Page 13 of Butterfly Effect

He glowers and punches me right on the pec.

“Ow.” I rub the sting away. “You should try eating pussy. It’ll make you feel better, I promise.”

His entire face flushes deeper than the copper shade of his hair. “Can’t you be normal for, like, one sec?”

“Normal? Iamnormal.”

He scrunches his nose. “Aren’t you gonna go talk to that girl,Kyra?”

“Oh, yeah.” My shoulders turn, but my feet stop.

Suddenly, I don’t want that girl,Kyra. Sure, she seems okay. She’s not bad to look at. But my eyes fix across the space at a pair of bowed lips, a set of freckles topping high cheekbones that won’t escape my memory.

They belong to the only woman I can’t have.

Damn it. Why is she here? It’s throwing me off. I should be taking shots from between Kyra’s tits right now, not drooling over Gabe’s long ass legs and the curve of her pretty mouth. Or her ass.

Christ. That ass.

Fletch is right. Iampathetic. Not for the reason he thinks, but still pathetic. I shouldn’t go over there, right?

Though she’s alone. My heart pangs. Where are her friends? Where’s her camerawoman sidekick?

She frowns while finishing her drink, pushing the empty glass away. It joins a handful of other fallen brethren.

Going over there would be a bad idea. I exhale sharply through my nose.

“Fuck it.”

The bottle and Fletch are both abandoned at the bar as I dodge everyone between me and her.

Asshole #1 beats me there.

“Gabe.”

Ugh. It’s that little-pricked bastard, her ex. I caught Kurt Vaughn cheating on her at a dive bar in Montreal mid-season a few years back. And for some reason, she’s hatedmesince.

She glances up before rolling her eyes shut. “I’m not cool enough for this.”

I’m tempted to step in, but Gabe Finch can handle her own shit. I’m a few inches taller, at least forty pounds heavier, andshenearly strangled me when I confronted her one New Year’s Eve. But she also kissed me after. And I’m not sure what I liked more.

It’s all very confusing.

My chest pounds as Vaughn gets in her face.

“It’s too late!” she says loudly, moving his hands away. “I don’t care if you’re sorry, and Idon’tforgive you.”

Atta girl.

Vaughn takes a step toward her. It doesn’t take me a split second to be right there with him.

I wrap an arm around her waist as she teeters backward. My heart races at the surprised hazel of her eyes. She doesn’t shrink away. Instead, she melts into my hold. I savor how good it feels. Inadvertently, my nose nudges her hair.

“This guy bothering you,baby?”

Baby? Where did that come from?

Her lips part and reconnect as she studies me. Gabe hardens her gaze at Vaughn.

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