I frowned. My fucking phone. Did I have it? And then I glanced at my wrist and the wristlet that was attached to me. It had my phone inside. "Yes, I have it."
"Good. Call a friend or whoever you came with. I'm leaving."
"The hell you are. You are not leaving me on the side of the street in this soaking wet dress."
"You have a blanket and a phone. Hopefully it works after the waterworks."
He handed me back my shoes, and I stared at him. "If you leave me here, I will not stop coming after you."
"I expect nothing less."
And then he climbed into the driver's side of the car, and even though I couldn't see him, thanks to the tinted glass, I knew he was staring at me. And he pulled away.
I was going to murder East Hale the next time I saw him.
8 East
Later that night I tossed in bed. What the hell had I been thinking?
You’re a glutton for punishment.
Okay, yes, this was true. Absolutely. I was a glutton for punishment. And I was punishing myself big time. Snogging Nyla Kincade… again. What an idiotic fuck up. And who was I kidding? I would have shagged her right there on the lawn if I’d have let my dick have his way.
What the hell was wrong with me that I found it extremely hot fighting with her? It meant I was a sick puppy and had no business anywhere near the woman.
Every time I closed my goddamn eyes, I could hear her whimper. The way I'd swallowed it in my mouth. The way I'd coaxed her tongue into dancing with mine. The way her body felt pressed up and molded against me. I hadn't given a fuck where we were, in public at an Elite member’s birthday party. Anyone could have seen me kissing a fucking Interpol agent who would happily put my mates and me in jail if she got any wind of what we'd done. But not just us; Livy, Lucas, Bryna, Sebastian, Penny, Roone, and Jessa were involved as well. And let’s not forget the Chase brothers. Either of their beautiful wives would skin me if the police came knocking on their doors. I needed to get myself together and stay the fuck away from Nyla Kincade, of that I was pretty damn sure.
The worst of it was that I couldn't even remember how the fuck I'd ended up like that. With my tongue in her mouth, her scent wrapping around me, taking full possession of my balls.
I nearly choked with need and had to adjust my dick pushing insistently against my boxers. Unable to think for myself. To breathe. To do anything. All I wanted was her. Nyla completely crowded my mind. I hadn't been able to put two and two together. I hadn't been able to think, to rev the old brain engine. Nope, she'd shorted it out.
I’d made a colossal mistake. That shit was not going to happen again. There were a million women I could fuck, but Nyla Kincade just couldn't be one of them.
With a sigh, I glared at the clock. It was three. I prayed to all hell while I texted AJ that she'd be asleep. But ever since she was a teenager, she’d had difficulty sleeping. She slept in patches. Sometimes napping through the day, sometimes not. When I texted her, she called me right away. "What are you doing up, little brother?"
"I couldn't sleep. I was thinking of you."
"Why can't you sleep?"
"Ah, don't worry about it. How's Margaux?"
I heard a mumble and whispered words.
"Shit, I'm waking Margaux up, aren’t I?"
AJ whispered, "Hold on, let me get out of bed."
I could hear the rustling of sheets. The shuffling of slippers on the wood floor. I could picture her as she left her bedroom and went down the hall toward the living room. "Sorry. I thought Margaux was in a deeper sleep. But the baby is keeping her up, and she's uncomfortable."
Margaux had gotten pregnant earlier in the year. And she was six months along. Just far enough along to be uncomfortable.
"Is she having real cravings yet?"
AJ laughed. "You know, not really. I mean, she did threaten to cut me if I didn't give her a pain au chocolat the other day, specifically from Rue Grimaldi So that required some effort. But other than that, she's been mostly normal. She wants gelato a lot, so we make that a thing when we go on daily walks. But that one bakery was her only choice for the pain au chocolat."
I laughed. "Didn't you take me there once?"
She laughed. "Yes. And they have the worst pain au chocolat. They're terrible."
"They are terrible. How does a bakery that bad survive in Monaco?”
She laughed. "I don't know. But there's something that Margaux really likes about them. I'm convinced they're sprinkling crack on the chocolate, because it's the only explanation. Their croissants are hard."
"I know. Your wife has zero taste."
She snorted. "Hey."
I chuckled. "Well, I mean hey, I could criticize my big sister too."
"Screw you."
"I miss you." I murmured.
She laughed. "Well, I'm not sure I miss you now."
"Sorry, sorry. I'm just being a dick little brother."
"What's the matter? You seem tense and on edge."
"I'm fine."
"Stop it. You're not fine. Something is wrong. Why are you so on edge?"
"I don't know. Remember Garreth Jameson? Been dealing with him a lot. And I just— Christ he’s a wanker." There was a beat of silence, and in that moment, I want to cut my own tongue out. "Fuck, AJ, I'm sorry."
"Would you stop it, East? Just stop. You don't have to treat me like I'm some fragile shell of a person."
"I don't think you're fragile. I think you're incredibly strong. And I shouldn't have brought him up."
"When will you stop trying to be the big brother? You're not. I'm the big sister. I protect you from things."
"Yeah, well, how
