With the challenge in mind, I don’t know where I’m going, but I keep moving anyway. Getting away from Sergey feels like a triumph in itself, but in the moment, I’m more concerned about proving myself. At winning this unspoken game.
I catch a guy at the bar watching me, not in the way Sergey does, but with subtle interest instead. It’s enough.
Without hesitation, I walk straight up to him and lean against the bar.
The guy is tall with broad shoulders, and his face is nice enough to put Sergey on edge. He leans in when I approach and welcomes the conversation.
Not even hearing much of what I’m saying, I flirt with him. Lightly, at least. It’s meaningless, but it should do the trick at least.
My skin feels tighter than usual, and my heart thuds, but not for the man in front of me. No…it’s thanks to the heat in Sergey’s eyes from behind. I don’t have to look back to know it.
Given how intense he has been about Roland so far, I can only imagine this is killing him.
I don’t know why I feel inclined to torment Sergey in this way, but I don’t want to stop. Even if I don’t care about this perfect stranger or any repercussions for this.
He assumes he knows all, but he doesn’t know me. Not in the ways he thinks he does.
The man’s hand slides over to my waist, and I risk a glance over my shoulder.
Sergey hasn’t moved from his spot. Instead, his eyes are nearly burning while he watches, drinking me in with an unreadable expression. His jaw stays tight with one hand clenched around his glass like he’s barely restraining himself.
Good. Let him stew in it.
Let him see that he doesn’t have me entirely figured out.
Chapter 11 - Sergey
The moment she laughs at whatever lame joke the guy cracks, light and teasing, while her hand barely brushes against his forearm, I know without a doubt that I’ve fucked up.
It hits me hard and fast.
I was having fun poking and needling her like I enjoy doing, pushing her buttons until that fury breaks out and takes over. But seeing his hand on her waist, slowly trying to ease lower to her hip, kills me.
This…watching her willingly flirt with someone else while she has hardly done the same to me…that wasn’t part of the plan. Not at all.
Kat has been incredibly selective about how I can touch her. How she wants to be receptive to my teasing and flirting. And to see her give it away so effortlessly to someone she doesn’t even know has me bordering on the edge of insanity.
I should’ve known better.
I know she isn’t one to back down from a challenge, and when her pride is on the line, she’ll do whatever it takes to win against me.
Mutual teasing is good. Fun. But this isn’t that.
Kat leans in with a sensual smile, and the guy eats it up like he’s hungry for it. But he isn’t starving for her like I am. He hasn’t endured weeks of near torture just to try and get close enough to her. He hasn’t pushed aside all other potential conquests just for the hope of being able to feel her body. To finally have that pent-up spite and disdain shift into raw passion.
She’s been making me suffer without even knowing it, and that’s especially true now.
Jaw clenching, a darkness I’ve never known before, curls within my chest. It’s sharp and possessive, and I don’t know how much more I can take.
The man says something else, making her laugh with such a soft, sexy sound that I swear it undoes something in me completely.
That should be me. I should be the one she looks at with those tempting eyes. Me, not him.
A loser like him doesn’t deserve to even breathe the same air as her, let alone look in her direction.
Before she can continue, and before I can do something as impulsive as driving my fist into his face, I move.
With a breath, I pull myself in, tempering the rage unfurling beneath my skin. Calm and collected with a smoothness I’m used to calling in, I approach.
