Chapter 21 #2
Tightening my fingers around his, I pull him with me. I’m running on pure adrenaline as I navigate my way through Encore Beach Club, Jameson close behind me, weaving through bodies. I’m not sure what I’m searching for until I spot it—a secluded corner that leads to a fire exit. Perfect.
I tug Jameson around the corner, spin around, then crash my lips explosively against his.
Fuck the tender way we kissed last night.
This time it’s wild and desperate. My body slams into his and both my hands are in his hair, pulling hard on the ends.
He takes my lower lip between his teeth, biting with just enough pressure to tease me, before his tongue finds mine again.
He tastes like too much vodka and bad decisions.
Grabbing my face with both hands, he twists us around and pushes me up against the wall, trapping me in place.
It’s so hot, kissing this drop-dead gorgeous man under the sizzling Vegas heat in this private little corner of a bustling pool party.
Except it’s not as private as I thought.
“Evie!” a voice snaps, and my eyes ping open as I’m brought back to reality with a bang.
Peeking over Jameson’s shoulder, slightly breathless, I find Addy staring at me in disgust with her hands thrown up like giant question marks.
I retract my own hands from Jameson’s hair.
Step out from in front of him. Bow my head in embarrassment at being caught.
It’s like when my friends caught me making out with that guy I told them not to worry about in some random bedroom at a frat party, except this time it’s much worse, because it’s my sister, and that guy I’m kissing? He’s ten years too old for me.
“What are you doing?” she asks, but isn’t it obvious? I’m trying to do the hot guy who is the most insane kisser I’ve ever met.
“Having fun . . .” I answer.
Addy doesn’t appreciate my smart-mouthed response. Her perfect brows narrow into a sharp V. “I wondered where you were going, and it’s a good thing I showed up or you’d have had your hand down his shorts in the next two seconds.”
Jameson retreats from me, creating a safe distance between us, awkwardly scratching a hand over his stubble. I’m sure he doesn’t need Addy giving him any grief, but he can’t exactly get involved. This is between her and me.
“Oh, c’mon, Addy. Don’t be so dramatic. I’m an adult. I can do adult things. I don’t need you parenting me, okay?”
“I’m not parenting you,” she objects. “I’m looking out for you. This guy—no offense, Jameson—is way too old for you. There’s a gazillion twenty-one-year-old guys around this pool right now that you can go and flirt with if you want to meet guys this weekend.”
“Your fiancé just flew off the handle at you. You’re in no place to give me lectures about guys,” I bite back, and when Addy’s shoulders visibly sink, I realize that was perhaps a little mean.
“Evie,” she says, my name laced with hurt.
“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s true.” I shrug and take a step closer to Jameson, because right now, I’m picking the side of the hot guy over my overbearing, controlling sister. “I’m going to make my own decisions, so deal with it.”
“I’m not that old,” Jameson remarks, and Addy snaps her blue eyes toward him with a threatening look.
“Don’t even,” she warns. She looks back to me as she runs her hands through her hair in exasperation. “And where the hell is Theo? I can’t keep track of the two of you.”
“He snuck out of here with Hailey a while ago,” I tell her, “yet you’ll still say there’s nothing going on between them.”
“I can’t deal with all of this,” Addy says, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head fast, like that’s enough to erase all of her worries. The music pulses loudly around us. “You entering your rebellious era. Theo seducing my best friend. And if Liam takes one more goddamn tequila shot . . .”
“Yeah, his buddies are definitely making him suffer,” Jameson says. “They were pumping him full of sambuca over at the bar an hour ago. Surprised that dude’s still standing.”
Addy opens her eyes and takes a deep, heavy breath.
“You know what, Evie? You’re the least of my worries right now.
As long as you make it onto that plane home on Monday morning, I don’t care what you do this weekend.
I need to focus on Liam.” Without another word, she pivots on the spot and heads back around the corner into the crowds.
“Look at you,” Jameson says, loosely hooking his arms around the back of my neck as he smiles down at me. His hair is tousled from all of my pulling on it. “Arguing with your sister over me? Plot twist.”
I’d like to believe I’m conflicted over Jameson.
If he was still holding my bracelet hostage, I’d certainly hate him right now.
But the truth is, there is not one single reason for me to actually dislike this man.
Having him follow me around? I secretly enjoy the attention.
Kissing him? A sensational feeling. His face card? Lethal.
“Can we get out of here?”
Jameson’s brows lift and there’s a devilish spark in his green eyes. “Absolutely.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” I say. “I mean can we go do something else? Something fun. Can we hit the casino again? You did just promise my friend Michael I’d get him his money, so . . . I need to win some.”
“I’m already taking a gamble on you,” Jameson says, throwing an arm around my shoulder and turning me toward the exit, “so what’s a couple more rolls of the dice?”