August stops in the middle of the carpet. A chorus of people shouting his name and firing different questions at him. Then I hear the one I was dreading the most.
“Who is your date, August?”
I cringe.
“My girlfriend. Hayley.” August smiles widely before he turns to me, cups my cheek, and stares into my eyes. “Ready?”
Ready? For what? There’s more?
His lips lower onto mine. His tongue pushes into my mouth. And all the noise fades away as he kisses me. No, he’s not just kissing me. He’s possessing me.
When he pulls away again, his thumb wipes along my bottom lip. “Let’s go in,” he says, leading me into the building.
“What the hell was that?” I hiss under my breath.
“That was the first fake kiss of our fake relationship, babe.”
Nothing about that kiss feltfake.
The moment we enter the room, August starts getting bombarded by men who all want a little bit of his time. Heintroduces me, always smiling down at me like I really am his girlfriend and he’s so damn proud to have me on his arm.
I’ve never had a real boyfriend look at me the way August does. It’s strange. But I don’t hate it. I just have to keep reminding myself who he is and why I’m actually here.To stop him from cutting off my little brother’s fingers.
That thought sobers me up, and my body stiffens.
August notices. He holds up a hand to stop whomever’s talking to him and turns his full attention to me. Stepping in front of me, he blocks the other men from my view. “What’s wrong?” he asks quietly.
“Nothing.” I shake my head.
“Something happened. Just now.”
“I’m fine, and you’re being rude to your friends,” I tell him.
“They’re not friends, and I don’t care.” August turns back and says, “Excuse me, gentlemen. Hayley and I are going to find our seats.”
The men step aside, and I feel stupid for interrupting his conversation.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as August ushers me towards the table with his name card on it.
“For what?”
“For interrupting. You should pretend I’m not here,” I explain.
August laughs. “With you, in that dress, babe, it would be impossible to pretend you’re not here. And you didn’t interrupt. Besides, the needs of my girlfriend trump whatever bullshit those two wanted out of me.”
“Fake girlfriend,” I remind him.
“Tomato,tomahto. Same thing, babe,” he says.
Just before we reach the table, a tall blonde steps in front of August. Her hand latches on to his bicep. “Wade, it’s been solong,” she purrs at him. I’m surprised she isn’t rubbing herself all over his legs.
The sight has me seeing red. How rude? And how dare she! As if she can’t see I’m right here…
“August, babe,” I say, ignoring her. My hand cups his face, angling it slightly towards me. Then I push up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. The kiss is quick, but I think it gets my point across. “I’m going to find our table. You can catch up with your… friend?”
Chapter Twelve
Icouldn’t wipe the smile from my face if I wanted to. Hayley just staked her claim. Like a lioness, she saw a threat and went right for the kill. And I, for one, couldn’t be prouder.
