9. Drew #2
Well, there goes my plan to hold my breath so I don’t accidentally breathe in her scent. Scents linger long past a person is gone from your life and the last thing I need is Jules’s scent to become integrated into my life. To be embedded so deeply that I can’t move on.
I blame my sister and dad for these thoughts. They keep telling me I need to date and for some reason, my mind has latched onto the last person on the planet I should be interested in.
I glance at Jules. “Has my sister been forcing you to think about dating?”
Jules blinks up at me. “No, but she is forcing me to be nice to you.”
I laugh. “An impossible task for you, I’m sure.”
Her lips turn up into the softest smile. “It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Is she forcing you to date?”
“She’s definitely putting ideas in my head.”
Jules tilts her head back, arching her neck. The dress she’s wearing has the thinnest straps, dipping into a round collar which pushes up the pale globes of her breasts.
“I feel sorry for any woman who has to put up with your grumpy ass.”
“It can’t be worse than any man who has to put up with your sharp tongue.”
Jules’s eyes flicker to me, shining mischievously. “Do you think about my tongue often, Drew?”
The image of her licking my cock suddenly has me blushing red as my cock twitches to life in my jeans. Great, of course he chooses now to respond instead of say, with Sophie, a woman I like offered me her phone number and suggested I use it after winning the game.
“I have better things to think about,” I say tightly.
“If you say so.” Jules smiles brightly.
“Maybe you’re the one who's been thinking about it since you keep making suggestive comments?” I arch an eyebrow, looking at her. The apples of her cheeks turn red.
“Maybe you’re interested since you just asked me if I’m interested.”
I turn to face her fully, crossing my arms as I lean a shoulder against the elevator wall. Jules mirrors my pose. Her eyes shine brightly as she stares up at me.
“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you of all people,” Jules says.
“You could have been stuck in here by yourself. At least you have better company right now.”
Her mouth opens on a gasp. “You think your grumpy ass is better company than me?”
“At least I don’t believe in people who fly around on broomsticks.”
“But you do live in the Underworld, and sadly, the lack of human company shows in your mannerisms.”
Damn, that’s a good comeback. I’m more entertained now than I can recall being in recent times. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe I need entertainment and I keep finding it in the wrong places. Each time I get near Jules, my brain flashes danger! danger! like I’m getting near a deadly animal.
“Is this you trying to be nice to me?” I ask.
Jules shrugs. “I said Lavinia wants me to be nice to you, not that I agreed to her request.” Her eyes narrow. “Even if I had promised, I’m sure you’ll do everything in your power to make me break that promise.”
“I don’t care about your promises enough to try to break them.”
“No, but all you’ll have to do is open your mouth and kaboom!” She makes an explosion with her hands, her eyes widening slightly. “There goes my promise.”
I scoff at her attempt to blame our fights on me. “You can’t be serious. You start fighting even before I open my mouth.”
Jules props her hands on her hips. “You can’t seriously be saying I’m at fault? I’m innocent!”
I laugh at the incredulity of her being innocent. If it were up to her, she’d have my head in her hands right now. There’s a spark in her eyes each time she looks at me, a spark which is waiting for the right ignition to burn me.
“You’re as innocent as an escaped convict.”
Her mouth twists and she points a finger at me, so close to touching my chest. “You are so lucky I have to keep you alive because of Lavinia.”
“I think the safest thing for us to do is maintain our distance and pretend the other doesn’t exist.” I look down at the finger she’s pointing at me. Distantly, I wonder how she’ll react if I grab it. If I grab her whole hand. Probably freak out.
Why am I even thinking about grabbing her hand?
“I’ve been trying to do that for years!” Jules blows a strand of hair out of her face.
“Not well enough obviously. You should really try harder.”
“You should try harder to stay out of my way. Clearly, we can’t get along, not even for a minute. I mean, we’re in our thirties and we’re fighting in an elevator!”
When she puts it like that, it is crazy.
The thing is, I’m not an angry person. Other than on the ice, I haven’t gotten in a fight since middle school.
And the fights on the ice are practically part of the game.
Could be that I’ve known her for so long that she makes me feel like we’re back in middle school.
“Great, starting right now, we’re going to ignore each other. We won’t talk unless absolutely necessary and then we’ll pretend to be polite strangers. Deal?”
I offer her my hand to shake. Jules frowns, looking down at it. I know the handshake is a little too much because we have a strict no touching rule.
“Deal.” Her palm lands in mine, soft and small. We both look down at our joined hands. The last person I expect to be holding hands with, in any capacity, is Jules.
We pull back our hands at the same time as if burned. Like wrestlers after a fighting round ends, we retreat to our corners. But our eyes stay locked with a promise of another round.