Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
With a final wave, I leave. And don’t look back.
CHAPTER 19
Aleksandr
“Where are you going? We haven’t even eaten yet,” Anya says as I stand. “I thought you might enjoy the company instead of all but shooing her out.”
“When have I ever enjoyed anyone’s company?” I grit.
“That’s the point.” She gives me a scornful glare, and I know when to choose my battles with my sister. Once she starts, she doesn’t stop until she has her way.
I walk away from the table. Anya stands up, her chair screeching along the floor, but River pulls her back down. I don’t bother to look back as I stride quickly through the restaurant and to the front. Lena’s waiting on the sidewalk in that pink, form-fitting dress. She should not be wearing that dress. Fuck me, some women let the dress wear them, but not her. She owns that dress. It’s a fucking crime how uncomfortable it makes me. I tug on my self-discipline in order not to rip it off her where she stands.
Stepping up behind her quietly, I lean in close to her ear.
“That’s not really in the birthday spirit for you to just run off,” I tell her. She whips her head around, and as she does, our heads collide, her nose and my nose hit each other, and she cries out as she steps back.
“Fuck! Is it your mission to leave me with injuries everywhere?” she asks, holding her nose and tapping her foot. “Shit, that hurt.” Her phone dings, and she looks down at it while still cupping her nose. “I have to go. Thanks for another wound.”
“Come back inside.”
I wasn’t expecting her tonight. But I don’t want her to leave. I’ve done everything I can to stay away from her these past two weeks, then Anya had to go and basically plop her in my lap tonight.
Fuck, I wish she were on my lap again, grinding against me as those sinister little moans escape her perfect fucking mouth.
She swings her head around to glare at me.
“Did you not hear the part where I’m leaving?” she bites back.
“I did, I just didn’t care. Now, come back inside.” I hesitate before I add, “Please.” Because I don’t ever say please. Don’t beg for someone to do anything. They just do what I want.
An Uber driver waves her down from a car a few feet away. When she goes to step forward, I grab her wrist and push through the onslaught of nauseating and chilling curses. Taking her phone from her hand, I release her, cancel the Uber, and start walking back inside with her phone.
“Give it back!” She tries to jump over my shoulder, but it’s futile considering our height difference. Her breasts brush against my back, and my nostrils flare.
Disgust. Need. Hunger. Her.
“You made it really fucking clear I’m not welcome in there,” she grumbles to my back.
I turn to her and drink her in as she adjusts her tits in that tight dress after jumping around.
That fucking dress.
“I don’t want you to leave, sunshine. I just wasn’t expecting you tonight.”
She looks at me expectantly and crosses her arms over her chest.
My eyebrows furrow in confusion. I don’t know what else she expects from me, so I hand her the phone as I say, “Come eat. You got dressed up, and there’s a noodle dish in there I know you’ll like. You don’t want it to go cold.”
“You’re forgetting something,” she says angrily. What could I be forgetting?
“Do you want me to kiss you?” I ask.
Her eyes bulge, and a red flush streaks across her cheeks. “No. When you’re an asshole, you say sorry.”
Oh. That’s what she meant.
My jaw tics. Apologizing isn’t something I’m too familiar with.
But with the way she’s defiantly staring me down, I know she won’t come in otherwise. And I want her to come in.
“I’m sorry for making you feel unwelcome. I was just caught off guard by that tight fucking dress.”
She glances down, and a devilish smirk comes across her face. Fuck me. If I wasn’t already going to hell, I’m certainly going now. “You like what I’m wearing?”
“I’d prefer if you weren’t wearing anything at all.”
Her eyebrows shoot up, and I internally curse myself. No. I tried to stay away so I wouldn’t be tempted.
I open the door for her, unable to avert my gaze from her as she walks past me. When we return to the table, Anya is now sitting on River’s lap as they make out, unfazed by the few staff who stand at attention in the private area. I pull Lena’s chair out, and she sits as Anya finally notices us.
“You took long enough. Now, hurry up before it goes cold,” Anya says, moving off River’s lap and taking her seat. I sit beside Lena and notice she’s looking at the noodles I’d mentioned earlier.