Chapter 10 Ezra #2
Her eyes widen ever so slightly, and her eyes flicker multiple times to someone before she looks at me. Following her line of sight, I find Noah on the other end. The moment my eyes connect with his, he jerks his head to look the other way.
Andie touches my shoulder. “Yep, I’m alright,” she answers, clearing her throat. I can see that her smile’s tight and she’s lying.
And why was she looking at Noah and him her? Or was I mistaken?
What was that about?
At the thought that Noah could’ve made her uneasy in some way, my blood boils.
He’s my best friend, and I don’t think he’ll ever hurt her, but what if he did?
She’s already been hurt enough in the past, and I hate to think how cruel people can be with someone who doesn’t fit their idea of a perfect figure.
Especially guys who have found different ways to hurt her. I know she has never told me the whole truth about what her exes have done, but I can guess and hate them all the same.
Seb’s voice pulls me out of the murderous train of thought and makes me loosen my fist, which I didn’t realize I had made.
“June, do you know that our captain here…” Seb sidles close to my mom and talks to her as if talking with his years-old friend, pointing at me with the paper cup in his hand.
My eyes narrow at him. I watch him over the rim of my cup, my eyes warning him to be careful of the words that leave his mouth. “…has got a special segment featuring him? Did he tell you that?”
Mom shakes her head, and Seb gasps dramatically. “Bad, Ezra. Very bad. You should’ve told her,” he opines in a high-pitched voice as others join him in pulling my leg. He wiggles his eyebrows at me, knowing exactly what he’s doing.
I’m gonna kill you, my eyes threaten him, and he just smiles like a deranged Joker as if he couldn’t care less. It’s a miracle, really, that I haven’t crumpled the cup in my hand yet. Kudos to me for showing such patience with my kid-like teammates.
“Ezra,” Mom’s chastising tone pulls my eyes to her. Uh oh, I know that look. This is the look my mother gives when she’s disappointed in me and is about to rip me a new one for keeping something from her.
“Yes, mother,” I mutter, glaring at my so-called teammates.
“Would you like to say anything?” Her eyes narrow at me, warning that she sees me and will dig the truth out of me.
Before I can apologize for it, Seb decides to add fuel to the fire. “And do you know, June, who is overseeing the project? Our very own Social Media Manager, Kaeli. She’s a smart one, that beautiful woman.”
My eyes turn to slits at him. I know she’s a beautiful woman. But why does he? He shouldn’t have said that. Only I can say that. He shouldn’t even look in her direction. No one should.
What the fuck!?
I startle myself with my own thoughts. Fucking hell! I rub a hand over my face, hoping to wipe away any evidence of the kind of thoughts I’m weaving.
My mom, ever the dramatist, gasps with a hand on her chest, making me roll my eyes at the overreaction while Andie giggles beside me, trying but spectacularly failing to cover it up with a cough. When I catch her, she just shrugs.
Dear father decides that this is the best time to give his two cents.
“You say she’s beautiful, Sebastian. She wouldn’t happen to be around you young kids’ age, would she?
” My head swivels to look at him like he has betrayed me.
Plunged a knife into my back, if you will. While his eyes gleam with mischief.
Kids. All of them are kids.
God! I’m stuck with kids in adults’ bodies.
“Oh, there she is,” Lucas announces to the group of kids–no, I will not call them adults. They aren’t mature enough to be one.
All eyes are on her as she makes her rounds among the guests. Laughing and talking to everyone. Listening to them.
I don’t think she realizes the effect she has on those around her. Everyone vies for her attention, for her to give them the time of her day. I do too.
People light up around her when she smiles at them. I wish she would smile at me, too. I wonder what that would feel like when she’s sober. She hates me too much for that, though. I’d better remind myself that I do, too.
She must’ve felt several pairs of eyes glued to her because she looks in our direction, and with a small grin on her face. Swaying her lips like the vixen she is, she strides toward our small circle.
I didn’t see her the entire day after I lashed out at her. It was a little relief that we didn’t, given that I was showing my parents and sister around and attending the activities for the day.
But now, as she walks over, I let my eyes rake over her form, her suit fitting her snugly, making me wish it were me instead. Curves on her that would make anyone envy her with the confidence with which she carries herself.
I lick my lips as I wonder what it would be like to hold onto them as I drive into her. Bite into her lips and smear that red lipstick she wears to tempt good men like me into committing sins.
Not that she gives anyone the time of her day, especially not me. But what I wouldn’t give to have just one night with her.
I shake my head, chiding myself for having such thoughts at a PG event. Fuck, man, get a grip!
“Hey, you guys,” Kaeli greets, looking at everyone but me, even though she’s standing just beside me.
Seb skips to her other side and pulls her under his arm. What’s the deal with him!? Is he fucking allergic to keeping his arms to himself? The clingy motherfucker.
“June, this is Kaeli, our Social Media Manager. She is who I was telling you about,” Seb introduces them.
“You were?” Kaeli looks at Seb, stunned and wide-eyed. Seb nods.
Seb points at my family, and my entire body stiffens, wondering how she’ll behave with them, considering she thinks I’m the devil and all. “And Lili, this is our Captain’s mom, June. Him right here is his dad, Jonah.”
Both of them shake hands with her, with her smile still in place. “And this pretty lady is his sister, Andie.”
“Sebastian,” I mutter his name like a warning, to stay away from my sister. He’s a player through and through, and though I don’t think that makes him a bad person, he’s the absolute last thing Andie needs in her life right now.
“Hey, Andie,” Kaeli says. “It’s so nice to meet all of you. Thank you so much for coming. I hope you’re having a good time.”
“Oh, yes, honey. The event is wonderful,” my mom gushes, keeping a hand on Kaeli’s.
She squeezes it back. “I’m glad, Mrs. Moore.”
“Oh, please call me June, dear,” Mom insists with a flick of her wrist.
“Sure, June,” Kaeli says to appease her.
“So, I hear you’re working with our son on some special project. I hope he’s not bothering you,” Mom initiates a conversation that I fear might veer off in directions I won’t like, so I sigh. It’s not like I can stop her.
Kaeli’s eyes flick to me for the briefest of seconds, making my breath hitch as I wait for her to respond. But like always, she surprises me once again, and you won’t see me complaining.
“No, ma’am. Captain here has been behaving, don’t you worry. I know how to keep ‘em in line.” She smirks, winking at my mother.
Fucking hell!
My dick takes her calling me Captain as an invitation to twitch again in my pants. Jesus Christ, her smart mouth will get me in trouble one day.
Mom throws her head back as she laughs. “Oh, I like you, honey. I like you.”
Everyone around chuckles and agrees with Mom while I bend down close to Kaeli’s ear, the back of my hand caressing hers, and whisper for only her to hear, “Careful, Feather. Or you might find your ass as red as your hair when I’m done with you and that smart mouth of yours.”
She sucks in a sharp breath, swiveling her head to look at me with her beautiful, wide eyes.
I pull my hand back and slide it into my pocket as the veiled touch leaves behind a whisper of tingles.
Fuck! Am I just projecting, or did her pupils dilate?
Finding whatever she was looking for, she removes her eyes from mine. And for the first time, I smirk, satisfied at having shut her up.
Though I’d have preferred to use my lips instead of words. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. And when she’s still reeling from my sudden boldness, I nail the final hook.
“By the way, red looks good on you, Feather.”