An asteroid in the shape of Andrea slams into me, but instead of knocking me aside, all she succeeds in doing is wedging herself between us. I haven’t been this close to her inyears.
Well. Now I’m fully hard.
“You're here!” She exclaims, grasping Cade’s waist. Her gaze rakes down him. “Look at you in this slutty little outfit.”
Oh yes. Hisoutfit. The reason my dick has been chubbed for the last forty minutes. Baggy jeans ride low on his narrow hips, the exposed hot pink band of his underwear, while a tight black, cropped tee leaves enough skin on display to make my mouth water.
Not that Andrea is helping mysituationeither.
A mini dress clings to her hourglass figure like a second skin, ending a hair below the curve of her ass. But it’s the back— or lack thereof—that really does me in. Following the line of her spine is a delicate floral tattoo.
Orange blossoms.
I’m disintegrating beneath the surface. Dying a slow agonizing death day by day. Hour by hour. Minute by minute. Words left unsaid echo off the barren halls of my heart. She’s been right here, in front of me, for years, but always just out of reach. So many times, I prayed to move on; it would hurt less than longing for her. But God doesn’t answer the damned.
My knuckle hovers above her inked skin.
My breath hitches.
I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t.
The weight of Cade’s stare burns into me. I glance up. It’s that look again.
Andrea twists to throw a scowl at me. “Oh. You."
My hand falls. I can smell the tequila on her breath from here. Her eyes are unfocused beyond alcohol. Something is off. I’m not the only one who notices. Cade tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, regaining her attention.
“What’s going on?”
A sardonic laugh gusts out of her. “Oh, nothing. I'm just getting burned alive from the inside by hellfire. It’sfine. Totally fine. Know why? ‘Cause according to the lab results, I’m completely imagining it!”
Pain. That’s what I’ve been seeing in her dark, glassy eyes. It slams into my chest like an anvil.
“Lab results?” I ask.
“Don’t act like you give a shit,” she snaps.
I know the way this goes. If she’d just let me apologize— let meexplain— then, maybe she’d end this one-sided war.
“It’s not an act.”
She ignores me.
Every time she does, it cuts a little deeper.
“It doesn’t matter,” she scoffs, grabbing Cade by the wrist. “Let’s dance.”
He digs his heels in. “Not so fast, church girl.”
She tries dragging him. It doesn’t work. Her lip twitches in irritation. “Comeon.”
Cade stands firm. Her anger turns to me. “Did you threaten him or something?”
“This has nothing to do with him,” Cade cuts in. Then sighs, “You’re sloshed.”
“So?”
“So, you’re obviously hurting and?—”
