Chapter 17
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
ONLY SEVEN DAYS. A week.
That wasn’t a long time.
Hell, Elijah went through a shift with three fires, five car accidents in the county, and four house calls, and he was still obsessed.
Every moment his brain wasn’t in firefighter mode, he was replaying his night with Georgia. The moans she made, how tight she felt, how responsive she was.
He’d jerked off more this week than he had all fucking year.
And Georgia Cross was the star of the show.
Lying on his bed, on day two of being off work, he closed his eyes thinking about her breathy voice when she begged him for more.
Just like every other day since he’d been inside her, his dick got hard.
Unable to stop himself, he gripped his hard length, wishing it was Georgia and not his hand.
Before he could even stroke himself, his phone rang.
Elijah groaned, sitting up and grabbing his phone. It was Roman.
“Everything okay?” he answered, worried the station might need backup.
In typical Roman fashion, he laughed. “I’m not working tonight, so calm down. I’m heading to Lighthouse, want to meet me there?”
Getting out of his house would be better than jerking off all night to the woman he wasn’t going to touch again.
“Yeah, I can meet you there in an hour. Who else is going?” Elijah was fishing to see if Georgia got an invite. Just because he wasn’t fucking her again didn’t mean he couldn’t look at her.
“I’m with Anna now, and she invited the girls. Benny’s mom came to visit, so he isn’t coming out, and everyone else is at the station.”
The Landmere firefighter team was close-knit. Oftentimes, if someone was off work and they had nothing to do, it wasn’t uncommon for them to hang at the station. The camaraderie was what made them all work so well together.
Though Elijah was selfish.
He didn’t want to see Nash because he felt guilty as fuck. He fucked his friend’s little sister.
And couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“I have to go,” Roman told him as he heard Anna laughing at something. “See you soon.”
Elijah got out of bed and headed to the shower, hoping like hell Georgia was there tonight even though it was a bad idea.
But he couldn’t get enough of her.
AS SOON AS her girlfriends learned about how she lost her virginity, they were on a mission to get her out more.
But she wasn’t yet sold on finding someone new.
Georgia took one last glance at herself in the mirror.
Anna confirmed over a fit of giggles how Elijah was meeting them at Lighthouse, so she had to look her best. Even if nothing happened, she wanted to drive him crazy.
The white T-shirt dress she wore was relaxed, but she dressed it up with some jewelry and sandals. She blew out her hair, curled the ends, and put on more makeup than her normal mascara and ChapStick.
Her Uber pulled up, and she hopped into the car, ready for a night out. The drive was quick, and she was dropped off at the bar in no time.
Walking in, she saw Roman first. He waved her over to the booth by the dance floor where he was sitting with Anna. Joining them at the table, she smiled when she saw a drink at the table for her.
“Wasn’t sure if you wanted to have alcohol or not, so I got you the strawberry vanilla spritz from their mocktail menu,” Anna explained as she sat down.
She took a sip and smiled. “This is delicious, thank you. I doubt I’ll actually drink tonight, but I Ubered just in case.”
“We Ubered too,” Roman told her. “Though we are drinking tonight. Your friend here thinks she can get more free drinks than me, so we have a competition going.”
Georgia blushed, remembering the last time she had a wager with someone. It led to her popping her cherry.
Anna’s smile shined. “He doesn’t think men are as stupid as they are when it comes to buying women booze.”
“You are so losing,” Georgia said to Roman. “What do you get if you win?”
“You’re making bets again?” a dark, scruffy voice she recognized immediately said. She knew it was Elijah before he even sat down next to her.
Her skin prickled with excitement, having him this close to her.
“I think one bet was enough for me.” She checked him out while she said it.
Elijah was so handsome, it was unreal. His hair was styled like he'd just run his fingers through it, and she wished it was her who had done it. His midnight-blue eyes were always so serious, except she now had intimate knowledge of how they looked when he was consuming her. His full lips didn’t smile easily, and she daydreamed about having his mouth on her again.
Elijah frowned. “You just aren’t making the same bet with the same person.”
Roman got out of the booth, lending a hand to bring Anna with him. “While you two argue about bets, Anna and I have one to do.”
Georgia watched her bestie and Roman walk to the bar, both laughing with each other.
“You know we aren’t fucking again.” Elijah’s harshness brought her out of her daze. “I told you I can’t commit to you.”
“Geez, you’re like a broken record.” Georgia swatted him.
He took a sip of the drink he had bought at the bar. “What we did was a one-time deal, but I know how important it was. You’ll always remember that.”
