I’m not one to dwell on regret, but the sight of her legs makes me want to kick my own ass for not remembering what they look like wrapped around my waist.
I lick a drop of beer from my lips as I turn my attention to my teammate.
“You’re staring at her like you own her.”
I shake my head. “Nah, man. Just enjoying the evening.”
I make a point to look around the room, nodding at Kincaid when he locks eyes with me. I mirror him when he lifts a beer in my direction.
“A lot of love floating around in the air,” Aro adds, and I don’t even have to look at him to know he’s smiling. I can hear it in his voice.
“They can have it,” I mutter, my gaze drifting toward Landon and Rick.
Kid’s son just married his best friend, and although I’m not interested in love in any shape or fashion, I do feel like you can’t really go wrong when choosing to commit your life to your best friend, be it male or female. I’m not opposed to love or upset by others being happy and in a relationship. It just isn’t for me.
“Not afraid you’ll catch it?”
“Catch what?” Slick asks as she approaches.
I catch Aro looking up the length of our other teammate, and it leaves me wondering if they have something going on, but Slick confirms that isn’t the case when she doesn’t even look at the man eyeing her like he wants to devour her.
Brynn Sullivan joined Cerberus at the same time Aro and I did. She’s capable of handling all of the combat conditions we find ourselves in, but the woman was also a psychologist in the Corps. That fact leaves some of us keeping our distance. The last thing we want is someone in our head. I don’t know about the others, but mine isn’t always the safest place to be. I hate the fact that she could be analyzing every word out of my mouth, judging every action I take.
“Love,” Aro fills in helpfully. “Spade is afraid of it.”
I glare at the man, feeling Slick’s eyes burn into the side of my head.
This is the exact damn situation I try to avoid around any of them.
Most would argue, but that would only give her more ammunition to evaluate my headspace and Aro more of a chance to give me shit about Sylvie turning me down. The last six weeks have been a solid pain in my ass, all of the guys bringing up her shooting me down every chance they get.
I may not remember our night together, but they sure haven’t let me forget the woman since Veterans Day.
Rather than saying a word, I simply lift my beer in a silent salute to both of them, my middle finger on the bottle, extended in Aro’s direction, before walking away.
His laughter fades quickly enough because there are so many people milling around the room.
I don’t know if it’s my own inflated ego or if I’m subconsciously trying to prove a point to the pair of fools I just walked away from, but I walk right up to Sylvie, who is conversing with Faith and Legend.
“He’s a heartbreaker,” Sylvie says, her tone exasperated.
I have an immediate urge to just walk away because I want no part of women being disappointed in men. I find that they try to change the rules halfway through the game. A man can tell them upfront that certain things will never happen, like them becoming more than a little fun, and the women agree only to expect more later on. They break the rules and then blame us.
“Even after his latest stay in the hospital?” Legend asks with a grin, nodding in my direction when he notices me.
“You wouldn’t believe how hard he flirted with the nurses,” Sylvie goes on to explain, and I figure out she must be talking about the man at the care facility I saw her chatting with the entire day.
“I hope I still got it when I’m his age,” Legend says with a chuckle.
Faith smacks him in the chest. “You better not be flirting with nurses.”
“I like it when you get so possessive,” he says in her ear, but loud enough for me to hear.
Sylvie still hasn’t looked in my direction or acknowledged me in any way.
“What was his diagnosis?” Faith asks, leaning into Legend’s chest just a little more.
Aro is right. Love is all over this place, and I can’t even blame it on the atmosphere and how people value what they have just a little more after watching two people in love make marriage vows. It’s like this all the damn time. Sexual tension is a living fucking thing in this clubhouse. It almost makes me want to get a house in town to avoid it altogether.