“He’s… Well, I hope he will be okay. This has been rough for him. He loved Thomas so much.”
She fidgets as though she feels uncomfortable with this topic, so Rain shifts it, telling Raya about Carrie. The way Rain’s face lights up when she talks… I’ve never been so happy for her. Maybe sometimes there’s something good at the end of a major fuck-up.
The party has grown, and now there are twice as many women as there are men.
“You can tell this is Maverick’s party,” Raya remarks dryly, taking in all the sexy, flashy women Sterling Shore has to offer.
The men here seem to be enjoying themselves. Considering the fact I have no control over my urges, I turn to look at Kode. He’s talking to Corbin, not paying any attention to the girl who is touching him.
I grimace when I see her press against him, but then he says something to her I can’t hear, and she gasps before stomping away angrily. Corbin doubles over in laughter, and a small smile graces my lips.
Ash Masters walks up, forcing me to peel my eyes away from Kode as Tag joins him. But before my eyes fully escape, he catches me looking, and he winks at me before giving me that smile that he only ever gives me.
Swallow
ing hard, I devote all my attention to Ash with strained focus.
“You seem to be the talk of the night,” she drawls, grinning like she has a secret.
I look at Rain and Raya, but they’re both looking at me, too.
“Me?” I squeak, quickly clearing my throat from the embarrassing sound.
Ash snickers while nodding. “Apparently Kode is telling every girl in here that he’s not on the market because he’s in love with you. You don’t even want to know what he’s telling the few girls that don’t take the hint.”
My heart leaps into my throat, and I might possibly stagger a little. Raya steadies me, her eyes brighter now that she has something else to focus on other than Kade’s dark period.
“Oh,” Ash adds, her grin only growing, “and he’s telling the guys here that if they like their faces where they’re at, then they’d better not even look at you.”
Ah, hell. I’m smiling. I’m smiling like a damn fool.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Raya says while crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re in love with him, too.”
That destroys my smile, and Rain’s eyes lose their momentary excitement.
“What’s wrong?” Ash asks, her eyes shifting from me to Rain. “Why do you look like someone just kicked you in the stomach?”
Forcing a smile that I don’t feel, I shrug. “Because I love him. Too much. Which is why I’m not willing to put my heart through a grinder again. He only thinks he loves me because he can’t have the girl he really wants.”
Rain curses while running a hand through her hair, and she begins arguing. She just doesn’t get it. She’d understand completely if Dane had been in love with me for eleven years before finally noticing she even existed.
***
KODE
“So you’ve talked to her?” Tag asks, still reeling over the fact that I’m confessing my love for Tria to anyone here that will listen.
Yeah, I’m making a bitch out of myself, but I’m determined to prove to Tria that she’s the one. The only one.
“Went to her house today,” I say, letting my eyes once again trail over to my girl. She’s frowning. Why does she look upset? Hell, why does everyone around her look so damn sad?
Resisting the overwhelming urge to go to her, I swallow back the disappointment. I was sure she’d be happier once she started hearing what was circulating tonight.
“And?” Tag prompts.
Reluctantly, I stop trying to read lips and return my attention to talk to Tag.
“And her fucking business partner opened the door in his boxers. She was in the shower, and he went in there. I had to get out of there before I punched a hole through the wall. I wanted to beat the fuck out of him, but I knew that would only piss Tria off, and I’m trying to get her back. So I played it cool, and left her in a way that would only inspire the right thoughts.”