
Jared traced his fingertips over my stomach, fluttering them softly up my ribs until his hands rested on the undersides of my br**sts. His thumbs rubbed the soft skin there, back and forth, setting my body on a slow burn as he tilted his head for another kiss.
My arms shifted around his neck, tugging playfully at the silky hair like I’d been itching to do since what felt like forever. He chuckled against my lips until I gasped when his hands covered my br**sts, rubbing the soft skin, rolling my n**ples in his fingers, and setting off tingles all over my skin.
“So f**king beautiful,” he murmured as his mouth left mine.
Still straddling his lap, I threaded my fingers into his hair as he kissed his way down my neck, bending his head to take a nipple in his mouth, tracing it with his tongue before taking it deeply into his mouth.
“Jared,” I moaned, arching my back. He moved to the other one, swirling his tongue and sucking before leaning back to tug his shirt over his head, mussing his hair and revealing the smooth expanse of golden skin and toned muscles as he reached for me.
That was when things progressed from gentle and soothing to wild, and from wild to uncontrolled. Clothes disappeared quickly and hands and mouths moved frantically until he finally picked me up, flipped me to my back on the bed, and slid inside in one swift movement. I sucked in a sharp breath and he paused, breathing hard while waiting for me to adjust to the hard length of him. I exhaled and finally let go.
After years of wanting, we were impatient, our movements hard and rough. The promise of gentle was for another day. Tonight was for urgency and fierce need.
“Jared!” I cried out, feeling the heat explode inside me, starting from my toes and travelling the length of my body. He groaned loudly as he ground his h*ps hard against mine, kissing me forcefully as he came apart in my arms.
He collapsed his hot, heavy weight on top of me, breathing into my neck before rolling over and taking me with him. Ducking his head, he kissed and nibbled along my neck, moving his way over to tug on my earlobe with his teeth.
“You okay?” he murmured.
“No,” I whispered weakly, still struggling for breath but revelling in the feel of being nak*d and sweaty and plastered over the length of him, “but I will be if we can do that again.”
He grinned up at me. “Whatever you say, baby.”
Chapter Nine
I woke to the sounds of voices downstairs. Feeling sore and happy, I yawned and stretched loudly as my stomach growled in anger. I decided I could easily eat a small animal and began doing a mental inventory of the contents of our fridge. I wondered if Jared could cook. Breakfast in bed would be the perfect start to my day right now.
Wait a minute. This was Jared I was talking about. Most likely, he'd bring me fruit salad and a piece of non-buttered toast riddled with birdseed. While the effort would be appreciated, I realised that Jared’s eating habits did not bode well for my future. It was quite possible I’d die from the stress involved in absconding with secret food and designating it to secure points around the house where I could binge in safety.
Just as I was realising the horrific conclusion that I would forever be a closet eater, the bedroom door opened, startling me out of my trauma.
“What the f**k is going on here?” I heard Tate ask.
Shit. What was he doing in here?
I wondered if playing possum was a viable option in the unlikely event that my bed would swallow me whole and spit me out at a safe location (albeit with clothes, please). Maybe he'd just say, ”Oh, Evie’s asleep. I’ll just leave them to it.”
Um, no, I didn’t think so either.
I attempted to resolve the situation by sitting up in a panic, but unfortunately that didn’t solve anything.
“Shit.” Jared sat up next to me, holding up the sheet to cover my chest, and I clutched it in my fist.
Tate looked a bit pissed off, and I imagined that was to be expected.
“Thought I remembered you saying there wasn’t anything going on between the two you.”
“Well…,” I drawled out slowly, trying to buy more time so I could work out how to be tactful. This was definitely not the way I envisioned telling him that all casual dating was over for me.
Henry interrupted my intelligent offering by entering the room and promptly beginning what looked like a choking fit. All eyes swivelled to Henry as he struggled to control himself.
“Chook,” he wheezed after a few awkward moments. “I uh, didn’t realise, that uh…hmm,” he trailed off weakly and looked at me in apology.
Tate folded his arms just in case I didn’t get the point that he was not delighted with recent events.
“Jesus, Evie, I came in here to apologise for skipping out on your big night to find this?” He waved his hand at the two of us.
Jared slid to the side of the bed and slipped on his jeans. He pulled them up quickly as he stood, doing up the zip but still leaving the top button undone, and I was momentarily distracted by the brief glimpse of bare ass.
Henry cleared his throat, and I saw amusement flicker in his eyes.
Jared moved to stand in front of Tate. “You get first shot.”
“What?” I whipped out sharply. “What does that mean?”
Henry, despite a slow recovery from his choking experience, still managed to keep his wits about him and stood out of the way. He obviously knew what it meant. I scrambled to rip the sheet out of the bed and wrap it around myself when Tate cocked back a fist and smashed it into Jared’s face. Jared’s head slammed sideways from the impact, and he rubbed at his jaw.
“What the f**k are you doing?” I screeched at Tate as I writhed about on the bed wrestling with the sheet.
“Stay there, baby,” Jared ordered.
I fought the urge to laugh hysterically at the thought that I was about to go anywhere. It always looked so easy in the movies, the beautiful goddess silkily glides out of bed and the sheet practically wraps itself around her like a Grecian robe. Obviously, I was a bit retarded, my struggles heading to what appeared to be major strangulation. My legacy wouldn’t be memorable rock songs; it would be Death by Sheet. What an embarrassment.
Henry, anticipating mayhem on my part, made a move to lock me down. He decided I was doing a good enough job of that myself with the sheet, so instead, he chuckled before turning back to watch the scuffle.
“That’s one,” Jared muttered as he slammed his fist back into Tate’s face and blood spurted out his nose.
No way.
Not happening.
“Fuck off, Henry,” I muttered as he continued to laugh at my situation.
Finally disentangled (but modestly wrapped), I slid to the edge of the bed and watched in disbelief as Tate tackled Jared, and they crashed to the floor in a flurry of arms and punches. How had two dates with Tate resorted to this?
“Henry, if you don’t do something, I will,” I hissed, watching Tate land a gut punch.
“Oomph,” was Jared’s reply.
Appraising me, Henry shrugged, obviously finding my threat lacking any substance.
“Right,” I muttered, and fisting the sheet in one hand so it wouldn’t unravel, I strode with determination to put a halt to the scuffle.
Henry, realising I was actually able to move, yanked me back with a sigh. “Chook, stay out of it or you’ll get hurt.”
He shoved me back and I faltered from the unexpected hurling motion. Henry helped pull them apart, and I folded my arms indignantly as the three of them stood panting from the effort.
“What are you both, like ten? I’ve never seen such juvenile behaviour in all my life.” I added a look of disbelief to make my statement more believable because it was only the other morning that I had a floor tussle with Henry.
Henry snorted, clearly remembering said tussle himself.
I shot him a warning look before doing a body scan of Jared to inspect for injuries. He looked no worse for wear, just a reddened jaw and some mussed hair. He was breathing heavy, his muscled torso tense and on display.
I know I shouldn’t have thought it because I didn’t condone violence, but God he was f**king hot, and I wanted him.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” I continued. “Tate, Jared is still recovering from knife wounds.” Tate managed to look a little guilty at this reminder as he wiped at a trickle of blood from his nose. “Besides, you know you and I were just casual. No promises were made. I thought you understood.”