He must have noticed the pissed expression on my face.
“Damn. I’m just kidding.” He shook his head. “You really like this chick.”
“I think we’ve established that,” I said.
“Does she have any friends?” Brayden asked.
“Since when have you needed help meeting people?”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with referrals. Hot chicks like that usually have hot friends.”
“Well, the only friend I’ve met so far is a hot gay dude.”
He nodded. “She seems to have a lot of guy friends. Like the guy she was on a date with when Holden spotted her.”
“Are you looking to get smacked, Brayden?”
He laughed. “Give me some credit. I’ve had to be on my best behavior all night. Just letting it out.”
Owen whacked Brayden on the back. “We’d better go back out there. We’ve left her alone with Holden too long, which is never a good idea.”
“You know he had her fix the tattoo that’s all the way down by his groin?” I said.
Owen gaped. “What a dick.”
***
After Billie and I left Owen’s, we waited in the lobby for the car I’d called for her.
She rubbed her arms. “It was really nice getting to spend time with you and your friends.”
“They all liked hanging out with you, too.”
“I feel honored that you let me crash your tradition. Am I the only girl to ever play with you guys?”
“The very first. Yup. And the way you beat our asses, probably the last.” I ran my fingers through her long, black hair.
“You know, you’re all really lucky to have each other. I have girlfriends, but none of them really know one another. It’s cool to be part of a group—like a second family.”
“Well, we vowed to stick together after Ryan died. His death taught us not to take anything for granted, friendships included. So, yeah, we have each other’s backs. That said, I am not beyond punching one of them if they get on my nerves. I almost did that to Owen tonight when I caught him checking out your corset.”
She looked down at herself. “Whoops.”
“Why do you keep wearing them around me when I asked you not to?”
She flashed a mischievous grin. “Are you mad at me?”
“More like riled up.” I inched closer.
“I like getting a rise out of you.”
“You have no idea the rise you give me.” I tugged at the material of her corset. “I especially hate this one, though. It reminds me of the fool I made of myself while you were wearing it out on that date you’re not admitting was a date. Because that’s what you do.”
“I like you when you’re jealous,” she whispered.
“You like driving me crazy, yeah. It’s working, Billie. It’s all working.”
I leaned in and buried my face in her neck, taking advantage of my license to smell her. She threaded her fingers through my hair, and I noticed her breathing had sped up.
“Did I miss the memo that said touching like that is allowed?” I groaned against her neck. “Because your hands in my hair feel really fucking good.”
“I love your hair. It’s so thick and silky,” she said, dodging my question. “I love the way you smell, too.”
I got the notification that her car had arrived. Fuck. Hard as a rock, I reluctantly pulled away.
“Well...goodnight,” she said, a little out of breath.
“’Night.”
I watched as she sauntered away. After she was gone, I could see my reflection in the glass by the door. My hair was sticking up in all different directions. I patted it down and knew I needed to calm this dick down, too, before I faced the babysitter.
As I went up to my apartment, I knew if I was ever lucky enough to catch Billie, I wouldn’t be throwing her back in the ocean. I’d definitely be eating her for dinner instead.
CHAPTER 13
Billie
By Thursday the following week, I figured it was my turn to initiate the next undate with Colby. He’d texted a few times since poker night, keeping in touch, but I had a feeling he was trying to hold back and give me some space. He’d hinted at a few things he thought would make good undates but hadn’t attempted to nail down any concrete plans. It seemed the ball was in my court, so I started to text him to ask if he wanted to go to an art show with me this weekend. Then decided it would be more undatelike to bust his balls a little first.
Billie: Hey. I’m going to an art show Saturday night. One of the exhibitors paints songs. It’s actually pretty cool. Once a month, he has his fans tell him their favorite songs from the indie top 100 charts. Whichever one gets mentioned the most, he creates a painting about. It’s not a literal interpretation, but just the feeling the song evokes when he listens to it. You view each painting with a headset that plays the song that inspired it. It’s pretty amazing how he nails the emotion every time.