“I gave you a chance. We went out. Maybe you are a nice guy, but I’m not feeling what you’re feeling.” I clutched the cup in my hand so tight the plastic began to crack. No matter what I said, he refused to accept it. The only thing that kept me from panicking completely was that we were surrounded by so many people.
Jamie took a step toward me that felt menacing. Like he would’ve grabbed for me again if we’d been alone. “You need to give me another chance. Give me some time to prove myself to you, Ripley. I know we can be so good together. Why won’t you just—”
“You’re not harassing my girl, are you? Otherwise, we are going to have a big problem.”
An arm slid around my shoulders as Auryn appeared beside me. He pulled me close against him, tucking me in next to his warm, hard body.
CHAPTER TWO
AURYN
Ripley stared at me in surprise. Her pale blue eyes wide and unblinking. I would’ve loved to take a moment to really enjoy her expression.
“Your girl?” the guy repeated, glancing between the two of us.
“That’s right,” I said. “I was right over there at the table watching you make her uncomfortable. Now I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but it looked to me like you were being an aggressive asshole.”
Making the mistake of ignoring me, the jackass looked at Ripley and asked, “Who the hell is this guy?”
“Are you not fucking hearing me?” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “I’m her boyfriend. I’m also the guy about to kick your fucking ass all over this place.”
He was smart enough to look wary. However, he wasn’t smart enough to walk away. “Ripley, who is this guy? I’ve never seen the two of you together.”
I had to give Ripley credit. She got on board pretty damn quickly. Leaning into me, she said, “Jamie, this is Auryn. My boyfriend. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, so I didn’t mentionhim before. That’s why I broke things off with you. He and I are together now.”
Jamie wore a skeptical frown. I didn’t know this guy, but I was ready to beat his ass. Ripley was one of Codie’s best friends. Codie was my roommate, as well as my best friend’s fiancée. I would always step up to defend anyone that mattered to her.
Of course it didn’t hurt that I’d been eyeing Ripley up for a while now. Stray had told me to keep my distance from her, not wanting me to do anything to upset Codie. Did they really expect me to sit back and do nothing while this shithead harassed her?
“I don’t believe you.” Jamie shook his head. “Not once have I seen you with this guy. Why are you lying to me?”
Some guys really didn’t get a clue, did they? Turning Ripley to face me, I tipped her head up with a finger beneath her chin. “Don’t worry about a thing, baby. I’ll take care of this.”
With zero hesitation, I kissed her. A deep kiss. Going all in. Slipping my tongue between her lips. Making sure Jamie saw everything. I enjoyed every damn second. Especially when Ripley kissed me back, her mouth moving ravenously on mine.
I didn’t totally blame this idiot for wanting her. She was a gorgeous little blonde with a body to die for. Beautiful blue eyes like the sky on a perfect sunny day. One time at one of our graveyard parties she was with the other girls and I heard her laugh. Something about that melodic sound had made me look twice. If she hadn’t been Codie’s friend, I would’ve fucked her a long time ago.
When we finally pulled apart, I glanced up to find Jamie staring at us in absolute disgust. I chuckled. Reluctantly releasing Ripley, I stepped toward Jamie, getting right in his face. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt.
“Now are you going to leave her alone, or do I have to get violent? Because if you’ve heard anything about me and my friends, you know we like to get violent. And if you haven’theard about me, then I guess you’ll learn the hard way.” Without waiting for a response, I slammed Jamie up against the fridge.
He raised both hands, clutching a beer bottle in one. “All right. I get it. I’m going.”
Too bad. I hadn’t expected him to give up so easily. I held him there for a moment longer before releasing him and stepping back. I watched until he fled the room. If he had any brains in his head, he would leave the house before I changed my mind.
I turned back to Ripley, finding her flushed. Her cheeks pink and her lips slightly parted. Relief swept over her face.
“Thanks, Auryn. I really appreciate your help. He was starting to creep me out.” Her painted pink fingernails dug into the side of her plastic cup. She was clearly a bundle of nerves.
“No worries. Happy to help. Maybe you can do a favor for me now. Since you kind of owe me one.” Taking her free hand in mine, I slid my fingers between hers and tugged her toward the table. “You can be my good luck charm.”
She followed me back to the table where the poker game had resumed without me. Even though she didn’t try to take her hand from mine, she said, “I should probably get back to the girls. They’ll be wondering where I went.”
I shook my head, pulling her down onto my lap as I reclaimed my empty chair. “I wouldn’t worry about that. If they look for you, they’ll find you with me. You’re my girlfriend for the night after all.”
Anyone who knew me knew damn well that the last thing on this planet I wanted was a girlfriend. Dating one person seriously was not on my radar. That was of no interest to me. I preferred to have a good time. Get drunk and high. Share a hot steamy fuck with the right lady and move on.
However, Ripley had given me the opportunity to get close to her without Stray or Codie chasing me off. How could I not take advantage of that?
