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Yeah. No. The dress would’ve been perfect for her, ifIhad been her date, boyfriend, partner, her man.
Her man? What the fuck, Goofman?
I couldn’t be any of those things to Missy. I had to get my emotions under control, right now, especially given that my dick refused to cut me any slack. I had to face reality. She was going out with those two peacocks. Again. This was an “important” night, whatever that meant. She wore the sinful, deliciously tempting little dress, not for me, but for other men to enjoy.
The back of my neck must’ve been on fire. I fought to suppress the violence that coursed through me. What the fuck was that? Anger? Possessiveness? Envy? I didn’t recognize the indignation pumping in my veins. It felt like all of those things knotted together, plus some other crap I couldn’t explain. I’d never experienced outrage in this form.
Was this… jealousy?
I’d never been the jealous type. My bed partners came and went. I was cool with that. But now, I was jealous. Uber jealous. Shaking with uncontrollable jealousy. Of two idiots on vacation. Of the easy friendship they had with Missy. Of the pull they had on her.
Jaw clamped, I set aside my laptop, got up, and after crossing the deck, parked before the veranda. I forced myself to take deep breaths.In and out, in and out. My rage only escalated. My fingers strangled the wood railing. Anytime now, smoke was gonna come out of my ears.
This has to stop.
If I gave in to my impulses now, I was gonna multiply my failures. I didn’t want to fail Nix, Omega, Thena. I couldn’t fail Missy. I turned around and faced her.
“You don’t need to dress like that to look pretty,” I rumbled, even though what I really wanted to tell her was that she looked like sin waiting to happen and I wanted to be part of it.
She stood very straight. “What do you mean?”
“Angel, you ain’t gotta flaunt your goods for men to like you.” The shit just poured out of my mouth, the only defense mechanism I had left, working at full capacity. “And what’s with the war paint?”
Her little frown deepened. “War paint?”
“Mascara, blush, lipstick.” I waved two fingers over my face. “I’ve never seen you wearing makeup before. It’s not like you need any of that shit. You’re beautiful. You know that. Those guys you’re hanging out with are walking around the globe with stiff dicks anyway.”
“Don’t be unkind.” Her words bounced on the shield hardening over my heart. “They like spending time with me. They’re nice. I don’t bug them the way I bug you.”
“You don’t—” I paused mid-sentence. There was no point in telling her. On the contrary, I needed to cut the ties that bound me to her with my sharpest scissors. “Let me tell you about those sons of bitches. They’re gonna be nice to you until they stick their dicks in your pussy.”
Her eyes widened, but she stood her ground. “I think they’re going to be nice to me regardless.”
“Don’t be naive.” My snort wasn’t fake. “They’re horny assholes, pure and simple.”
She narrowed her eyes on me. “And you know this… how?”
I took the fifth on that one. So what if Missy’s new friendsand I were cut from the same cloth? I knew their type because they were just like mebeforeMissy.
I leaned back on the railing and crossed my arms. “They’re not right for you.”
“I see.” Two small lines appeared between her eyebrows. “You don’t trust that I know what I’m doing or what I want.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Right words, cold, uncaring tone. “Those two peacocks don’t have correct intentions.”
“Correct intentions?” Her eyebrows spiked toward her bangs. “Have you considered that maybe I don’t want to hang out with someone whose intentions arecorrect? Maybe I want what they want. PerhapsIwant to get intotheirpants. After the preview you gave me last night, maybe I want to find out what the rest of the fuss is about.”
The mere thought of those peacocks touching her made me sick to my stomach. “Those guys don’t have feelings for you—”
“Do you think I’m such an idiot that I have feelings for them?” She inhaled all the air in the room and clenched her fists. “I’m not stupid. I know better. They’re on vacation. They’re looking for fun. Well, guess what? So am I.”
“You don’t mean that—”
“I’m not an idiot,” she spat. “I’m not looking for love in all the wrong places as you want to believe. I want to expand my horizons, to go beyond oral.”
“Missy!” I almost choked on my spit. “What the hell?”
“We’re stuck here,” she said. “We can’t leave. When we go back to Astor House, I won’t have an opportunity to explore or experiment.”
