I unbuckle my seat belt, avoiding looking at him. “Why would it? She’s a grown woman, and we’re both far from virgins.”
It isn’t until I’ve felt the seat belt snap across my chest and reached for the door that I realize how slick my hands havegotten. My stomach folds itself in half as I try putting an end to the discomfort now free bleeding into my subconscious. I can’t find where it’s coming from, though. It’s pooling and pooling?—
“Don’t be naïve, Finn. I’m not saying you need to be into her if you’re not. Just tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll let it go. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just looking out for you so you don’t wind up hurting yourself over this.”
I give my head a rough shake and shove the door open. My phone’s buzzing in my coat pocket, but I can’t get myself to check who’s calling. One look up the sidewalk and I have my answer, anyway.
Aubrey’s already here, and from the darting of her eyes as she scans the walkway outside the restaurant, she’s obviously still waiting for her date. Her phone’s pressed to her ear, but her lips aren’t moving. When the buzzing in my pocket stops, she lowers her phone and bites down on her lip. It’s glossy enough that I can see the sheen from here.
There’s a tightness in my chest that has me tugging at the zipper of my jacket, moving it up and down. One look at her and I know she’s spent hours getting ready for tonight. Not only is her makeup flawless, but she’s curled every strand of long black hair and braided the front sections. Her black dress only reaches the middle of her thick thighs and has these beautiful lace sleeves accented with tiny butterflies. I grind my teeth together and force my eyes away once they get to her signature black heels.
“Just come with me, bro. You don’t need to be here to chaperone her date. Aubrey’s a big girl, and I’m sure she’ll give you the rundown after,” Wes pleads from the car.
I meet his stare. His brow twitches at whatever he finds in mine. I don’t bother telling him that I’m here for me more than her because I know that he’s more than aware of that. Maybe more so than I am.
The idea of leaving her here looking the way she does sets me off. A savage heat boils high in my chest. If I have to share her with another man for a few hours tonight, so be it. But I’ll be the one taking her home.
“Thanks for the ride. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
***AUBREY***
“My brother is actually a lawyer, too.”
“Really? What kind?” I ask, taking a casual sip of my martini.
“Corporate. We get a kick out of teasing him about taking the most boring path,” my date says.
The moment I saw him rushing up the sidewalk outside the restaurant a half hour ago, I was expecting the worst. Other than the photo Finn shared with me from his social media yesterday, I had no idea what I was going to be walking into tonight.
Malik is very, very handsome and seems to have a decent sense of humour. He hasn’t interrupted me or shown a sliver of sexism or toxic masculinity. With dark brown skin, deep chocolate eyes, the perfect amount of groomed facial hair, and a suit that’s been fitted to perfection over his tall, bulky body, he’s a bombshell himself. It’s hard to believe he was interested in being set up on a date in the first place, when I doubt he’s ever had trouble finding his own.
According to Finn, he’s his pitching coach’s nephew, and from the few times he’s met him, he’s been polite and genuine. His coach sings his praises, which isn’t surprising, considering they’re family, but I still said yes when Finn offered him as an option. There wasn’t really much else out there for me unless Iwas considering having one of the men from the hotel gym in Texas fly over here to try to sweep me off my feet.
Malik takes a swig of his lemon water and flashes me a grin when I set my martini down. The energy at our table is relaxed, yet still a bit heightened as I fidget in his presence, trying not to say the wrong thing or read too far into every little thing he does.
“Corporate isn’t boring, per se. I couldn’t do it, but I’m also the type of person who would wind up kicked out of a business meeting full of stuffy rich men for mouthing off.”
He laughs deeply, humour warming his eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me, actually.”
“Oh? Do I come off as a loudmouth?” It’s a light tease, but I still wince slightly after, realizing how abrasive that could come off to the wrong person.
“A loudmouth? No.” His hand touches mine across the table, and I stare at the gold watch on his wrist for a beat longer than normal. He smooths his thumb over my knuckles. “More like . . . charismatic. The take-no-shit type.”
The contact isn’t bad. I’m not considering snagging my hand back and tossing what’s left of my drink across his expensive suit. Instead . . . the unease filling my stomach is for an entirely different reason. I felt it when Malik put a guiding hand on my back when we stepped inside earlier, too.
I shift my gaze in search of Finn. He was late tonight.
I called him when I arrived, but he didn’t pick up. It wasn’t until I’d already introduced myself to Malik and we’d been shown to our table that I caught a glimpse of familiar blond hair across the room. Without his baseball cap, it was even easier for me to recognize him than usual, even with his sunglasses on. I’m not sure if that was on purpose or if he was just in a rush and forgot half of his disguise.
My lips feel dry beneath my gloss as I roll them together and will him to look at me. He’s sitting three tables over, closeenough to see us, but not enough to hear what we’re saying. I don’t know why that upsets me as much as it does.
I’ve been jealous. You’ve just never noticed.
Have you, Finn? Or does jealousy look and feel differently to you than it does to me? Fuck. Why does it even matter?
Blinking back at Malik, I force my mouth to curve as I say, “You’re actually pretty spot-on. And don’t think I’m not taking that as a compliment.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
