Page 43 of Captivating

“You’re the birthday girl, Tink. How about I make a pink one up just for you.”

“Lilah—”

Oh, this is going to be fun.

KILLIAN

She did two shots and has been sipping the same frothy pink drink for the past two hours. Lilah’s tiny, but I don’t think she’s drunk. What she is, is determined to drive me crazy. Instead of staying by my side, I’ve watched her flit around the bar like the damn fairy she’s nicknamed after. Lucky for the men here tonight, she hasn’t allowed any of them to get close unless they’re a relative of hers or mine. That I can handle...I think.

My jaw clenches when Rome throws his arm over her shoulder, so his hand is dangling dangerously close to her breast, and looks right at me.

“Your brother has a death wish,” I grumble to Maddox, knowing I’m going to make the fucker pay when we spar on Monday.

“You just now figuring that out, Killer?”

Rome leans in and whispers something to Lilah that has her turning to look at me with a mischievous smile before she blows me a kiss.

Fucking brat.

“You sure you know what you’re doing, cousin?” Maddox offers me a beer, but I shake my head. “Because you look likeyou’re about to throw that girl over your shoulder... Or maybe your knee.”

“Not a bad idea,”I mumble and watch her throw her head back with laughter.

I’ve chased this girl once tonight. We’ve kissed twice. And I’ve been hard all fucking night long. I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m doing or why I’ve waited a lifetime to do it. Probably should have done it when we were kids. Or at least an acceptable version of it for two high schoolers. “And the answer is no. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Just that I want to do it more than is probably healthy.”

“Fuck health. We could all be dead tomorrow from the next ice age the way the snow has been falling this winter. Just don’t fuck shit up. Not with Lilah and not with Noah and the guys. Trust me.”

“Yeah. I get it.” When Maddox’s best friend knocked up his little sister, it definitely complicated shit between our friends. “But this is just a one-night kinda truce.”

The minute the words leave my mouth, I know I’m full of shit.

And as Rome slides his arm from around Lilah’s shoulders down to her waist, I feel like a bull that just had a crimson red flag swung in front of it.

“Lilah doesn’t seem like a one-night-truce kinda girl,” Maddox warns me, like I need to be told what kind of girl Lilah is. She’s the same girl who stops in the middle of the street to make sure a turtle gets safely across the road. She’s the girl who volunteers at the soup kitchen with a hat pulled over her eyes and absolutely no media anywhere to be seen because she wants to, not because it looks good. She’s the girl who helped me study for my driver’s test and used to sit, writing songs, while I was working out at the gym, just so she didn’t have to be alone.

I don’t care how many years it’s been. I know Lilah Ryan.

“No shit, cousin. But if I can get her to forget she hates me for one night, it’s a start. And I think it’s about time I take the birthday girl home before your momma gets pissed that I broke her son.”

“It’s his life,” he laughs like an asshole. “He knows what he’s doing.”

“See ya, man.” I push away from the bar and ignore Jamie and Noah’s glares as I move between Lilah and Rome.

Guess not everyone was good with our little show earlier.

Might not want to ask me if I care though.

At least not right now.

“Excuse me,” Rome bitches, like I’m stealing his favorite toy.

Sorry, buddy. She was never yours.

Even if I can’t bring myself to admit it’s because she was always mine.

“Fuck off, Beneventi.” I replace his arm with mine, and Lilah smiles like I just did exactly what she wanted as she leans into my side. “You ready to get out of here, princess?”

Her beautiful blue eyes shine. “What took you so damn long, St. James?”

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