“Go away.”
Gabby moves her palm to between my legs, and that’s when I reach down and stop her. “Enough,” I state, pulling her hand away from my dick. “You need to go.”
She bats her eyelashes at me. “Are you coming with?” Leaning forward, she whispers, “If you do, I’ll be sure we’re bothcoming.”
“Not going to happen, Gabby. Have a good night,” I say, getting even more pissed. I try to always be a nice guy, but I’ll be blunt and direct if needed. This is a hard line she’s crossing, all in the name of pissing off Charli.
I’m done being her pawn.
Gabby sighs and shakes her head. “We all know you’ve got a crush on Charli, Quinny. What you really need is a real woman to help you forget all about her.”
Charli snorts. “A real woman who sleeps with married or committed men?”
Gabby narrows her eyes. “If they’reunhappywith their current significant other, that’s not my fault.”
“No, you’re right, it’s not,” Charli replies, almost sweetly. “Yourproblem is you have no standards and will allow cheaters to get anywhere near you, pretending it’s affection. It’s not. It’s availability.” Charli bats her eyelashes in the same way Gabby does and smirks. “Bless your heart.”
Gabby huffs and turns, pushing past me and Camden and bumping into Charli as she passes. I instantly see red and am standing up to go after her when Charli places her hand on my arm. The gesture instantly soothes my frayed nerves and has a calming effect on me.
“That woman is gross,” Charli says, setting her empty glass on the bar.
“Do you want another?”
“No thanks. I’ll just get a water when Collin comes back over,” she replies and I’m immediately acting.
Raising my hand, I signal for Charli’s oldest brother.
“I didn’t mean right this second,” Charli states.
“Water, please,” I say to Collin when he steps over to our side of the bar.
Nodding, he scoops a cup of ice and uses the soda gun to fill it with water. When he brings it over, he asks, “Gabby giving you a hard time?” He’s staring at his sister.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” she replies, taking the water.
“I think Quinny here just needs to sleep with her,” Camden says, making me want to punch him square in the face.
Of course, he doesn’t know he’s disrespecting his sister, but dammit, I know.
Before I can reply that it would snow in Hell before my dick would ever get near her, Charli makes a disgusted sound. “Quinny would have to get a shot afterward. That’s seriously nasty, Camden.”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “Just trying to help my friend get some dick play.”
“Knock it off,” I grumble harshly. “Not gonna happen. Ever.”
He shrugs. “Suit yourself.” After a beat, he adds, “But my sister’s probably right. You’d need a shot of penicillin after that one.”
“How’s paint night going?” I ask, Charli holding my attention.
“Amazing. Another masterpiece nearing completion,” she replies, a beaming grin on her gorgeous face.
“I have my doubts,” Camden teases.
“Watch it, or it’ll be your Christmas gift.”
“I’ll hang it in my closet.”
“Come on, man. At least put it in the garage. It’ll help keep the mice away,” I josh, earning a hearty laugh from my friend.
