“So…” Jiya blew out an uneven breath and held up her glass. “To Jamie getting married tomorrow.”
The man in question was polishing his glasses with the end of his pristine, white polo shirt. “Thank you.” He replaced his glasses and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “For the love of God, don’t let my brothers put me in any penis paraphernalia.”
“I can hear you,” Rory drawled, pointing the neck of his beer bottle in Jamie’s direction. “And you’re not making the rules tonight.”
“Be nice,” Olive murmured, snuggling into Rory’s side. “What is Marcus doing for his last night of singlehood?”
Jamie’s eyes softened at the mention of his fiancé. “His brother wouldn’t tell him the plans. Probably poker night or a baseball game.”
Jiya bit her lip. “How many times has he texted you already?”
“Twenty-six,” Jamie answered without missing a beat. “So what are our plans?” He speared all of them with a look. “Should I have a bail bondsman on speed dial?”
“Nah, you’ll be fine,” Andrew said, sitting down on the couch closest to Jiya, a beer cradled between his legs. “At worst, we’ll be released with a citation in the morning and you’ll still make the wedding on time.” He took a long sip of his beer and lowered it. “Probably.”
Jamie made a move to escape the room, but Rory and Andrew were faster. In one fell swoop, they set down their beers, each hooking an arm through Jamie’s and parading him toward the front door. “Come on, girls,” Rory called over his shoulder. “Let’s go start some trouble.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Andrew couldn’t take his fucking eyes off Jiya.
In his distracted state, he might have drunk slightly more than intended.
As soon as she’d arrived at his door dressed to make men stupid, he should have known his focus would be shot for the entire evening. Was the dress getting tighter as the hours wore on? Were the slopes of her tits getting smoother and more touchable? At dinner, he’d found a way to subtly position Jiya in a seat between him and the wall, but that had only made it more obvious every time Andrew snuck a look. Which, based on Rory’s repeated kicks under the table, had been a frequent occurrence.
They’d eaten Thai because it was Jamie’s favorite and now they were back at the Castle Gate. It was Friday night and the place was packed. Andrew was restraining himself from hopping behind the bar to assist the fill-in bartenders, but every time he prepared to do it, Jiya shook her head at him. “Don’t even think about it,” she mouthed.
If he was free to respond exactly how he wanted, he would have crooked a finger at her and said, “Come over here and order me around some more, sweetheart.”
Andrew had always enjoyed doing things for Jiya. Picking up prescriptions from the pharmacy or holding the door, no task was too big or too small. It was one afternoon in tenth grade when she’d playfully ordered him to apply sunscreen to her back that a sense of purpose had stolen over him, the feeling far less innocent than before. The way she’d gathered her hair to one side while his palms smoothed cream onto her skin, leaving a sheen behind, was a memory that would never fade. Nor would being forced to watch everyone else swim, because he didn’t want to be caught with an erection in his swim trunks.
Being directed by Jiya in ways to make her happy was his drug of choice. In his fantasies, she lay on her back like a fucking queen, watching while he fixed her dinner or sanded cabinets. Anything she asked. And when he’d completed the jobs, when it was over, only then would she let him eat her pussy.
Yeah, he would have given a limb for the freedom to whisper in Jiya’s ear, to ask what he could do to please her. But he was wearing an invisible set of handcuffs, so he kept his damn mouth shut.
Would things be different if he’d made Jiya his girlfriend back in high school?
Undoubtedly, yes. When a girl like Jiya was devoted to a man, he would make better decisions, afraid to screw up the best thing in his life. Maybe if he’d been less worried about losing her as a friend when they were teenagers and simply asked her out, he wouldn’t have made the horrific mistake with his father that prevented him from having her now.
But he’d let her leave for college upstate without asking for a commitment and when she’d come back…he’d felt like unworthy scum. Because without her around…he’d lost it a little.
More like, he’d gone completely out of his mind.
One too many times, Jiya’s mother had hinted to Andrew that Jiya was living it up on the dating scene at college and Andrew had reacted like a typical, jealous idiot, sleeping with anyone who smiled at him. To this day, he couldn’t remember a single name or face of the myriad women he’d been with during those months, but he could remember the hollow misery that followed every time. Not to mention the avalanche of shame when Jiya came home from her first visit from college and he’d felt too filthy to give her so much as a hug.