I looked up from my phone and glanced around. There were cars galore, a few of which I recognized or thought I did, from the club’s parking lot. I could be mistaken. They weren’t anything special that told me I hadn’t been duped.
“I don’t see why your nose is so bent out of shape. It’s not like we’re together.”
Turning toward the voice I recognized from the night before, I smiled. Antonio and Oliver bickered as they headed into the house, so I hopped out of the Jeep and locked the door before trailing behind them.
“As a Dom and your best friend, I don’t want you dating jackasses, Ollie. That’s all.”
I didn’t know if Oliver heard what I did, but Antonio clearly thought of Oliver as more than a best friend. At least in my opinion, but it wasn’t my place to say anything. Because really, what did I know about their relationship/friendship or whatever?
Not a thing, and keeping my nose out of it was my tippy top priority.
They continued bickering as we walked into the historical mansion. A guy stood at the door greeting everyone and checking IDs and membership cards.
“Food is laid out in the kitchen. So if you’re hungry, make your way straight back and turn left before at the French doors leading out onto the patio. If you don’t want food, feel free to continue out onto the patio to mix and mingle with the others.”
As he explained things, I did my best keep the fish out of water look hidden. The house was astonishingly beautiful. I thanked Shane and his Gran for introducing me to mansions and luxury like this, because otherwise, I’d have made such a fool of myself with all the gawking. As it was, I barely held myself back from it anyway.
There was a crazy big chandelier hanging over our heads just inside the front door. The whiter-than-white walls stretched at least fifteen feet into the air, and artwork, like you’d see in museums, covered them. Large, fancy tables decorated with vases of flowers lined the hallway between arched openings leading into equally fancy rooms filled with equally lavish furniture, and yep, even more fancy artwork.
“There you are.”
I gasped, spinning toward the voice.Hisvoice. My face lit up. “Alex.”
He pulled me out of the way of the throng of people pouring into the house. Then leaned in to kiss me, taking my mouth like he hadn’t kissed me more times than either of us could count earlier this morning and all last night. I melted into him, not giving a crap about where we were or who could see.
As we parted, his eyes opened, gazing into mine, and the hand on my neck… when had that gotten there… cupped my jaw, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip. His other arm held us together, like a steel band around my waist so we pressed together from knee to chest, our dicks hard and rubbing against each other.
“Hmm, I needed that.”
“Going through withdrawals, were you?” I asked jokingly, but I agreed with him. I needed it too.
“Yes,” he muttered, nipping at my lips.
If he didn’t stop, my lips would look like collagen injections gone very, very wrong. They were already two plump, plush pillows that constantly looked bee-stung, but thankfully, they took the attention off my very long nose.
“I can’t help myself. But I think you forgot some stuff.”
“What’s that?” I asked, looking around and patting the pockets of my jeans that I could reach with the hand not gripping the back of his neck.
And no… letting go to check the other pockets wasn’t an option. As stupid as it was, I didn’t want to let him go any more than he seemed to want to let me go. There had to be some of those gorgeous, bouncy, giggling, beautiful boys from the club here… boys who looked much more the part than I did… and I didn’t want them to think he was available. Because if I had my way, we’d wrap this thing… whatever it was between us, and yes, it was just barely twelve hours old… up in a bow so I could call him mine.
He chuckled, “The lip gloss and eye liner.”
“Oh! I don’t always wear them.”
And I didn’t wear makeup all the time. Sometimes I wore it during the day, but if and when I did, I used it as a shield. I’d worn it to move in day because I didn’t want people to assume one thing about me only to be shocked later and ask a bunch of questions. It was just easier for me to wear it when I met people, so they could form their opinion of me from the jump.
“So it’s something I can look forward to at the club, but not when I take you on dates.”
I nodded absently. Then what he said jumped out at me. “Dates? You wanna take me out on a date?”
He smiled. “Yes, pretty boy. I want to take you out on as many dates as you’ll allow me. I want to show you off.”
I blushed, ducking my head. This… connection was happening so so fast and yet everything was picture freaking perfect, which scared the crap out of me. I had a lifetime of experience that things that were too good to be true typically blew up in your face in catastrophic ways. Coach and Anya adopting me had been the lone success, and I still worried they would disappear from my life, leaving me alone again.
“I’d like that,” I mumbled.
He tilted my chin, forcing me to look up at him.
