CHAPTER TEN
Reid
My jaw is killing me from clenching my teeth so much.
I’ve tried my hardest not to look her way, but then her laugh will carry across the pub, stealing my attention.
The husky sound goes straight to my dick.
I’ll hear her speak, and instead of concentrating on what my brother is saying, I’m focused on her.
Everything is about her. The way she tucks her hair behind her ear, how she runs her finger across the rim of her glass. She has me transfixed.
I grip the pint glass in my hand a little tighter when another guy moves to their table.
When Summer laughs, my gaze narrows. This punk doesn’t take a seat, none of the pricks who have approached them have.
No balls. It had been somewhat of a relief—until this guy made them laugh.
It won’t be long until he makes the move to sit down.
I mean, what could he have possibly said that was so funny? The guy looks like he couldn’t tie his shoelaces, let alone string a sentence together to say a punch line.
I’ve been telling myself for a while that it’s not bothering me that she’s here, or that she seems to be enjoying that these men are trying to get into her knickers. I’m lying to myself. I’m just afraid to admit it because then I’d have to face what it means.
I’ve never felt territorial over a chick before.
Even with the chicks I fought with the Carters over, it was only ever fun and games.
I wanted to piss them off by proving I could get the girl.
It was never really about the girl. It was never about laying down a claim or wanting to warn them away from her.
Summer, though, she has me gripping my seat, wanting to fuck up all the men in this fucking bar. She has me tied up in knots, and she doesn’t even fucking see or notice the effect she has on me. She hasn’t even looked my way once.
“Bro, stop being such a girl and just go over there already,” Isaac remarks.
“Why the fuck would I want to go over there?” I snap a little too harshly.
He rolls his eyes. “Jesus fucking Christ. You haven’t listened to a word I’ve been saying for the past thirty minutes. It’s clear you want to go over there.”
A tall, leggy brunette steps up behind Isaac, sliding her hands over his shoulders and down his chest as she leans in. “You ready to leave?” she purrs.
I grunt when he smirks. At least one of us will get lucky tonight. “In a sec, babe.”
My gaze runs over to the table in the back, and my jaw clenches one more time when I see her hand on his arm, her head thrown back as she laughs.
Fuck this.
I slide out of the booth and my brother pulls away from the chick now in his lap. “Leaving?”
“I’m doing what you told me to do. I’m going over there,” I tell him, and hear him chuckling as I walk away.
Malia spots me first, her lip curling up in amusement. She whispers something to Summer that makes her turn, her gaze meeting mine. Her eyes lower into slits as she watches me, so I put on my best smirk, raising my eyebrows.
I drop dramatically in the seat next to her, my arm immediately going over the back of her chair. I ignore the man still standing next to their table as I begin to play with the pastel coloured ends of her hair.
“What are you doing?” she growls.
My smirk turns into a grin. “Saving you. I told you I don’t mind you being a virgin. You don’t need to pop that cherry with a random stranger. It’s okay that you have no clue what you’re doing,” I state.
I’m only somewhat of an expert where women are concerned, but I do know men. I know what they like and what they don’t.
There are men who like the conquest of popping a cherry.
Then there are men who just don’t care if you are or aren’t.
But then there are men who are horrified at the notion of being with a virgin.
For multiple reasons. I am the latter, and my reason is because a virgin wants commitment.
They do emotions and all that other bullshit.
I don’t do that. I need detachment. I lost my virginity to the girl a year above me at school who had a bit of a reputation for wanting to be a guy’s first fuck.
This guy, whose face scrunches up at the word ‘virgin’, doesn’t want to teach a virgin.
He wants a girl who knows how to suck his dick and get down and dirty with him.
Summer’s cheeks turn bright red, the same colour the tips of her ears are now going as he walks away. “Are you fucking nuts?”
I keep playing with the ends of her hair, enjoying the feel of the silky strands through my fingers, even as she tries to slap my hand away.
I roll my eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t want a two-second fuck? I can call him back if you do. I was just trying to be neighbourly.”
Malia snorts but keeps silent as she watches the exchange. Summer leans into me, her scent rousing memories. “If I wanted your fucking help, I’d ask for it. You didn’t need to embarrass me.”
