“What’s your problem?” he shouted, stumbling in the snow.
“You. You’re my fucking problem right now!” I growled.
“No, she’s your problem!” He pointed inside. “She’s not one of us, man! She’s white trash!” he yelled, and ducked as I took another swing at him.
I missed his jaw that time because he covered his face, but the blow still sent him stumbling to the ground.
“Stay the fuck down!” I growled, lifting my booted foot to press against his chest, trapping him to the ground. “You talk too fucking much.” Pressing my foot down harder, I leaned in closer. “I’ve threatened my own flesh and blood over that woman. Don’t think I’ll have any hesitation breaking everything you love over her, either.”
“Robert, let him up. Come on, man, you know how Jack likes to mess around!” one of our friends, Brandon, said from behind me.
It wasn’t Brandon’s words that finally got me to release Jack. It was the fact that spending even another moment with him was taking away time that I could be spending gazing into Deborah’s eyes. I had better things to do.
That reminder spurred me to remove my foot from Jack’s chest, spin on my heels, and push past the group of four or five guys that’d followed us out of the cabin.
I turned toward the loveseat we’d been sitting on but she was gone. I looked around the room and my eyes landed on Kimmy.
“Where is she?” I questioned, moving over to Kimmy. Her startled expression didn’t discourage me.
“Who— Oh, Deborah?”
I gave her a scowl. Who the hell else would I be talking about?
“I helped her up to our room after you got into it with Jack.”
I didn’t wait for her to finish her sentence. “You’re going to have to sleep somewhere else tonight.”
“What? That’s my room!”
“Not tonight,” I tossed over my shoulder as I headed in the direction of the stairs, taking them two at a time. For the past week, Deborah had been sharing a room with Kimmy. I’d kept my composure, made sure not to pressure her to share my room with me or vice versa, because I knew she wasn’t ready for it, but all of that was over and done with. Kimmy would need to find another place to sleep that night because I had business to take care of.
“What do you want?” Deborah demanded as soon as I barged in the room, slamming and locking the door behind me. Her eyes narrowed to slits.
“What the hell are you pissed at me for?” I questioned just as angrily.
“For embarrassing the hell out of me like that!”
“Iembarrassedyou?” I pressed, moving closer and snatching the folded clothes she had in her hand, tossing them to the chair where her opened suitcase sat.
“Yes! You and Jackass!”
I almost grinned at the nickname she’d given Jack but I didn’t.
“And just so we’re clear, I’m not a damn stripper. I’m a cocktail waitress,” she stated as if it made any difference to me.
“You could tell me you tamed lions for a living and I’d believe you,” I responded, inching closer, wrapping my hands around her waist. It was a risky move. She was pissed. The tight set of her mouth and single wrinkle in her forehead told me that. However, she was also irresistible at that moment.
“I don’t like cats.”
At that I did respond with a chuckle.
“No cats, got it,” I murmured, nuzzling the side of her neck with my nose. “What else don’t you like?” I pressed my growing hard-on against her abdomen. A rush of energy shot through me when she responded by pressing her body against mine.
“Jackass. I don’t like him.” Her voice was airy, just above a whisper.
“Me either.” I pressed a kiss to her neck and then another. “What else?”
“Um … sp-sprained ankles. I-I don’t like those,” she stammered as I continued to press kisses to the side of her neck and cupped her cheeks.
