“Oh, since when do you come to parties to chase pussy? I thought you call, and I come.”
This is not working out. “You are being mean.”
“Because when I talk about work, you dismiss it like I’m here for one reason only.”
“Which is?”
“To get your dick hard.”
“Someone is in bad mood.” I try to smile.
“You know what would put me in a better mood?” She is so beautiful and her gaze is so intensely vulnerable that I ache. “If you left me alone.” A pang of disappointment flashes through me. “You don’t want to talk work—fine. We’ll discuss it tomorrow. But if you want to be a gentleman, which is rare, you would stop this Archer’s show and let me enjoy the evening.”
Kat turns and walks away so fast that I feel like a schoolboy dumped in the middle of a dance floor on everyone’s display.
Clenching my jaw, I turn and make my way through the crowd in the opposite direction.
Whatever. This was a waste of my time.
Kat is a lethal combination, moving too fast through life. I can catch and trap her, but it’s her mind that I want to own. And that thing is a mystery.
She is upset about yesterday. Understandable.Ishould be the one pissed. Yet, I threw a white flag, and she stomped it with her high heels.
Fuck. Kat is wearing high heels…
My mind is a mess.
Iam a mess.
I should’ve never come to this party.
“Archer! Man! Wait!” Axavier catches up with me. “Man, I didn’t mean to, like, flirt with her or anything. We were just dancing, yeah?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I know why he’s apologizing. My appearance just made a buzz. And I might’ve made a fool out of myself.
A beep comes from my phone. Then Axavier’s next to me. And another.
The coincidence of it doesn’t register in my mind right away until a bunch of people pull out their phones, and I see their widening eyes.
This is just like then, two years ago, when we got the warning about nuclear attacks.
“Oh, shit.” Axavier chuckles next to me. “Man, Archer, you not gonna like this.”
His eyes slowly rise to meet mine, and mine drop to the phone that I pull out of my pocket and swipe the screen.
The familiar picture makes the corner of my lips tug in a smile just for a second.
Kat. Neon-blue. Surrounded by pool water. Her head tilted back, eyes closed. Her bare breasts just above the water.
The picture I jerked off to so many times.
Except it’s in a group message shared by thirty-plus people. With a tagline below it that makes my insides turn cold.
It’s Cece’s birthday.
But guess who is wearing a birthday suit?