Page 12 of High Stakes

As we get towards the VIP area, I begin to calm down. Having her where I know she’s safe, feels better and all thoughts of dragging her to my office and fucking her over my desk, fade away.

Bella

I’m sightly disappointed when his march slows down to a casual stroll over to the bar area. For a minute there, I thought he was going to drag me off to his office. I give my head a shake,what the hell am I thinking?

He gets us both a drink and we sit in his usual booth. After a few silent minutes, I clear my throat, bringing his attention to me. “Where did your two friends go?”

“They got what they wanted and moved on,” he says bluntly. “Mutually beneficial.”

His words confuse me. One minute he’s acting crazy jealous, and the next he’s making it very clear he’s not looking for anything. “Doesn’t that get boring?”

“Why would I get bored of women throwing themselves at me?” He looks smug and it annoys me.

“There’s no affection,” I state, shrugging. “No tenderness. Don’t you crave a connection?”

He eyes me like I’ve lost my mind and scoffs, “I’m not into that fairytale bullshit, Bella. My current situation suits me just fine.”

“Have you ever had a relationship?”

“I realised pretty quickly that relationships don’t work for me. First of all, I love sex way too much and relationships tend to be more about date nights and effort. Shit I don’t have time for. Secondly, I’m too fucked up. I get jealous and possessive, I get crazy.”

I want to point out what he just did by dragging me from that guy, seemed jealous and possessive. Instead, I analyse him. “Love sends you crazy and you hate to be out of control,” I surmise.

“I like an easy life. I have friends, male and female, and I have women I have sex with. The two are separate to keep feelings out of it. No one gets confused that way. You won’t see me hanging out with a woman I have sex with.”

I’ve officially been friend zoned. I don’t know why I feel disappointed when he’s admitted that he runs from everything that I run towards. “JP and Raff seem nice.”

He gives a boy like grin, and I realise they mean something to him. “They’ve known me my whole life. My mum said it felt like she had four kids instead of two.”

“You have a brother or a sister?” I ask, unsure of why I sound so surprised.

His smile fades and he stares down at his drink, “I had a brother, he died.”

I instinctively reach for his hand and place mine over it. “I’m so sorry, that must be hard, especially when you were all so close.”

He takes a deep breath before knocking his drink back and signalling to the bar staff for more. I sense the subject is over and he confirms it when he asks, “So, how did you end up with Carl?”

“I met him in Costa, he asked me out. I thought it was love at first sight, but he turned out to be a dick. So, here I am.” I tell him the quick version to make me look less pathetic.

“Did he make a habit of hitting you?”

“Two times this bad,” I admit, fidgeting uncomfortably. I always feel stupid when people ask about it because I should have stood up to him. I should have left and never gone back. “We were always a fiery couple,” I add, like that explains it. “We would get into the worst fights and friends would have to separate us,” I give a sad laugh. “I’m addicted to drama, I swear. Anyway, the last time was about a month ago and I ended up in hospital.”

“Was that time over you sleeping in a stranger’s bed too?” he asks in a teasing tone.

I shake my head, “Believe it or not, I don’t make a habit of that. No, it was because he wanted to have sex, and I refused . . . again.”

“How come?”

“Because . . .” I sigh, “He comes on too strong. The harder he pushes me, the more I step away.” I shudder. “And I don’t think I like him,” I admit and Aiden laughs.

“You don’t like the man you were in a relationship with?”

“I did, in the beginning, but as time passed, he did things that gave me the ick. But the thought of living back with dad full time made me try and at least make it work.”

The barman brings over a bottle of Sambuca and two shot glasses. Aiden opens it and pours us both a shot, sliding the nearest one to me. “I admire you. Not many women get to your age and are still virgins, it must takes some will power to hold out until twenty-three.”

“How do you know my age?” I ask, knocking the shot back and wincing at the taste.

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