He leans in, not quite steady, and says, “You’re the most interesting person here, you know that?” Inwardly, I cringe as he touches my arm. “Let me walk you to your car. There was some shit in a parking lot recently. All that stupid gang activity is a real threat apparently. They sent some memo about it a few weeks before you showed up.”
“Hmm.” I stupidly say nothing more, and then head out across the parking lot.
My shoes crunch on the gravel. The wind slides under my jacket and goes straight to the bone. It feels like the kind of night that ends badly for someone—and I don’t think Ian could save me from much. My SUV is parked on the far side of the lot, covered in shadows that weren’t there when I arrived here.Beside it, I see a big black truck, and I don’t know why it gives me a sense of ease in the dark, but it does.
Definitely more so than Ian, who’s staggering somewhere behind me. Clearly, four glasses of wine are more than enough for him.
When I reach my car, I pop the door and toss my bag into the passenger seat.
“I really wish you didn’t have to go,” Ian whines, his hand landing on my car door and shutting it before I can stop him. “I really want to get to know you.”
I jerk upright and spin around, quickly realizing I’m pinned. “Ian… I told you, we could have a raincheck. You’re drunk. And I want to go home.” My tone takes an edge, but I don’t care.
He pooches out his bottom lip. “Come on. Just one more drink. You don’t want to go home yet.”
I hate the smell of liquor on his breath. “I’m good. Thanks, though.”
He leans into me. “It’s not safe out here, you know. Place gets weird after dark. Like I said.”
I press my hands against his chest, trying to conjure up all the niceness I have left, despite all the sirens going off in my head. “Back up.”
He doesn’t. “You sure you don’t want to come to my place? I got the good stuff.”
I set my jaw and press my palms against him. “I said no.”
His smile flattens and face darkens. “You don’t have to be like that about it.”
I swallow hard, duck my head, and try to pivot out—but he grabs my upper arm with bruising force.
“C’mon,” he says, his voice rougher now, “I’ve seen how you look at me. You’re not fooling anyone. You need someone to help you loosen up.”
I try to push him off with my free hand, but he’s got leverage. He uses his knee to wedge between mine, trapping me against the cold steel.
I go still, my breath heavy.
“Don’t play hard to get,” he breathes, leaning in, his lips at my ear. “Nobody’s watching.”
But theyare. My whole fucking closet of skeletons is front row.
“Just go away,” I grit out to Ian.
Ian shakes his head and pushes off the car, just as I catch sight of another shadow.
Oh fuck.
Before I can even process it, Ian is on the ground, his chest rising and falling, but the rest of him out cold.
“Stupid fucker.” Bradford is standing just on the other side of the body, his expression the same orientation of absolutely zero emotion. But his fistisclenched by his side.
He cocks one brow as we stand there, eyes locked. “Hopefully, you didn’t like him.”
“Not at all.” I shake my head, once, and then I do something completely stupid. I make a move to cross over Ian’s unconscious body and right into Calvin’s space.
And he meets me halfway.
His lips crash into mine, fingers threading through my hair. The world is reduced to just that sensation, every nerve is raw and sparking. We stumble back in the same place Ian just had me pinned, but I don’t even give a fuck.
He shifts, pushing me against the side of the car, but this time is different. The metal is freezing through my shirt, but his body is a furnace, all heat and force. His thigh wedges between mine, pinning me in place. My hands tangle in his hair as we get lost a kiss, tugging hard enough to make him grunt.