Ugh, he was so infuriating.
“And you’re going to forget about it?” She was uncharacteristically mad, but maybe it was just a trait he brought out in her.
For once, she won their war of words. He didn’t answer and stared at the whiskey in his glass.
Anna bounced back to their booth with two men trailing her. “George,” she sang over the music. “This is Nicholas and Kevin, and they asked for us to dance. Want to?”
“Yes, this is perfect timing.” She pushed Elijah to stand so she could get out. He refused to move and glared at her instead. No way was she letting him ruin her night. “Move.”
Without breaking eye contact, he responded to Anna. “She’ll meet you out there.”
“Five minutes or I’m coming back,” Anna threatened with a tease in her tone before she and her two new friends went to the dance floor.
“You better move.” Georgia pushed at him again. “I want to dance.”
His eyes flashed with anger, which wasn’t fair. He was the one who said it was only sex. She was surprised he didn’t make a damn notarized document out of it.
“You can’t kidnap me from having fun!” Georgia was fed up with him ignoring her request to get out of the booth.
“This isn’t kidnapping,” he corrected her, taking a slow, casual sip of his drink.
“You are keeping me from where I want to be.”
He put his glass down, and damn him, he licked his lower lip. “Neither of those assholes will make you come the way I did.”
This was ridiculous.
And, unfortunately, sexy as hell.
But after his millionth reminder of how he wasn’t going to sleep with her again, she was over him leading her on.
“I’ll let you know who measures up better if that happens. Now, get up.”
Roman came over with a drink for him and Elijah. “I got you another whiskey. Three drinks were already bought for me, and Anna is pissed.”
Elijah stood, finally giving the room Georgia needed to get out of the booth. She glanced at her friend, who was having the time of her life on the dance floor.
“Doesn’t look like it to me. I bet she hooks up with Kevin,” she corrected Roman’s assumption of Anna moping.
“The fuck,” Roman muttered under his breath when he watched Anna dance.
Georgia glared at Elijah. “That leaves Nicholas for me.”
Standing tall, she moved her way to the dance floor.
IF ELIJAH CLUTCHED the glass in his hand any tighter, it was going to shatter.
Not only was Georgia shaking her ass all over some fucking guy who looked like he was about to come in his pants but she was also doing it with no regard for Elijah. Once she walked away, she didn’t look back.
And it was driving him mad.
“Who are those two guys?” Roman asked as he downed his drink.
“Fuck if I know. Anna paraded them over here, and now they’re one second away from me pulling the damn fire alarm.”
Roman snagged the drink from Elijah’s grip, drinking the rest of it in one gulp. “I don’t like how those dicks are touching her.”
Elijah wasn’t sure if he was referencing Anna or Georgia, but it was all the same at this point. The random guys needed to leave.
“I’m her best friend.” Roman kept talking. “It’s my responsibility to look after her. That guy she’s with, he’s always hooking up with someone new. Anna doesn’t need to be another notch on his belt.”
This was Elijah’s opportunity to break up the fucking dance fest that was making him irrational. “We should go over there.”
Roman’s eyes darted over the table, probably looking for another drink, but there were none left. “Fuck it, you’re right. Let’s go.”
In only a few steps, Elijah and Roman joined Anna and Georgia. Roman whispered something in Anna’s ear, and she took his hand and spun over to him. They started dancing, leaving Kevin alone. Not to be deterred, the asshole stood behind Georgia, so she was sandwiched between the two guys.
Fuck this. Elijah grabbed Georgia’s hand and yanked her out of the dance trio.
He didn’t stop until they were off the dance floor.
This night, at Lighthouse, it was over. Without thinking, he continued to push through the crowd, holding Georgia’s hand tight, until they were outside.
“You can’t just drag me away when someone else talks to me!” she shouted on the street as he continued guiding them to where he parked his car. “Are you even listening to me?”
Elijah stopped moving, pulling her close to his chest. “Yes, I am always listening to you. And I didn’t drag you away from a conversation unless you’re telling me you two were somehow talking over the loud-ass music while he ground on you.”
She stomped her foot. “You are the most frustrating man I have ever met. You can’t just pull me away. I was having fun, and I’m going back inside.”
Georgia pushed away from him and stomped her way back to the bar, but Elijah was faster than her. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, her back to his front, and lifted her off the floor.
With his free hand, he brushed her silky hair away from her ear, his lips grazing her skin. “I guess now you can consider me kidnapping you.”