He reached out, running the tip of his index finger down the side of my cheek. “You should ditch them and spend a little time with me.”
Nausea turned my stomach. “I’m really not interested.”
He inched forward. “No?”
“No.” The word shot from my mouth.
I was so absolutely not interested. But this guy didn’t seem to be able to take a hint.
“I think you’re lying. I think you’re really interested and you just don’t want to look like a slut in front of your friends. Let’s get out of here. I won’t tell anyone.”
What the fuck?
This guy was ridiculous. I took it all back. Any appeal he had was obliterated by his foul, offensive character.
I scoffed out a laugh. “And I think you’re a total prick who can’t seem to comprehend the fact I’d rather gouge my eye out with a fork than spend the night with you.”
Anger flashed across his face, and he jolted forward, making me stumble back.
So maybe that was the wrong thing to do. Inciting this jerk. It was a risk. Some guys needed someone to knock them over the head before they got it and there were some who never understood the meaning of no. Apparently, he was the latter.
“Ah. Playing hard to get. I like it.”
“I’m not playing, Tim.” This time, the words trembled with a tiny spurt of fear. “I mean it. Just...leave me alone.”
He slipped forward another inch, backing me the rest of the way into the wall. “See? You even remembered my name. Stop playing coy.”
“She said she wasn’t interested.” The voice that rumbled in the hallway was rough. Low and dangerous.
My skin shivered for entirely different reasons.
Tim swung around to look over his shoulder, still keeping his body angled so I was backed against the wall but allowing me to see farther down the hall.
Rex was there. Fists clenched. Jaw rigid. Anger radiated from him in shocking waves. Those sage eyes glinted with hate as his lean, sinewy muscles twitched with restraint.
I just didn’t know which of us he hated most.
It didn’t matter.
I sucked in a breath of relief, succumbing to a feeling of safety so staggering it weakened my knees.
Tim clung to that sleazy cockiness. “Think you should turn around and mind your own fucking business.”
“And I’d suggest you back the fuck away before you don’t have the chance to walk out of here.” It was nothing less than a growl.
Aggression ricocheted between the two of them. Growing and spinning and spiking.
Finally, Tim cracked a flippant, arrogant grin. Though, I could have sworn I saw his quake of fear. The realization that he didn’t have a fighting chance.
Rex Gunner would beat him bloody.
He stepped away from me. “Whatever, man. You want her, have her. She’s not worth the effort.”
I sagged forward, dragging a bunch of cleansing breaths into my too-tight lungs.
Rex glowered at him, never breaking his menacing stare when Tim angled his shoulders to the side to slip past him, his pace increasing the second he was on the other side of Rex’s raging hostility.
He disappeared at the end of the hall, and I pushed my bangs back from my forehead, which was sweaty and slick with the adrenaline.
