“You ready for that sugar rush?” His thumb passed over my knuckle. “You really look beautiful you know that, right?”
“Thanks. And yes, I’m ready.” For more than just sugar, too. I was ready to be closer to him, to take the next step toward getting to his club.
I’d made it to his gym, his club was my next goal. Seeing that lipstick on his shirt was a motivator that I needed to jump on. He was close to girls all the time at that club, helped a lot of them, so it must have been something like that. Maybe one got close to him, and it brushed off. I trusted him, he’d never do anything like that to hurt me, but if I was going to hold onto him, I needed to be stronger, more capable.
And not only for him, for me, too.
His club was only a mile from the ultimate goal I’d started this whole adventure for: getting to the college campus. On my way to getting there, I’d get to his club.
But tonight, I would get him in my bed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hunter
I stood to the side watching Lina interact with the front desk girl…I couldn’t remember her name. But Lina had insisted on buying her a pound of candy since she was stuck manning the front desk on New Year’s Eve, and I had to admit that was thoughtful.
Then again, my thoughts were a mess with how sexy Lina was. Her kick ass boots, that crazy sexy dress, and that leather jacket. I hadn’t been so distracted not to notice how tall she stood, though. Her shoulders were back, her head was high, and the confidence streaming from her made my chest swell.
I’d helped with that confidence, which empowered me even more. I had something to offer her, to people like her who needed help.
Boy, she’d hit the nail on the head earlier, though, about how my anger issues were my agoraphobia. I’d only met her a handful of months ago, but she already pegged me right on. Not only had I broken my no women rule, but she’d also obliterated it into a billion pieces to the point I’d wondered why I’d had that stupid rule.
Isabelle’s face flashed before my eyes, and I remembered. But Lina was right, so was Jenna, that I’d used it to keep me prisoner. It’d tainted my entire life and had probably made my anger even worse.
But if I didn’t get attached to people, I wouldn’t snap, I wouldn’t break apart if they were hurt or injured somehow.
Like Isabelle.
Lina and I really were similar now that I thought about it.
“Ready?” Lina asked as she stepped toward me.
I grabbed her hand. “Ready. What’s on the movie docket tonight?”
“No movie…” She winked and tugged me away from the elevators.
“Wait, what—”
“Trust me.”
I glanced around when I heard the distant sound of music and chatter. And laughing. It came from up ahead and off to the right. Her hand went sweaty in mine, but she pressed on. “Lina—”
“You up for a little experiment?”
“Sure, but a bar? This is a big one.”
“It’s dead. Our big event is Christmas. There won’t be tons of people in here since we didn’t have an event. Just a few business peeps stuck here for the holiday.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. I…heard how you saiddancingearlier, and how you’d like to dance with me.”
“I didn’t mean to put pressure on you.”
“You didn’t. But you wish we could go out more, don’t you? You can’t deny that, Hunter.”
“It’d be nice, but I—”