He blinked at me, our gazes clashing for many long seconds as if he couldn’t quite process that I’d admonished his behavior. “You think she can do better than me?” he finally said, moving toward the couch and taking a seat.
I tried to wiggle out his arms at this point, but he just tightened his hold, keeping me in his lap.
“I thinkyoucan do better than treating her like that,” I shot back. “Your girlfriend should come first, you know. And that includes her emotions. You might think you’re covering all bases by protecting her fromotherpeople, but what about from you? Don’t be the guy she needs protecting from. If you can’t be better, then don’t be surprised if she finds better.”
He still stared at me with that unreadable and unwavering expression. Thankfully, before it gotwaymore awkward, Lacey raced back in with a red bag in her hands. “Found it. It was hidden behind some cleaning supplies. Andrew has really gone all out on the full cleaning kit.”
My lips twitched because, in this case, it was actually Connor, trying to add ease to his best friend’s life. I’d seen how well he could show love and knew he was capable of being an amazing boyfriend. I just couldn’t figure out why he didn’t do it for Lacey, when she was so deserving of an epic, forever love.
40
CONNOR
Evelyn was all about picking at infected wounds these days. Metaphorically, not literally. She would never do somethingthatstupid in real life. But mentally and emotionally, she was creating scars. I didn’t want to sound like an asshole but also didn’t want to lie when she asked me why I wasn’tbetterto Lacey.
It wasn’t like I was bad with her. We didn’t fight, ever, and I’d rather sit on a barbed-wire dildo than hurt her. I loved Lacey…but I wasn’tin lovewith her. She felt the same, I was sure of it. We’d been together for almost five years and in that time barely spent more than a couple of months together at a time. We were friends. We occasionally hooked up. And we both knew what was expected of us.
That was the crux of it. Our relationship was never born out oflove—it was business. Our families had been forcing us together for so long that Lacey only had two options for her future. Me or Ethan.
“Wanna get your ass kicked?” Haze asked, tossing me an Xbox controller as I entered the living room. Eve had been fully patched up from her grazes and Lacey had taken her over to thecampus medical center to get her ankle and wrist checked out. I’d tried to tag along, but Eve had firmly declined. Fucking brat was starting to think she actually called the shots around here. That needed to change soon.
I sighed, flopping down onto the couch. “Sure. What are we playing?”
“Street Fighter,” he replied with a toothy grin. Haze almost never smiled, so clearly something had him in a good mood. It made me suspicious as hell.
I squinted his way as the game booted up and old-school title credits rolled. “Why are you so cheerful? Blow up another building or something?”
He huffed. “That was an accident, and I already apologized to Eve.”
“Okay…but you’re still in an unusually good mood. You kill someone?” It wouldn’t be the first time. There was a reason Haze Michaels was a wanted man, and not just because of who his parents were.
“Shut up and play the game, Sullivan,” he growled. “If I wanted to talk about my feelings, I’d have called my therapist.”
I snickered, selecting my character,E. Honda, on the screen. “You don’t have a therapist, dickhead.”
“Exactly,” he muttered. “So shut the fuck up.”
Chatting about our feelings wasn’t exactly my vibe either, so I focused on the game for a while and whooped my victory as I took down Haze’s character over and over withE. Honda’s Hundred Hand Slapmove.
“Eat shit,Zangief,” I snarked, delivering the final smackdown of the match. “What was that about getting my ass handed to me, Haze?”
The big guy just rolled his eyes and clickedrematch. “Whatever. Best out of three.”
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to check the message. It was from Lacey, letting me know that Eve was fine.
“All okay?” Haze asked, watching me a little too intensely.
I quirked a brow. “I thought you didn’t wanna chat with me.” He just stared. Blank expression, staring, no blinking. Creepy as fuck, honestly. “It’s just Lacey.”
More staring. He was fully prepared to wait me out apparently.
I sighed. “She said Eve is fine. She’s just bruised, not sprained. They’re heading back now with Brodie.”
Twenty minutes later, the front door opened, and as hard as it was, I didn’t glance at the trio as they walked in, more focused on destroying Haze once more, though he’d learned a few moves from my last annihilation and was holding his own much better. The fucking genius learned at a rate that was impossible to keep up with.
Eve ended up being a distraction for our resident mercenary, though, as he gave up trying. “You okay?” he asked her, and I swear I felt her fucking presence tracing down my spine. Annoying brat. Here to drive me crazy in every which way.
“Yes, just a few bumps and bruises,” Eve said, her smooth voice warming up as she hovered behind the couch. “Lace and Brodie all but carried me home, and now I’m all dosed up on painkillers. I need to rest apparently.”
