I grinned seductively and stepped closer to her.
“I like to change it up,” I answered absently. I was focused on her cleavage, which I felt was entirely too sexual for the occasion. Tinkerbell was sexy, and not just a little bit either. The thought of other people seeing that and wanting her bothered me. Selene watched me the whole time with palpable lust. Apparently she would also prefer to strip down and fuck rather than go out.
“You look incredible no matter what you wear,” she told me adoringly. I didn’t say anything but just circled her, getting a good 360-degree look at her.
Her ass caught me and held me—those jeans were way too powerful. Shit.
Selene didn’t move, allowing herself to be admired. She could probably feel my eyes burning into her back and that dream ass, but she didn’t say a word.
I closed the distance between us as though her body were magnetized and surrounded her, pressing my chest to her back. Selene let out a little gasp.
“I don’t want to break any noses tonight, Babygirl,” I whispered into her ear, touching a lock of hair that had fallen over her shoulder. She swallowed hard, going stiff when I pressed my hips against her, showing her exactly where she belonged. “Stay close and be good,” I warned her ominously.
* * *
Half an hour later, the two of us, along with Logan, pulled up outside the club.
Tinkerbell had chatted with my brother the whole way while I focused on driving and only took furtive looks at her in the rearview mirror.
She’d often looked tense and like her mind was somewhere else. Several times, I’d wondered what she was thinking about. The not-knowing made me apprehensive.
Plus, the idea of spending a Saturday night with her friends was not exactly thrilling me. Selene seemed happy to see them, though. She threw herself into Julie’s arms when she spotted the girl in front of the club’s entrance. Then she doled out hugs to Adam, Jake, Cory, and Kyle, the musician who, for some inexplicable reason, pissed me off just by existing.
“Don’t make me look bad. No picking fights tonight,” Logan admonished from beside me. I was visibly on edge because I got the sense that my Babygirl was just a piece of meat dangled in front of so many hungry lions.
And I would have killed every one of those fuckers if they dared step over the line.
“If no one fucks with me, I won’t fuck with them. You know me—I’m all about cause and effect,” I answered drily, spinning my car keys around on my index finger. I glanced up at the blue LED sign forThe Blarney.I made a skeptical face. I’d never been to this particular place, but I doubted it had much more to offer than Blanco did.
Already bored, I turned my attention back to Babygirl, who was hugging herself against the cold. She felt my eyes on her and moved to me like I’d called for her, reaching out to take my hand in hers in such a genuine way that I shivered.
Why would she do a thing like that?
She’d done it before, but I didn’t want her making a habit of it.
I looked at her tightly and flinched out of her grasp.
Too intimate.
All of this was too intimate.
I felt a stab of pain in my chest when she gave me a disappointed look, but I tried not to let any of that show on my face.
“Fuck, this place is the bomb. Come on, let’s go.” Logan draped an arm around her shoulders and gently urged her forward.
Maybe I was an asshole for shooting her down like that, and maybe Babygirl wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of the night, but I didn’t like pretending.
I was just myself.
She’d said she could accept that—accept me—and I hoped she realized that I wasn’t going to change.
After a moment, I went after her and tried to get in on her conversation with her friends. I was clearly no longer the first thing on her mind. The sadness I’d seen on her face earlier was gone.
“When Logan told us you were coming out tonight, we literally cheered, doll,” Cory told her. I wrinkled my nose at the nickname—I didn’t like the idea of anyone else having a special name for her—but I forced myself to shut up and let her enjoy her evening.
“Yeah, you jerk. You completely forgot about us.” The one teasing her that time was Jake with the tattoos and blond hair. He pulled her into an affectionate hug, and I immediately spotted his hands resting at the base of Selene’s spine. I sincerely hoped he didn’t move them lower.
For his sake.
