“Are you afraid I’m going to get pregnant?” Jasmine jokes.
Grave snorts. “Your chance of reproduction does not concern me,” he replies, typing away on his phone. Then he looks at me. “Nite will stay with you girls.”
Jasmine throws her head back with a sigh. “You’re giving us the babysitter? I come here all the time.”
“Yeah, and so do I. I know what happens to women here when no one is watching.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand, but he leans into me, cups my face, and kisses me. I wrap my arms around his neck and open for him, kissing him back. His hands slide down my back and grip my ass. He lifts me up effortlessly, and I wrap my legs around his narrow hips.
I pull away, panting and whisper against his lips. “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry about me, baby.” He slaps my ass, and I jump down, laughing just as Nite shows up.
“Watch them,” Grave orders him, and Nite nods once.
Grave gives me one more kiss and then walks off.
“Hi, we haven’t officially met. I’m April.” I hold out my right hand, and he shakes it firmly. He then starts to look around the crowded place. I wait for him to say hello or introduce himself. But he completely ignores me.
“He doesn’t speak,” Jasmine offers, glaring up at him.
Oh. “At all?”
She shakes her head. “He took a vow of silence back in college. He’s a mute,” she snaps, “and we’re not staying here with him.” She goes to walk off, but he reaches out, grabs ahold of her hair, and spins her around to face him.
Her hands go to his broad chest as she glares up at him. And before she can argue with him, he slams his lips down on hers. I watch her body melt for him as he openly kisses her. Wrapping my lips around my straw, I drink while she opens her mouth for him, and he deepens the kiss, pulling her neck back even farther and devouring her. I swear I hear her moan.
Then, just like it didn’t happen, he yanks away. “Fuck you, Nite!” she shouts and then slaps him across the face. She jerks out of his grip and storms off.
“I have a feeling you’re the guy from last night.” I laugh, taking another sip of my drink. So she’s got something going on with Nite. I never saw that coming.
He lets out a huff, grabs my hand, and drags me through the crowd to catch up with her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LUCY
I STAND BEHIND the bar with my fingers curled tightly around the tray. I watch the girl with the purple hair walk through the crowd, wearing a smile on her face and carrying a drink in her hand.
She was kissing Grave. I saw it. Twice. Is she the reason he’s been ignoring me? For her?
“Hey!” I yell over at Trey, who’s standing next to me going through his phone. “Who the fuck is that woman?” I snap.
“You’ll have to be more specific,” he calls back, not even bothering to look up at me.
I slap his phone out of his hand, and it falls to his feet. “What the fuck, Lucy?” he shouts.
“Her.” I point at her before she disappears into the crowd with Nite.
“April.” He looks down at me and starts to laugh. “Oh, you don’t know about her?”
“What about her?” I growl.
“She’s Grave’s new fuck buddy.”
“No …”
“Yep. Her brother owed us money. He paid us fifty grand for him and made Tanner agree we wouldn’t touch her. Or her shop.”
“What shop?” I demand.
“She’s a florist. Has a place called Roses.”
A fucking florist? Who the fuck was he buying flowers for in the first place? They sure as hell weren’t for me. I did see her with Jasmine. I guess he could have met April through her. But she must be using Grave, right? Fifty grand is a lot of money. I can’t even get him to commit to a dinner. But he will pay fifty grand and make my brother promise to stay away? Why? What does she have that I don’t?
“Let it go, Lucy,” he warns, reading my face.
I go to storm off, but he grips my upper arm, keeping me in place. “Don’t. Tanner made a deal with him. It’s settled. Find a new fuck buddy.” He looks me up and down. “The way you throw your pussy around, it won’t be hard to do.” He lets go of me, picks up his phone, and walks off.
I slam my tray down.
“Bad day?”
I look over to see Jimmy Trust. He always races Grave out on the tarmac and loses. The guy blows Daddy’s money all the time. “What do you want?” I growl.
He smiles at me. “Are you pissed because Grave got a new toy?”
Motherfucker! Everyone is going to know about him and this April chick by morning after that display they just put on. Why did he bring her here of all places? Everyone knows we fuck. We’ve been hooking up for years. “Grave can fuck whoever he wants.” The lie burns my mouth. I mean, we’re not exclusive, but he’s never shoved another woman in my face before like he just did.