That wipes the smile right off my face and I step up to him real close. “Watch your fucking tone, son. That’s my girl you’re talking about. Savy’s end game for me so don’t go putting dumb fucking doubts in her head again like you did last time. You really want her? Then fucking make your move. I already told all of you that I’m all in for her. With or without the rest of you.”
Tate throws his hands up to get me to back off but before he can make his case, the bouncers haul the fighters out past us, clearing the way for us to finally enter the club. We climb the stairs to the second level and spot Ash at our table. His gaze is laser locked on the Butterfly like always. As soon as we’re seated, the usual flock of bar barbies mobs us and I can’t help but grin when every single one of my brothers brushes them off and send them all on their way. I fucking meant what I said about Savy. It might have only been two months since I met her and less than that we’ve been together but she’s a fucking sneaky little thief. My doll’s swiped my heart right out of my chest. I’m gonna make her Mrs. Jude one day.
Drinks are dropped off and I glance around the club with disinterest wishing I was at home in Savy’s peaches and cream smelling room instead. I’ve been sneaking her kindle and reading some of her spicy books and I’m dying to act out a few of those scenes with her. Ten minutes in and already bored, I turn to Tate and Beck but they’re going over plays against our upcoming team so I turn to Ash.
“Hey! How was your final today? That was your last one, right?” I call loudly across the table to be heard over the pumping music.
Fucker doesn’t even give me a blink, he’s so fixated on his girl so I swing my chair around to check her out. The Butterfly is looking fine as hell tonight. She’s got on this little pink and white plaid schoolgirl skirt that barely covers her ass as she dances and a cropped white blouse that shows the bright hot pink bra underneath it. White thigh-high stockings with pink bows on her thighs go down to pink Mary Jane high heels completing the slutty schoolgirl look. Her long neon pink wig flies out over her butterfly wings as she spins to the beat.
When she bends over with her back to us and drags her hands up her leg, I get a flash of luscious ass and a peak of white satin between her legs and my dick stands right the fuck up. I jerk in my chair and stare down at my lap in horror. What the actual fuck? I only get hard for my doll now, that’s the deal. Yeah, Butterfly is next-level hot but so are a lot of girls that aren’t my doll and I have no interest in them.
I glance over at her with a deep frown and just happen to catch her looking back. Electric-blue eyes ringed in black shadow and lashes capture me and my whole body fucking freezes in place as my eyes widen. The seductive look in her eyes that she always has switches to shock and then fear slides into them right before she flips around to put her back to us. I shoot straight out of my chair as my eyes rescan every inch of the Butterfly because now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it and HOLY…FUCKING…SHIT…THIS…IS…EPIC!
My hands shoot straight up into the air like I’m announcing a goal and I bellow out, “GANGSTER MODE ACTIVATED!”
And then I tip my head back and howl with laughter. This is so fucking perfect. The girl my bestie’s been loving and lusting over for the last two years is the same girl he’s been working so hard to resist. I drop back down into my seat, ignoring the looks and questions I’m getting from the guys and tilt my head back Savy Butterfly’s way. I watch her dance knowing she won’t be able to resist looking back our way and when she finally does meet my eyes, I discreetly slide a finger over my mouth in a shh gesture and shoot her a wink. Some of the tension in her shoulders loosens but she’s not dancing as smoothly as she was before.
I glance over at Ash and see the slight frown he wears now while watching her and burst out laughing again. He’s so fucking in tune with that girl that he picked up on that something just upset her. He looks over my way, scowling at me as I laugh but I just blow him a kiss and grin harder. I’m not saying shit about anything. This is way too delicious to blab about. I want to hear all about this from my doll.
I lean back in my chair and turn my head to watch her and pat my cock like the good boy he is, happy he made the right call after all. I’m not as shocked as I was now that it’s settled in. Savy hides a lot of herself from the world. Her hiding behind that mask, tucked away safely behind bars isn’t that much of a stretch. I sit and watch my Butterfly doll dance and know that very, very soon, we’ll all help her to stop hiding and step out of her cage for good.
