Page 48 of Oh, Hell No

I finished my drink in one long pull, ignoring that question. He had asked a few yesterday, and Halo had shut him down, which I appreciated. She had figured out why I had wanted to go to the festival. Or more, for who. To get her to ask Bane to go, I’d explained it was about a girl. She’d lit up, as if that was the best thing she’d ever heard. When she had seen me watching Winslet, she had told me I had excellent taste.

“Come on, man,” he said. “Something is going on with you. It has been since”—there was a pause, and then his brows drew together—“you got back from Louisiana.”

Having someone who knew you, understood you, was great. Until you wanted him to mind his own fucking business. Then, it was annoying.

I scowled and tossed the bottle into the recycling bin. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m the same.”

And he knew that I was full of bullshit.

I started to walk past him to the door.

“I saw her on Saturday. I waited on you to say something, but you didn’t,” he said, stopping me.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

Dammit, Bane. You had your baby and wife to keep you distracted. Why couldn’t you be distracted?

“So?” I replied, opening my eyes and turning back around to look at him.

“You didn’t want her to see you. You stayed hidden. She was with a guy. One she didn’t want to be with, but she was with him. What’s up? Something happen in the house you’re not telling me about?”

Every muscle in my body was tense. One part of me knew this was my best friend and he was worried about me. He’d have my back. There was the other part that didn’t like anyone asking about her. The need to protect her. Keep her away from all this. She deserved more. I wanted her to have it all.

“She’s an off-limits topic,” I told him. “I need to get back to the gym.”

I started out again, but paused when he called out.

“That situation won’t be easy. You’ve done shit to her brother.”

A warning I had not wanted to hear from him or anyone. I continued on, passing Than without a word. I could feel him watching me and knew he was about to walk into the kitchen and ask Bane what was up my ass. Just like I knew Bane wouldn’t say a goddamn word to him.

Ransom was coming in from the back patio doors with a blonde in a string bikini. Both of them had wet hair and towels. I’d seen her around before, but I didn’t know her name.

“You good?” he asked me.

I nodded my head once, but didn’t say anything more.

“Hey, Oz,” she said in a sultry voice.

Once, that would have gotten my dick hard. I’d have probably gone with Ransom to his room, and we would have double-teamed her. Not even the slightest stirring now.

“Halo and Hawk went shopping with Grissele.” Ransom toldme what I’d already known. I had been here when Bane’s mom came and picked up her daughter-in-law and grandson.

“We got the place to ourselves if you need to burn off some steam?” he added.

He was offering the double-team I’d been talking about.

“I do—in the gym,” I replied as I walked out of the room.

The alert telling me Winslet was back in view went off. I pulled out my phone and told myself I was just checking to see she was okay, and then I would put it away and get to the bag. However, the sight of her wearing a tank top and those barely nothing panties she’d had on this morning, sitting down on the sofa with the box of Goldfish, had me changing my mind. She pulled her legs up and crossed them, giving me a direct view of her pussy lips being threaded with the strip of fabric that was supposed to provide more coverage. She put a handful of Goldfish into her mouth, then laid her head back on the sofa while she chewed, staring up at the ceiling.

She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples were hard and poking against the cotton of her tank. I licked my bottom lip slowly. I should turn this off. Put it back in my pocket and go pound my fists until they hurt so bad that my erection went down.

She moved the box she’d been balancing on her knee to the cushion beside her and put it down. I would see what she was doing next, then turn it off.

That’s it, I swore to myself.

Her hand left the box and went to her right breast and gently squeezed. Never mind. Fuck that. If she was about to do what I thought she was, I had to go to the nearest bathroom. Stalking over to the one on the other side of the gym, I kept my eyes glued on the screen.

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