“Of course, what else?” Alyssa blurted out, a delighted expression on her face. I was about to tell them that this wasn’t the case because I didn’t want them to think I was that kind of girl. I still had my principles; I was still the prudish little girl who was incapable of fully satisfying a man. I was still the girl who had lost her virginity far too recently to have learned everything about sex. I was still me, the person who associated sex with feelings and would never be able to tolerate the touch of anyone who wasn’t…
The sound of the refrigerator being slammed shut made me jump.
I quit thinking and even “performing” when I turned in the direction of the sound.
The gold of Neil’s eyes had all but disappeared, and he was staring fixedly at me with a gravity so dark that it chilled me to the bone.
I felt a void open up beneath me, a chasm ready to pull me down. He breathed in deep and exhaled through his nose, pure hatred in his eyes aimed at me.
Only at me.
“Neil, is everything okay?” Logan watched him intently. He planted both feet on the floor but remained seated as he considered the situation. Neil, meanwhile, leaned back against the kitchen island and crossed his arms over his chest, making the muscles in his biceps flex.
“What sort of party are you taking the Babygirl to?” He spoke in a derisive, singsongy tone, especially on the last words. He looked to Logan for an answer, chewing his lower lip with a strange look of cruelty on his face.
“Why? What’s it to you?” Alyssa cut in, intrigued.
“Was I talking to you?” Neil snapped in irritation. He shot her a dirty look, and Alyssa gulped, shrinking back into her seat.
“Well?” Neil turned to his brother again, drumming the fingers of one hand on the opposite forearm impatiently.
“You want to come with us?” Logan offered. “You could keep Selene company. She might get bored with just the two of us,” he said drily, and I frowned at this ridiculous suggestion.
What the hell was he trying to do?
In the depths of my heart, I wanted Neil to accept Logan’s offer.
“I don’t take sluts out,” Neil said baldly, an insolent smirk curving up his lips. For a moment, I thought I must have imagined his words. Maybe I’d heard him wrong? But no…
“Neil!” Logan scolded him, leaping to his feet. “What the fuck are you saying?”
“Slut? You mean me?” I got up from the couch, fists clenched at my sides. I couldn’t believe he’d actually said that.
“Aw, Tigress, sheathe those claws. It’s not like I mentioned you by name,” he answered slyly and even gave me a wink. He was making sport of me, completely unashamed. He was trying to needle me until I lost my cool and tipped over the edge into exasperation.
“You were obviously talking about me!” I raised my voice, determined to defend myself. Oh, today was the day. I was going to slap him or give him a kick in the downstairs that he’d remember for the rest of his life. Neil just chuckled.
“As far as I’m concerned, a girl who goes out looking to get fucked is a little slut.” The confidence in his voice was almost as infuriating as his over-the-top arrogance. I walked over to him with no fear and looked up at him.
“You do nothing else with your blonds, and now you’re going to lecture me?” I shook my head, smiling sarcastically. We were at the edge of absurdity. He of all people was daring to judge me? I didn’t like getting so aggressive, but Neil drove me crazy; he made me lose all inhibitions.
“But I don’t take them out. Never,” he answered calmly with a mischievous smile. He was keeping himself under control, but his every word cut sharper than a knife. I stared at him, determined not to bend to his will. If I was being honest, though, I didn’t actually want to provoke him. I didn’t want a war between us. I just wanted to…to kiss him and touch him. To mess up his hair and get him out of his clothes.
I wanted him to tell me something true about himself. I wanted him to open up and trust me.
I wanted everything from Neil Miller.
But I interrupted this train of thought by boldly, unthinkingly asking him, “Are you maybejealous?”
He sucked in a breath, clearly not expecting that question. Logan’s mouth fell open, and he came up to stand next to Neil, but neither he nor Alyssa interfered in what had become a no-holds-barred beatdown.
Neil let out a guttural sound that was extremely seductive and something like a laugh. His chest and my entire body vibrated with the dark notes of his baritone. He dropped his arms to his sides and inched closer to me, obliterating the space between us. His musky scent seemed to sink into my skin, and I knew that it would linger there for hours, mingling with my own smell. He smoothed a lock of hair behind my ear, and I shivered.
It was a move that might have looked sweet on the surface but was really anything but.
“Get ready, Babygirl. Put on your best dress and your sexiest underwear. We’re going to go out together, and I’ll find you tonight’s fuck myself,” he whispered, highly amused as he showed me just how little I mattered to him. “Are you down for that? Or are you going to start whining when it comes time to satisfy the lucky guy’s demands?” he added sneeringly.
“Neil! What the—” Logan attempted to intervene, trying to make his brother see reason.
