Alex looked down and realized he’d downed his drink entirely. Too bad the whiskey wasn’t numbing him the way it should.
“Come on.” Cole said, handing Alex the drink before turning back the way he’d come.
Alex followed behind him, his stomach tightening in knots at the thought of what he’d just witnessed.
When they approached the table, everyone glanced up. Everyone except Ashleigh.
“Hey.” Sam greeted, smiling as she leaned into Logan. “Where’ve you been?” She asked, glancing from Alex to Ashleigh and back again.
“At home.” He told her, unable to take his eyes off of Ashleigh. Even pissed, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her long, glossy hair hung down to the middle of her back, board straight and begging him to run his fingers through it. Or better yet, to wrap it around his fist and pull her to him.
Alex shook off the thought. Thinking about the last time they’d been together, in his office, still made his dick throb in eager anticipation. Admittedly, Alex hadn’t expected Ashleigh to give in to him, and when she did, she’d blown his mind. Since then he’d thought of very little else besides all of the things he wanted to do to her.
Not that it mattered at this point; she wouldn’t even look at him. Side glances darted between everyone at the table. The tension was obvious, and Alex could damn near taste it.
He just didn’t know what to do about it.
~~*~~
This was the very reason Ashleigh hadn’t wanted to go out tonight. She knew with as many people as were getting together, Alex would show up. The only person missing at the moment was Dylan, and she suddenly wondered where her brother was.
“Has anyone heard from Dylan today?” She asked, glancing at Cole and then Logan. She wasn’t about to ask Alex, although if anyone knew, it would be him.
“I saw him at the office earlier this morning, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him.” Sam offered.
“He’s supposed to be here.” Alex contributed, but Ashleigh didn’t look at him. She could feel his heated stare on the back of her neck, but she wouldn’t turn to look at him because she was pretty sure she was too weak to resist him, no matter how pissed off she was.
“How’s it going, Alex?” Logan asked, apparently oblivious to the tension at the table, or speaking up because of it, Ashleigh didn’t know.
“It’s going.”
Ashleigh grabbed her glass, downing what was left and then stood from the table. She needed another drink. And a moment to breathe. “I’ll be back.” She said to no one in particular and then walked away, not making eye contact.
When she approached the bar, she sat her empty glass down and smiled at Kane. “Belvedere and Sprite, please.”
“You gonna ignore me tonight?” The dark, seductive voice slid down her spine and made her hands tingle. Why did he have to follow her?
“No.” She told him, then making the mistake of looking at him. Those brilliant green eyes saw more than she wanted him to ever see. “I was planning to ignore you forever.” With that, she turned back toward Kane, who was sitting her drink on the bar.
Grabbing a five dollar bill from her pocket, she dropped it in the tip jar and thanked him before she turned away.
She’d intended to go back to the table, at least there she could pretend not to notice Alex, and she could certainly ignore him better, but when he put his warm hand on her arm, she almost dropped her drink. Glancing down at the spot where he touched her, she trailed her eyes back up his exquisite body until she locked eyes with him once again.
“We need to talk.”
“We don’t have anything to say to one another, Alex.” She told him, doing her best not to pull away. She needed to show him that she didn’t care. If only it were that easy.
“I need to explain –” He began, but she quickly cut him off.
“There’s nothing to explain. I get it. You’re bedroom has a revolving door. Since I’m not interested in sharing, unlike my friends,” Ashleigh tilted her head in the direction of the table Sam and Sierra were occupying, “I don’t have anything more to say to you.”
When she tried to walk away, he gripped her arm more firmly. “I don’t know what you thought, but honey, you’re wrong.” His tone was laced with a hint of anger which only fired her up.
“Thought?” She said turning to face him fully. “I didn’t have to think anything, Alex. Your girlfriend was courteous enough to tell me how busy you were. In detail.”
Ok, so maybe that was a little lie, but the woman had told her Alex was in the shower. She’d also hinted that he was busy and that if he had time, he’d call her back.