SAVY
Islip the second contact lens from my eye, drop it into the solution case and then drop my head down into my hands and try not to hyperventilate. Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is a disaster. I groan in misery at how stupid I am. I should have told them myself. I should have come clean. This is going to blow up in my face, I just know it.
“Babes! What happened? Are you okay? Did some fucker harass you out there?”
Stella rushes over and drops into the seat beside me, turning the chair to face me and grabbing my head to force it up. She’s in street clothes instead of a costume. Stella doesn’t dance very often anymore now that she’s been promoted to management. I gush out a soaked in misery breath and shake my head at her, tears glazing my eyes.
“So, so, much worse, Stell. Jude…Jude recognized me! He knows I’m the Butterfly!”
Her beautiful face morphs through a range of emotions before settling on cautious consideration. “Well…did he freak out?”
I angrily swipe away a tear that trickles out and shake my head. “N-not really? He kinda yelled something and then laughed before winking at me.”
Her brows shoot up and a small smile curves her lips. “So, he didn’t seem mad? What about the others? How did they take it?”
I slump back into the dressing chair and roll my lips in with a little shrug. “I don’t think…he told them. Actually, I know he didn’t because Ash would have been raging against my cage if he did. He’s probably waiting until they get home.” I reach for my glasses and pop them on with another groan. “Fuck, I don’t want to go home and face that!” My heart gives a pang at that word, home. I’ve been staying at their place for a few weeks now and it already feels like home to me. I’m so fucking pathetic.
“I think this might be a good thing, babes. You always knew you were going to have to come clean with them if things got more serious. I know you’ve been afraid to show them, to tell them who you really are but Jude finding out could be the catalyst you need to lay it all out there. I can already tell you have feelings for these guys so telling them now, seeing how they react, might be for the best. If it doesn’t go well, then it won’t hurt as much as it would once you completely fall for them, right?”
I swallow the notion that I could actually let myself fall for all of them.
“I…I need to tell them but Stella, there’s no future with them. I’m not going to let myself fall in love because they’re all going their separate ways at the end of this year. Tate and Jude will likely be going pro on different teams and Ash and Beck will still have another year of school to graduate. Starting a relationship, something real and meaningful with them all is just not possible. Having that for the first time in my life and then losing it so soon would crush me completely. I…I can’t. This needs to just stay what it is, sex and maybe also friendship. Love can’t be a part of this.”
Stella’s hands land on my shoulders and squeeze. “Oh, Savy, honey…I think it might be too late for that.”
My hand shakes with anxiety as I try and fit the key in the front door lock when I get home. I force steel into my spine with a deep breath and turn the knob to…a dark and quiet house. Some of the adrenaline flooding my body eases off leaving me even shakier as I hang up my jacket and put my boots away in the closet. I stand at the bottom of the stairs for a minute and listen. It’s quiet but I pick up the faint sound of music before I slowly start to climb the stairs to the second floor.
When I get to my closed bedroom door, I can see a faint strip of light under it and I know he’s in there waiting for me. It takes me a ridiculous amount of time to gather the courage to open the door and step in. I close it behind me, let my bag slide off my shoulder to the floor, and lean back against the door as I meet his golden eyes. Jude’s white-blond hair is a sexy, messy disaster as he sits back casually against my mountain of pillows. After holding our stare for a few beats, he cocks a brow and a whisper rushes out of me.
“I…I…can explain.”
With a smirk on his face he lifts a hand and crooks a finger at me in a come here motion. I drag my feet across the room to stand by the bed next to him and in one fluid motion, he grabs my hips and drags me onto his lap so that I have no choice but to straddle him and brace my hands on his shoulders.
“Tell me,” he says as he traces my lips with a tattooed, ring-covered finger.
He doesn’t say anything more, just looks at me and holds me while he waits for me to speak so I try to stop my shaking and swallow hard.