Why is her scent so familiar? Floral, with enough hint of vanilla it has my cock stirring in my jeans.
She stands abruptly, pulling me from my thoughts but also grabbing the attention of those sitting close. “No! No, I won’t seduce another man into our relationship. You’ll make it all about him and forget I’m even there,” she yells, and to add to her dramatic act, she sniffles.
For the first time in my life, I feel heat rise in my cheeks. Before I can even process it all or make a remark, she’s grabbing her bag. “I’ll see you at home, Malia. I’ll call a taxi from outside.”
Vanilla.
Fuck!
The connection is there, on the edge of my mind, and when all the dots connect I suck in a breath.
Memories of a chick I met years ago come to the front of my mind. I’m out of my seat in an instant, chasing the woman who has a talent for tying me up in knots.
I reach outside and find her moving to the side of the pub. I follow, and just as she puts her phone away, I propel her against the wall.
Her sharp intake of breath has goosebumps rising on the back of my neck.
“You!” I rasp, not meaning for it to come out so heatedly.
Her button nose twitches. “Move away.”
“I remember,” I declare, watching those expressive eyes widen. “I remember you.”
Or as much as my foggy brain will allow me to. It’s like a door ajar that can’t fully open. I’m pretty certain my drink was tampered with that night, or more accurately her drink. The thought has my jaw clenching and I have to fight the urge to hold her.
I had gone to the pub with the new guy we were training at work the night I met Summer. It had been a long, stressful, tiring fucking day at work. All I wanted was a cold one, and maybe to find someone willing to get on their knees and suck my dick.
The minute I stepped inside, my gaze was immediately drawn to the bar, where Summer was sitting.
She was gorgeous, her long, tanned legs crossed at the knee, showing half the pub her muscular thigh.
I had every intention of fucking her—I even hoped she’d leave those fuck-me shoes on her feet—but then I sat down next to her, and for the first time in my life I was riveted by a girl for more than her body.
The only other women in my life I’ve spoken to for that length of time was my mum and sister.
I’ve never given another woman that much of me or my time.
They were meaningless, shallow, and quite frankly, easy.
Summer, however, had this pull about her that just drew me in.
When I dragged her into the ladies bathroom, it wasn’t because she was meaningless, shallow, or easy.
It wasn’t because I was against public sex.
It was because I just couldn’t wait, and I respected her enough not to take her there on the bar in front of everyone.
That’s how badly I wanted her. I couldn’t even tear my lips away from hers long enough to pull her top off.
It’s why when I fucked her with my fingers, I had to step away before I embarrassed myself by coming too soon.
It scared me so much.
That night felt like ‘more’ to me.
I pulled myself away out of fear, because I didn’t do virgins and it was very clear with how tight she had been that she was one.
I freaked. I didn’t even wait for her to gather herself after her orgasm before I left her to clean up and went back to the bar.
Since my drink was already gone, I downed her untouched one while debating whether or not to ignore my rule about not fucking virgins.
Then it hit me. For her, I’d break the rules.
I stepped in the direction of the bathrooms, and that’s when everything started to blur.
I hadn’t even had that many drinks, but at the time, that didn’t register to me.
All I could think about was how tightly she squeezed around my fingers when she came—until everything around me went out of focus.
When I managed to regain my balance, a chick who had tried to get me to leave with her a few weeks before was right in front of me.
Her tits were pressed against me, and I have no idea why, but when she asked to take me home, I let her drag me out.
I don’t understand why I said yes to her offer.
In the back of my mind, I knew there was a reason I turned her down before.
Thinking back on it, now that more pieces are coming back, I don’t know whether I forgot about Summer before this chick approached or after.
Everything happened so quickly. The only reason I know about the chick is because when we got into the taxi, I passed out.
The girl had to call my brother to come and get me, and Jaxon said he knew as soon as he saw me that something was wrong.
I’ve never gotten like that while drinking.
The next day, I tried to piece the entire night together, but with all the missing time, I couldn’t. It had been like the time my brother mixed two puzzles together with missing pieces. I couldn’t figure it out.
Until now.