It was a cruel twist of fate.
The selfish bastard in me wanted to keep her celibate so that no other man touched her.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the bond between us would break if she knew I wasn’t human, that I’d been lying to her all these years.
I liked to think about the version of me she had built in her mind. The version of me I was sure she’s imagined in the quiet of the night while lying in bed like I’ve imagined her. I wondered how she imagined us together. If it was anything like howIhad fantasied it.
The thought of it conjured the scene to mind, the one I’d thought of so many times before. Her curvy, naked body pinned underneath me, a trembling, sweaty mess of tangled limbs as I slowly sunk my cock into her sweet little mound.
Mel’s furious blush pulled me from my lascivious thoughts. “Jess,” Mel hissed. She didn’t want me to know about this guy at work.
Jessica took a sip of her drink and conjured an innocent expression that Mel and I had seen far too often to be fooled by. “What? I just thought you could use a bit of fun on your birthday. Hanging with your best friends is fun and all, but nothing beats the company of a hot guy who isn’t afraid to make you feel like a woman.”
Jess’s gaze, as sharp as broken glass, settled on me.
Touché,Jessica Sims.
She was trying to get a rise out of me, and it was almost working. But I’d had years to get used to Jess’ unsubtle methods of getting Mel and me together.
Sensing the tension, Mel shifted the conversation to rest on Jess, who got swept up talking about her grueling work at the hospital. It’s a tactic that’s always worked every time and Mel knew it. She looked over at me, the corner of her mouth curling into a secretive smirk. One only shared between us.
Oh, Melanie. You’re my whole world, do you know that?
I ached to tell her.
Instead, I got up to get her another drink. I felt her eyes, hot and heavy, on my back as her line of sight followed me to the bar like a laser. My skin prickled under her dark gaze.
Normally I discouraged her drinking. It only amplified her lack of grace and increased her chances of having an accident. It’s lucky Jess and I were both pros with first aid, Jess because she’s a nurse and me because I’ve patched up so many of Mel’s minor wounds that I sometimes feel like a back alley doctor.
An hour passed, and after two and a half drinks, Mel, with her cheeks stained pink, loudly announced that she had to pee.
“I’ll come with,” I said, pushing to my feet with a glance toward the hallway that led to the bathrooms. Normally I wouldn’t give two shits about her going to the bathroom alone. But for some reason, my beast was telling me to go with her. It was in instinct I learned to respect and honor like the lifeline it had been in the past.
Mel glared drunken daggers at me, looking genuinely mad. “I can go to the bathroom by myself, you know. I’m not the president of the United States. I don’t need my bodyguard with me wherever I go.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Jess grabbed my arm and gave it a savage jerk, tugging me back into the booth.
With a drunken huff, Mel smoothed down the wrinkles in her dress and stomped off, stumbling over her heels before disappearing down the hallway.
The knot in my gut tightened as soon as she’d turned the corner, leaving my sight.
“Gabriel,” Jess tutted, pulling my attention back to her. The blonde nursed her drink in one hand while the other was propped on the table, her chin in her palm. “You know, for someone who isn’t her boyfriend, you’re awfully protective of her.”
My brows pulled together in a scathing scowl. “I don’t need to be Mel’s boyfriend to care about her safety.”
“Yeah, but you basicallyareher boyfriend. You love her, don’t you?”
My heart squeezed in my chest. “Of course I do. Just like you do.”
The blonde gave a slow shake of her head, her lips curling into a knowing smile. “No, I don’t think it’s the same thing, Gabriel.”
Why did I get the feeling I was about to get the fifth degree? I suddenly found myself wishing I’d ordered myself a drink. It might ease the pain of the interrogation that I was no doubt about to get from this scrappy nurse.
“I mean,come on, Gabe.” She slammed her drink down on the table, pink liquid sloshing in the glass. “You guys have been inseparable since you saved her from drowning. You purposefully picked the same school she had, you moved from California together, you guyslivein the same apartment. The things you do for her. You buy her stuff all the time. You make midnight Walmart runs to get her tampons, and you always pick her up some chocolate even though she never asks.”
I winced. “She told you that?”
“Of course she did. It’s freaking sweet. She never stops gushing about your late nights spent watching her favorite shows, eating her favorite foods. You guys are so freaking perfect together. The only thing missing is—” Instead of finishing her sentence, Jess raised her hands and made an O shape with her fingers, pushing her other index finger through it in a lewd gesture.
