Page 19 of Obsessed with the Player

Let it go.

I needed to. It was the only possible option. Contemplating this further made no sense,nothingthat had anything to do with me and Andy doing anything made sense.

Because Andy and I were as different, as opposite, aswrongfor each other as it could get.

And I wasn’t willing to put myself there.

So why, now that the idea had popped into my mind, couldn't I stop thinking about it?

Nina was everything I should want.

Before I had even thought of an answer for Nina, Andy was suddenly on us, his warmth and his scent warming my side and lighting me up at the same time as he tugged me away from Nina and told her, “Look for someone else for the night, this one's taken.”

What?

Nina, instead of looking offended, only raised an imperious eyebrow at Andy, her lips quirking up before she shrugged, winked in my direction, and said something about catching up with her later when I was done with him.

What the fuck was happening right now?

My heart raced behind my ribs.

I looked at Andy, who wasn't even looking at me when he said, “You're done for the night, we're leaving.”

The music changed, and it was so loud I could barely hear my own words over it.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

Andy probably heard me, but decided to ignore me as he stomped his way out of the dance floor.

“Andy.”

He kept going.

Before I knew it, I had caught hold of his forearm and dragged him to the side to where he’d told me the special bathrooms were, and pushed him inside where the music finally eased and I could hear my own thoughts.

Andy was still not looking at me, his broad back in my full view, his shirt tight over his muscles, hair mussed from the humidity in the air and the fact that if there was a god out there, he liked seeing Andy look as good as fucking possible.

“I hope this is where you try to explain yourself,” I said, feeling a buzzing sensation within me, an energy that needed an out.

Andy turned toward me, expression hard. “I saw you didn't want to do it, and I intervened before you forced yourself to do something that you would regret later.”

My nostrils flared, feeling a flush come to my chest. “I can speak for myself just fine, I don't need you to watch over me.”

“Don't you? Isn't that what we're doing here, isn't that what you asked of me?” he asked, eating the distance between us until there were only a few inches separating us. He looked furious.“You wanted me to teach you, you wanted me towatch over youas you had a taste of the wild side and held your hand all through it, and guess what? I won't stand by and watch you do just anything while on my watch.”

I stared at him, heart racing. He smelled faintly of sweat, of his cologne, of his fabric softener, and the combination of it made me almost dizzy. He was so close, and while he might justbe a few inches taller than me, it felt like he was towering, hiding the light, becoming everything that I could see in my world.

I swallowed, trying to form my words. “I didn't want you to hold my hand, and you were the one that suggested I do it, isn't this just a step? Isn't this what I'm supposed to do if I want to be a single man and not be cursed to go from relationship to relationship just because I don't know how to do anything else?” I said, the words spilling from my mouth before I could stop them.

Cursed to go from one to the next and inevitably failing on all of them.

Something flashed in his eyes. “Just because you don't want to be in a relationship doesn't mean you have to do something you don't want to do.”

My nostrils flared.

Andy felt impossibly close.

I didn’t want him to be thoughtful.

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