Chapter 19 #2
I roll over, flicking her forehead. “What is Miss Dove Dawson conjuring up? I don’t like that thinking face.”
“Ouch.” She glares at me. “Nothing. I just don’t get Kasen. Why did he throw that party last night and get Slater to invite those girls so they would bring me? Even you have to admit, it’s weird, River.”
“Honestly that party was already happening. It was K’s birthday, were you really gone so long you forgot that?”
Her mouth pops open, and I know she did. “Shit. Now I feel kind of bad.”
“No, you don’t.” I laugh.
“Well, he’s been a dick to me since I got back. All controlling and shit. Who just demands stuff and expects they will get it? He’s like an oversized toddler throwing a tantrum half the time. Why can’t he just be the guy I used to know?”
My smile softens. “He is the guy you used to know. He hasn’t really changed all that much, Dove, you have just been gone so long, and honestly, you’ve been through a lot, it’s made you standoffish and skeptical.
You’ve forgotten that we are your friends and would do anything for you.
K just wants to get close to you like you used to be.
He’s not been the same since you left, and I know he has a dumb way about it sometimes, but his heart is in the right place.
You’re important to him, and he would stop at nothing to make sure you’re safe and cared for. We all would.”
She huffs out a stressed breath. “It’s more than dumb.
It’s manipulative. And besides, he was the one who wanted me to leave his place the other day, so it is weird he wanted me at his party.
” She sits up. “You know what? Don’t you even dare try and make excuses for him.
If he wants to see me or whatever, he can do it like a normal person.
Come find me, have a chat, not post shit on the socials about me being his and manipulate nice girls into making friends with me so he can get his way.
” She stands and strides back toward my club.
“The party was already happening, babe,” I try and tell her, but she’s already too far away.
And pissed again. I let her go. At least I know where she will be today and who with.
Bodhi might have been right about giving her some space to work out her shit and hopefully help us to get to the bottom of what’s really going on with her.
Around lunch time, Dove finally surfaces again, in her Beach Bar shirt and a pair of denim cutoffs, her long hair in two braids.
She went and found Melanie and got straight to work.
She looks happy here chatting to patrons about their day as she pours their drinks.
Every so often she glances my way and gives me a half smile.
Not the same showstopper she has for the customers, but it’s something.
A distraction from watching the Brazil part of the World Surfing Tour I’m currently torturing myself with.
I glance at my phone screen when a text lights it up, expecting it to be Kasen wanting an update on Dove. He’s a wreck without her at his place, hardly containing himself from demanding she come back. I can’t help but grin when I see it’s someone a lot more fun.
JAYDEN: I need to see you.
My heart kicks into overdrive, and I sit up straighter, glancing over my shoulder at Dove. She’s busy clearing tables, so I collect my phone and type out a message.
RIVER: Where?
JAYDEN: My office in half an hour.
RIVER: I’ll see what I can do.
JAYDEN: Just be there.
Demanding asshole. I laugh to myself, closing my laptop. I head in Dove’s direction. “I have to step out for a while. If you need anything, Melanie can help you, okay?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m fine, River, you don’t have to be here watching my every move. I’ve done this shit before.”
I smirk back at her. Probably could have guessed that’s what she would say. “Behave then, don’t have too much fun without me.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” She laughs then continues on to the next table.
I grab my wallet and phone and move through to our bouncer, Lex. “Don’t let her out of your sight. She leaves this place, follow her and call me.”
“Got it, boss,” he agrees with a nod, and I’m out the door.
I glance over my shoulder as I hop in my new Land Rover Defender, a small slither of guilt gnawing away at me.
I’m not normally one for keeping secrets, and I know Kasen would have worked out by now I have been visiting Jay, but if he has, he hasn’t said anything, and I’m not ready to talk about it, so I’m glad.
It’s just one more thing that could destroy our already-fragile friendship.
Jayden’s psychiatry office is twenty minutes out of town, but I get there in ten. Walking through the door, I wave to his receptionist, Wendy. She offers me a sweet smile and lets me pass. This isn’t the first time I have been here.
I tap on the door and push the handle open without waiting for a reply. There he is waiting for me, leaning into his desk, his charcoal suit pants fitted to perfection, his crisp shirt with the top couple of buttons open, and his tie discarded on his desk already. He looks edible, waiting for me.
“What took you so long?” He smirks, his smile crooked and sexy as hell on him.
“Had to make sure Dove was safe while I was gone. She’s working at The Beach Bar today.”
“Is she?” he asks like he didn’t know it already, when I know that couldn’t be further from the truth.
This man knows and sees everything. “Didn’t think Kasen would have let her off his leash long enough to work any place.
” He pushes off his desk and moves closer, his dark eyes locking in on me in a way that sends a shiver right the way through my body.
I could never get enough of the way he eats me up.
“Yeah, he’s not coping, but he knows it’s for the best.” I flick the lock on the door and pounce, my hands tangling into his wavy hair as our lips meet.
I didn’t come here to talk about Dove. He tastes of mint and the subtle hint of cigarettes.
I tug at his shirt, wanting it off with a matter of urgency.
My hand runs over smooth muscles with a light dusting of hair.
This man is perfection. As our kiss turns more frantic, his hard cock presses into me, and I groan into his mouth, wanting more.
He tugs me back with a handful of my hair. “Someone missed me.” He grins, all psychotic and smug. He knows what he does to me.
“Shut up and fuck me,” I growl out.
His hand fists into my shirt and throws me down on his desk, our kiss turning violent.
It’s aways been this way with him. Hot and heavy with a touch of aggression.
I thought I knew what fucking was, how insanely good it could be, until the first time I gave into Jay’s advances, and everything changed.
I had always been into both dudes and chicks, but this was so different.
He is unlike any other person I know, and from the moment he touched me, I was a goner.
He breaks our kiss, forcing me back so our eyes are locked again. I feel his adoration right through to my soul. “What’s she like?”
I pull back a little, not wounded but curious by his question. “Who, Dove? Did you want to see me or her?”
His eyes dance with that delight that tells me he just got the reaction out of me he wanted. “You, but I want to know about her. The two of you are close already. She trusts you.”
“I don’t think she trusts me, more that she hates me less than your brother and Slater, and she needs a friend at the moment.”
His chuckle vibrates through the room. “She trusts you, River. How could she not when you’re so sweet to her.
For filling her every need even when you have to miss out to make it happen.
That bet was smooth. I could see how badly you wanted to take care of her, but you let her win anyway because you wanted to help her more.
” His fingers tangle into my hair and dig into my scalp.
“I’ve seen the way you are together, it’s more.
Tell me, is her skin as smooth as silk?” He kisses me roughly down my neck, like he’s starving and I’m the only one who can quench his appetite.
“Yes.” I force open his fly, slipping my hand inside and palming his thick cock.
He places more rough nips down my neck. “Does her pussy taste like pure heaven?” he murmurs against my skin.
“You have no idea. It’s torture being so close to her.” I stroke his cock, sliding the slippery pre-cum over the tip.
“You’re so fucking good to her too. Sleeping outside the doorway to protect her. If only she knew the sacrifices you’re making for her.” He makes fast work of unbuttoning my pants and dragging them down my legs. “But you know I appreciate it.”
I push him off me, shoving my pants out of the way. I’m not doing any of it for him, but I will take his prayers any way he wants to give it to me.
He pulls my hair sharply at the nape of my neck. “So greedy.”
“For you, absolutely.”