I may be ruining a moment, but oh well. I press my lips to her neck for a chaste kiss before giving her a snarky response. “You got to be bossy and now I do.”
“I’m not taking your car.”
“Then you’re moving.”
“Are you kidding me right now?”
The moment is definitely lost. I gently pull out of her and try not to groan my protest. As soon as we are no longer attached, she gets off the bed and starts to put her clothes back on. But I’m not having it. As she reaches for her underwear, I take them out of her hand and toss them across the room.
“I didn’t sign on for this,” she rants and walks over to where her underwear landed by the bathroom door. “I don’t need another dad or anyone who thinks they can tell me what to do.”
“And I don’t need a girlfriend who is too stubborn to be safe,” I reply and again take her underwear from her as she tries to pick them up. This time I toss them toward the living room, and when she glares at me I grin and wink.
“Fuck off,” she hisses and storms past me. Giving up on the underwear, she tries to pull her T-shirt over her head. I hold onto the hem, making it impossible for her to lift her arms and pull it over her head. She tries to pull away. I step into her and push her against the wall next to her dresser. My naked body is pinning her now and the spark of rage in those gray eyes is like the flash of a lighthouse light—a bright, undeniable warning.
“I am not some fucking puck bunny you need to support,” she protests in a low voice. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”
“And I’m not some asshole who doesn’t give a shit about your well-being.”
I yank the T-shirt from her arms and throw it over my shoulder and close the space left between us. My lips are a fraction of an inch from her smart mouth and I want to close that space too, but she would probably slap me. It’s not even that threat that stops me, though. It’s that I have too much that still needs to be said. “I care about you. More than I have about anyone in a long time. Maybe ever. And I’m not going to let you do risky stupid shit to prove some kind of point you don’t need to make.”
Now I kiss her, because I’m more scared to see her reaction to that than I am of getting slapped. She responds to the kiss, which gives me courage. “You’ll borrow a fucking car or I’ll buy you a new one.” I swallow and give her the one last option that I can’t deny is a possibility. “Or you can end this thing between us. Those are your only options, Shay.”
Now I pull back so I can see her reaction. Her jaw clenches. Her eyes narrow. And then she kisses me. It’s angry and hot and I know she hates herself for it, but she’s not picking that last option. I try not to smile against her lips but it’s so damn hard.
Chapter 39
Shayne
“Oh my God, this thing is insane,” Audrey says, the whole sentence coming out like a gasp. Josh lets out a low whistle from the backseat, confirming he agrees with his girlfriend.
I frown and Audrey openly laughs at me. “You are the only person in the universe who would be pissed at being given a luxury car.”
“He didn’tgiveit to me,” I argue as I carefully turn into the gated VIP parking lot for the arena. “I’m borrowing it until I get a new one of my own. Which will be this weekend. I found a great deal on a used Sportage in Everett.”
“You’re going to go from a BMW to a Kia? Willingly?” In the rearview mirror I watch Josh shake his head in disdain. “Shayne, you’re certifiable.”
I ease into a spot at the far end of the parking lot, away from where most of the other cars are parked near the entrance. It’s safer that way, so that no one dings Sebastian’s car. When I begrudgingly agreed to his terms to borrow a car, I assumed it would be his SUV because there was no way he’d offer me the Aston Martin. But the next morning he’d driven me over to his place and opened the four-car garage that was a freestanding structure in an alley behind his house and offered me any car in there. Including the Aston Martin. I swear to God he is insane. I picked the BMW after a quick Google search that told me it was the least expensive of the four.
I was a wreck driving it because I was constantly worried about scratches or dents. But I had to admit, it was an amazing vehicle. I’d never driven anything as state-of-the-art or as decadent. The leather seats felt like butter. They were heated and air-conditioned. It handled amazingly. I was in love. And I was beginning to think I wasn’t just in love with the car, which made me even more nervous than the thought of scratches on the Beemer.
We all get out of the car and I hit the lock on the key fob. As we walk toward the entrance, Audrey and Josh chatter to each other excitedly. It’s their first VIP game. I used to do this all the time as a kid, but this is the first one in a long time. And I definitely never thought I’d be doing it again. Audrey links her arm through mine. “I’m proud of you, Shaynie.”
I glance up at her because she’s in some killer heels. “For…?”
She smiles mischievously. “For finally doing something wrong.”
“What are you talking about?” I pause a few feet from the door to dig the passes Sebastian gave me out of my purse.
“Your one-night stand,” she explains and laughs. “It’s probably the only thing I’ve seen you, little miss perfectionist, screw up since we met. And I’m so glad you did.”
Josh chuckles, and I can’t help but laugh a little at that too. Then I hear my name called from behind us in the lot and I turn and see my father striding toward us. He’s in a suit, and I suddenly have flashbacks to my youth. Only if he was playing, he certainly wouldn’t be talking to me before a game.
“Dad. What are you doing here?”
“I was asked to do an interview at intermission,” he explains. “Seems no one can get enough of my stories about the glory days.”
Oh, you would be wrong about that, Dad.
