Page 55

I’m about ready to spill my guts when Eli points toward the dance floor, where Addie and Hazel were having the time of their lives a few minutes ago. Except Hazel is at the bar now, and Addie is still dancing, her back pressed against some fucking cowboy with his hands on her hips, pulling her closer.

“It’s gotten so hard to pretend that shit doesn’t bother me,” Eli says. “But as long as she gets home safe, there’s not much I can do. She’s a grown-ass woman now.” He takes a drink of his beer. “I’m just glad you’re out here with her to keep an eye on this shit.”

I barely register what he’s saying because my pulse is pounding so loudly it’s somehow affecting my hearing. All I can see are that jackass’s hands on her hips, pulling her close, his palms splayed across her stomach. The same places my hands so desperately want to be. Something hot and ugly twists in my chest. I’ve never felt jealousy this intense before, if ever. It’s so immediate that for one irrational second, I think I might snap right here. She may have put an ultimatum on me, but there’s no fucking way I’m standing here watching some random cowboy put his hands all over her while she’s been driving me out of my goddamn mind for days.

“Yeah, it’s a full-time job,” I somehow manage, still staring daggers in their direction. Just then, Addie looks up and catches me watching her. She must read the look on my face, because a small, satisfied grin spreads across her lips.

Ah, so that’s her game. She’s practically ignored me for days; I should have known she wasn't done playing. She’s trying to break me, and God help me, this’ll do it.

Just then, Hazel pops up behind Eli, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I’m tired. Let’s go back to camp.” She gives him a look that leaves absolutely no question about what she has in mind before glancing over at Addie, then back at me. “Chace, you’ll take care of her, yeah? She deserves to let loose after that amazing run today.”

Damn fucking right I’ll take care of her.

“Of course. See you two lovebirds in the morning.” I wiggle my eyebrows at them for added effect. The faster these two leave, the faster I can deal with Casanova over there and get his fucking hands off Addie.

“You’re the best, Chace!” Hazel says, planting a kiss on my cheek before grabbing Eli’s hand and dragging him out of the bar.

The second the door closes behind them, I turn toward the dance floor and stalk straight for Addie and Douchebag. I wedge myself between them, not even bothering to hide the jealousy and rage simmering under my skin. His hands fall away from her as I turn to face him. “I think it’s my turn. Your time’s up.”

“Hey, man. You can’t do that.”

I step into his space, chest nearly touching his. “I said your time is up. Back the hell off.”

“Chace! What the hell are you doing? Are you insane? My broth—”

I spin toward her. “Your brother left. Game over, Addie.”

She glances around, momentarily confused, before looking back at the guy with a sweet smile. “Thanks for the dance. Have a nice night.” Then she turns on me. “You have some nerve, Walker. I can dance with whoever I wan—”

I pull her against me, driven by something primal I can’t explain. I’m done standing across the room pretending I don’t give a damn while another man has his hands all over her. And I want her to know it. Hell, right now I want the entire fucking bar to know it. I don’t even fucking care what she was going to say, because this is my only answer.

I press my mouth to hers in a hard, possessive kiss, then pull back just enough to catch the shocked look on her face. “I’m not gonna sit around watching while some other guy has his hands all over you. Not fucking happening.”

“Fuck you, Walker!” she exclaims, pushing against my chest, but there’s no real fight behind it. It’s a challenge.

“Just say the word, Sunshine, and I’m all yours.” I spin her around, her back flush against my chest, one hand splayed low across her stomach. So low that my fingertips ride the waistband of her skirt. "See what you do to me?" There's no hiding how hard I am with her ass pressed against me like this.

My other hand slides over her hip, finding the front of her skirt. I gather the fabric slowly, one inch at a time, until my fingers graze the bare skin of her inner thigh. She sucks in a breath as I trace slow circles against her skin, deliberately keeping my touch just shy of where I know she wants it.

She pushes back against my cock in slow, deliberate circles. It takes everything in me not to groan out loud in a room full of people. Her arm hooks around my neck, her nails dragging through my hair as she pulls my head down. “Just tell me where you disappear to, Cowboy.” She grinds her ass harder against me as she says it. “And I’m all yours.”

I drop my mouth to her neck instead of answering. She tilts her head, offering it to me, and I eagerly accept the invitation. I trail open-mouthed kisses down the line of it until I find a spot just beneath her ear that makes her whole body shudder. I scrape my teeth over it, and her nails bite into the back of my neck as my name escapes her mouth on a moan. "I could do that," I murmur against her skin. "But where's the fun in that?"

She spins out of my arms, and for one second I think she’s pulling away. Then she comes right back, chest to chest this time, close enough I can feel her heart hammering. Then she grabs the back of my neck, rises onto her toes, and kisses me.

I take over without thought. One hand in her hair, tilting her head where I want it, kissing her deep enough that she makes a small, helpless sound into my mouth. Her hands slide down my sides and slip under my shirt, palms flat and hot against my bare stomach, fingertips tracing the edge of my belt on their way to the buckle.

Fuck this shit.

I catch her wrist and press her palm flat against my bulging erection, right where she was headed, just long enough for her eyes to go dark. Then I turn for the exit and pull her with me.

I’m out the door and across the parking lot before I can think about what I’m doing. She doesn’t protest. She just follows, her boots quick on the gravel behind me. Hearing her right there behind me, just as eager as I am, has my pulse fucking racing.

When I reach the truck, I yank open the back door and jerk my chin toward it. "Get in, Addie."

She hesitates just long enough that I think she’s changed her mind. Just long enough that I fear she’s going to remind me this can’t happen without my truths. "I'm not having sex with you, Chace." She drags her palm down the length of my cock, firm enough to make me hiss through my teeth. "But…"

She leaves the rest hanging as she removes her hand and climbs into the backseat of my truck, that ass pointed directly at me as she does. Her already impossibly short skirt rides up as she crawls across the seat, giving me one perfect glimpse of her small, tight mound, barely covered by the thin slip of her thong. The fabric is already damp, and I think I’m going to come right here, right now, just from looking at her bent over my back seat.