Then she studies my piercings as though I’m on display for her scrutiny. My Monroe gets a narrowed eye, and my eyebrow studs get a frown. I stick my tongue out, winking at her when she sees the piercing there, and she gasps.
She’d freak the hell out if she knew what all else I have pierced.
“We’re not together,” I say since Corbin has gone silent. “We’re not even friends at the moment,” I add, finally glaring up at Corbin who just stares at me like I’ve challenged him.
“I triple dare you to forgive me,” he says, ignoring Sarah as she tries to get his attention.
I roll my eyes while moving aside my cart. Sarah’s wings are finished, but she’s not in a hurry to leave now.
“You can’t do that,” I remind him. “You’ve already used that triple dare—no doubles. And it’s not your turn anyway. In case you’ve forgotten, your last triple dare is what has me pissed.”
Curious eyes find us from all around. This is the first time the guys at the shop have seen me really interact with Corbin since I got pissed at him. Which he managed to accomplish on my second freaking day back in town.
Jerk.
The women in here are glaring at me like they envy the attention I’m getting. They have no idea about the hell zone I’ve lived in next to Corbin. It hurts to be around him, but I can’t seem to let him go either, even though I know it would be the smartest solution to put me out of my misery.
I guess I’m a masochist.
Corbin groans as I move away, letting Miles deal with Sarah and the aftercare explanation. She seems to pout and tries to follow us to the back. Can no one read the Employees Only sign?
Miles stops her, but Corbin keeps following.
“Read the sign,” I tell Corbin, but of course he ignores me. Shocker.
“You can’t stay mad at me forever.”
I refuse to look at him. Looking at him always gets me in trouble. Hearing his deep, smooth voice is bad enough.
“I can stay mad at you for longer than a couple of weeks. Now go away. I’m busy, in case you haven’t noticed.”
He snickers softly, and his arms slide around my waist as he hugs me to him, smashing my back against his front. This is the part that’s torture. He can touch me, he can hold me, he can be the sweetest, gentlest jerk in the world, but the asshole never could touch me in the bedroom.
Not that we haven’t tried. We have. But… I can’t think about it. It’s too humiliating and painful.
“You’re my best friend, Ruby. And you’re finally back home. Don’t keep punishing me for getting rid of that tool for you.”
I roll my eyes while disentangling myself from his tempting embrace.
“Blade wasn’t a tool. And do not make another joke about his name,” I say, quickly adding the last part when his lips part to do just that. He closes his mouth, grinning as I continue. “He was nice, loyal, and honest.”
It’s a lie. Blade was a total tool, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that. I also won’t tell him that I was only dating Blade to keep me from falling into old habits. Life is safer around Corbin when I’m dating someone, and now he has stolen my security blanket.
When Corbin’s around, I tend to drop everything so I can spend every waking second with him. That was fine when we only saw each other a few days at a time in small intervals. Now I’m back in his city permanently, and it’s hard to be his friend when he’s the reason my heart will never again function properly.
“I need you to do a triple dare so that I can use my next turn,” he says hopefully, doing that thing with his eyes that always gets to me.
Damn him.
“No,” I say firmly, moving toward the sink to wash my hands.
“Was he that important to you?” he asks sincerely.
I turn around, taking a deep breath, and I glare at him.
“You know that’s not the point.”
He glares back now, his sweet expression gone.
“You could have said no.”
“And let you win? Hell no. I’ve waited too long to see you lose. It’ll be your box that is handed over, not mine.”
A small grin slides onto his lips, and I roll my eyes. Dirty minded ass—
“Your box would be much more interesting,” he says, letting his eyes drop to my crotch.
That has me snorting out a laugh. “Seems it wasn’t interesting enough,” I point out.
Immediately his cheeks flush, and he turns and walks away. I should have brought that up sooner. I could have avoided the full-fledged fever I have now after being around him for that long.
Good thing I don’t actually have any more appointments. Not that he needs to know that.