“She is here with me… obviously.”
“Okay, but why?” Nash probes.
“So I can keep an eye on her.” It’s not that far off from the truth. “Now, quit asking stupid questions and hand me a beer.”
Nash murmurs something under his breath but grabs one of the unopened bottles from the table and pops the cap open with his lighter. He hands it to me while not even glancing over at Aspen. Maybe he’s chosen to ignore her for the rest of the night, which is fine by me.
Both Ren and Marcel don’t say anything about Aspen being here, but I can tell by their stares that they are confused too. Which is why I’m shocked when Ren offers Aspen a drink.
“Here, you look like you need it.” Ren opens a beer bottle and slides it across the table.
“Mhh, thanks.” Aspen sounds unsure, her gratitude coming with a hint of a question mark at the end. She is hesitant but ends up taking the bottle and brings it to her lips.
“Ah, okay, I get it now.” Nash sets his empty bottle down on the table. “We’re getting her drunk so we can all fuck her. I mean, she must be a good lay if you keep her around.” Nash laughs, and Aspen stiffens next to me.
Gripping the neck of my beer bottle, I imagine it’s Nash’s neck while trying not to show how close on edge I am.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ren shaking his head. He knows how much Nash is fucking up right now. I remind myself that he is drunk and doesn’t know what he is saying, but when the idiot reaches for Aspen’s dress and tries to push it off her shoulder, I see red.
My body moves before my mind can think it through. Fueled by rage, I drive my fist into Nash’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He doubles over, cradling his stomach.
“No one touches her but me,” I growl, shocked by the possessive tone in my voice. I shove him away, and he barely stays on his feet. “Get lost, Nash. I don’t want to see your ugly face for the rest of the night.”
I turn back to look at Aspen, who gawks at me with her mouth hanging open before quickly composing herself. She hastily takes another sip of her beer, her eyes looking everywhere but at me.
When I glance around the crowd, I find the people around us staring. Only Ren gives me a knowing look. I decide to forget Nash and grab another bottle of beer. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing here, but getting drunk sounds like an excellent solution at the moment.
A few minutes later, everyone seems to have gone back to minding their own business. Some brunette dressed as a sexy nurse even dares to come to our table. She gives Ren a shy smile before leaning into him to whisper something in his ear.
Ren’s eyebrows shoot up, and I’m almost certain he is about to take her somewhere to fuck, but to my surprise, he shakes his head and shoos her away. With a huge pout on her lips, the girl leaves, and I wonder what she said to turn him off like that.
Aspen draws my attention back to her when her hand lands on my arm, only inches away from the scar that now marks my skin. “Can we please go now?”
“Are you eager to get back to the room so I can peel that dress off your body, part your thighs, and sink deep inside of you?”
“I’m eager to get out of here, where there isn’t anyone to look at me like I’m a sideshow.”
“Let them look.” I smirk.
That’s really why I brought her here. So everyone can see she is mine. I want everyone to know that there will be consequences if you fuck with what’s mine.
Aspen huffs, her features riddled with annoyance. Pulling her hand away, she crosses her arms over her chest. She’s doing so out of defiance, but all it does is push her tits together, drawing my attention to her cleavage. Maybe it is time to take her back to the room after all. I’m hungry, and there is only one person who can satisfy that hunger.
I open my mouth to say something, but the words get caught in my throat when the music suddenly turns off. The grand hall fills with drunk chatter and displeased partiers before a large projected screen above the buffet comes to life.
For a moment, it’s nothing but static and white noise, but then the wall projector plays, and a video comes to life.
The first thing I see is Aspen’s tear-rimmed eyes filled with fear and anger.
The first thing I hear is my voice. “Open your mouth and relax your throat.”