Page 26 of Dirty Play

Tiny, little, invisible strings that all keep bringing me back to this woman.

“Hey ladies, Marsha started our milkshakes. She’ll have them out shortly,” Gwen says to Kennedy and her mom before turning to look at me with a less enthusiastic, more questioning smile. “Hey, Cade, what’re you doing here?” she asks, her professional tone in full force.

“Actually, I’m here to talk to you,” I say, not missing the way her eyes widen or the way Kennedy and her mom glance at each other with little smirks.

“Umm… okay,” she says, looking over at Kennedy before coming back to me.

Just then, a woman who I can only assume is Marsha, walks over with their milkshakes, a big smile on her face as she chats with Kennedy and Denise while Gwen just stares at me, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. And all I can think about is taking that lip between my teeth and drowning out her screams with my kiss.

Fucking hell, why can’t I stop thinking about her like this?

“Would it be possible for us to get one more? My new friend, Cade Williams, is here, and I’m sure he’d love to try one of your milkshakes,” Kennedy says.

“Of course, Mr. Williams, I’ll be right out with that.”

Gwen goes to speak, probably to cancel the order, but Marsha turns and disappears around the corner before she has the chance. “Excuse us for a moment,” Gwen says sweetly before grabbing my arm and dragging me around the corner.

“Ow, you’re hurting me,” I whine. “Put your claws away.”

“Don’t be a wuss. You’re used to pucks flying at your face at a hundred miles per hour, you can handle my little grip.”

I look at her, eyebrows raised, unable to hide my little smirk at the obvious innuendo in her words. It’s enough to have me wondering if she’s thinking about that night too.

“I think we both know I can handle your grip, Tink.”

We stare at each other for a moment before finally she snaps out of it. “What do you need to talk to me about that’s so important it couldn’t be a text.”

“First off, that would involve you actually responding to my texts, and lately that’s been out of the question.”

“Jeez, I wonder why I haven’t really been in the mood to talk to you, Cade. Now cut the shit and talk. I need to get back to lunch.”

“I don’t like you walking home by yourself,” I tell her, which only seems to piss her off more.

“I’m sorry you feel that way. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not yours to worry about.”

“You get off at midnight, in fucking New York City, Gwen. There’s not a chance in hell I’m letting you walk home by yourself. You’re an attractive young woman, and I don’t want to watch you on the next episode of 20/20 from prison,” I grumble.

The one time I texted her to ask what time she was off and if she’d wait for me, she all but told me to fuck off. I could’ve just showed up, but this damn hospital has at like forty-three hundred doors, and with my luck, I’d have been on the opposite end of the hospital when she left.

“I apologize that you have issues with my life choices, but I’m damn well not your problem to deal with,” Gwen snaps, her eyes immediately narrowing as she gets more and more irritated with me.

“Gwen, I’m not fucking joking. People get robbed and kidnapped daily, and you’re a five-foot-one female who weighs practically nothing.”

“I’m not joking either, not all of us have disposable money we can spend how we please.”

“What. Time. Are. You. Off?” I seethe, refusing to back down.

“Why are you even here?”

Her quick change catches me off guard, and honestly, I don’t know how to answer her question.

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, that’s not good enough. Goodbye, Cade.”

She turns to walk away, and I can’t stand it. I can’t stand her not listening to me, not knowing I care about her.

“You’re all I can think about, and I can’t fucking stand it,” I blurt out. Her whole body freezes in place. “I can’t stand that I always want you around me, even when I know the one thing we need is distance,” I snap, more truth coming out than I expected, and by the look on her face when she turns around, I’ve surprised her as well.

---