“Who the fuck are you?” Kelsey hisses through her teeth.
I shake my head at her, not answering and adding to the suspense. I love watching her heart rate pick up and how red her skin gets when flustered.
“What do you want?”
This time, I shrug and stretch my arm out around her shoulder. She flinches away from me and swats my arm. Good girl. But it does nothing to push me away. I pull her in close, and I can tell the very second she realizes it’s me. Her body goes rigid and still.
Hayden sits across from me, next to a surprisingly silent Jessie, though her eyes scream, “fuck you.” It’s written all over her face in the snarl she’s giving me. She’salready figured out it’s us, but she knows better than to argue.
“I thought you had a meeting,” Kelsey growls.
Keeping my eyes trained on Jessie, I say, “Ended early.” My answer is clipped. I’m not in the mood for conversation. My patience is as thin as thread and ready to snap any second. Surprisingly, I’m much more controlled with Kelsey. No girl has ever been able to do what she’s done to me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love her. I came to terms with those emotions awhile ago, but I can’t tell her that.Yet.I don’t think she feels the same, and I can’t blame her if she doesn’t.
She scoots away from me. Well, attempted anyway. I grip her shoulder and hold her closer. “We didn’t do anything wrong.” She argues.
I never said they did. I don’t care where they go or what they do as long as there’s security.Mysecurity. They snuck out, knowing we weren’t okay with them coming here alone. That’s where our problem is.
“Are you drunk?” I ask.
“What? No. I only had one,” Her face pinches in thought, “Maybe two drinks. I can’t remember, but I’m fine.”
“Good. Let’s go.” I grab her hand and pull her from the booth. Jessie follows behind us while Hayden trails behind. Kelsey struggles to keep up with my long strides. Her heels click on the shiny floor before being muted out by the carpet in the hall.
“Good evening, Mr. Langley,” The hostess starts to speak at the front desk.
“Charge it to my card,” I snap, then aggressively smash the elevator button as if that will open the doors any faster.
“Can you slow down?”
My teeth grit from clenching my jaw so tight. “No.” The single word comes out rough. Maybe I’m being too hard on them, but Lilith has men everywhere. There’s no telling who could have followed them here. I know both girls could kick ass, but alcohol impairs your judgment and slows your reaction times. They never should have come here without a bodyguard. If I have to, I will hire one to follow her ass around twenty-four seven.
The elevator dings, and we exit onto the first floor. We make our way out to the valet, where our cars are already ready for us. I open the door for Kelsey to slide in, and I buckle her seatbelt, then round the car to take the driver’s seat. Hayden revs his engine behind us, signaling he’s ready to go.
Kelsey huffs. “What?” I asked a bit harsher than I intended.
“Nothing. You don’t actually give a shit anyway.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Do you care about anything, Ryder? Aside from money and racing.”
I inhale deeply. I’ve learned that doing that a couple of times helps prevent me from spewing venom from my mouth without thinking first. “I care about you.”I love you.I want to say, but I can’t.
She’s silent for a while, but I feel her eyes on me. It’s late at night, and Charlotte is buzzing. Traffic isn’t as bad as it could be, so I take advantage of it and weave between cars to get the fuck home as quickly as possible. I glance in the rearview to see Hayden following steadily behind.
“Why? Why do you care now?”
That’s a loaded question, but an easy one. I bite my bottom lip and sigh loudly. “I’ve always cared. At first, I was a dick…”
She huffs, “Understatement of the year.”
I chuckle because she’s right. “I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I had no idea how deep all this shit went, but I promise it will never happen again.”
I see her nod her head slowly from the corner of my eye. The moonlight beaming off the side of her face is picture-worthy. She’s so fucking beautiful, my dick throbs in my jeans. I can’t wait to get her home and punish her ass.
26
KELSEY
