Page 19 of Arrogant Rucking Player

Her head was thrown back onto my ex’s shoulder. She writhed for him in what had to be the best fakest orgasm of her life because both she and I shared a singular truth in that moment:

Stuart wasn’t that good.

Not with any part of his anatomy.

Tongue, hands or dick. It didn’t matter. You couldn’t pay that man to learn how to use anything. He was beyond a selfish lover. Which told me two things straight up.

He knew who was pulling money out of the till before he called me with his little shame charade earlier knowing I’d offer to help him with the cash and banking because I was just that predictable, and…

That this little show was for my benefit alone.

The rage that hasn't hit me before fuelled my veins now. I stared straight into Stuart’s emotionless, dead eyes as Josie reached the peak of her performance and smiled.

“She’s full of shit, Stuart. I won’t be back.”

I turned around, walked steadily down the stairs,gave Chaz the best hug I could offer as Josie started to rant and rage above us to whatever bullshit Stuart didn’t offer her, collected my son, and drove away without mangling my ex’s car, but damn was it a close thing. Not that any of it mattered.

He thought he’d had his revenge. That backfired on him. I got what I wanted when I walked into that office. I found my closure, and I walked out with my son.

Hell, I could even splurge on a milkshake after that. While Brady downed his treat in record time despite having eaten lunch earlier—hello, hollow growing boy stomach—I sent out the message that was long overdue. I prayed I didn't send it too late.

NYLA: Can I still collect on that date?

CHAPTER NINE

MASON

I stood near the entrance to the car park ofOld Man Han’spub and tried not to jiggle on my feet. Sure, I was fifteen minutes early for the time that I’d agreed on with Nyla a week earlier, but there was no way in hell did I have any intention of being late on the date it took me weeks to get with her.

I flipped my phone in my hand and pocketed it half a dozen times, stepping back out of the way of the line that formed around the corner to the main entrance. Even early in the night, the pub, a hot spot in its own right, built up a vibe that said the place should be packed. But tonight, inside, it would be a decent date night for Nyla and me. Assuming I got the time right and hadn’t screwed up.

Finally, her little car turned into the driveway. She gave me a harried wave through the window, the tiny wheels bumping over the gravel as she pulled in and parked next to my truck. The Ute was my favourite thing in the world. I kept it white and spotless. The tiniest bit of dust usually bothered all hell out of me, but not tonight.

I grinned broadly as Nyla slammed her car door and trotted over to me, slinging a teensy beaded bag that couldn't possibly hold anything important over her shoulder. Her long black hair swung in a silky black sheet to below her ass, the sheen melding with a floor length black skirt with a slit up the side that sat snug on her waist.

A thin strip of golden skin was visible at her stomach, the slightest curve there leaving my hands aching to palm her against me, before a strapless top of the matching material, also beaded, started.

In my simple black shirt and jeans I might have felt under dressed next to her but… She just blew me away and I couldn't stop staring.

“You look beautiful,” I murmured over a lump that developed in my throat and refused to budge.

She stopped at my side, panting a little and threw her hair over her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be late. The babysitter isn’t one I’ve usedbefore. I couldn’t get my regular. Brady wasn't sure about her, said he’d seen her with Stuart, and I didn’t want to leave him, so I left him at my sister-in-law, who isn’t the easiest person, and?—”

“Hey. It’s okay.” I cupped her hip without thinking, leaning down to kiss the corner of her mouth. She stopped talking and stared at me. “Brady comes first, always. You’re second but only by a fraction, okay? Tonight is about you.”

“Oh.” Her hand drifted lightly over the back of my knuckles but she didn’t push my touch away.

Thank Christ, because I wouldn't have known what the hell to do with myself if she did.

“Come inside with me? I booked a table.” I broke contact with her waist. The warmth of her still seared into my palm as I offered her my hand.

Nyla looked up at me with a tentative question in her eyes that said everything all at once. And, knowing something of her history, I promised myself I’d try not to be the asshole like the ex who’d hurt her so badly that she hadn’t let herself date for the last ten years or however long since the catastrophe of him in her life.

“Alright,” she said softly, slipping her hand into mine, giving me a fraction of her trust.

I held onto her firmly, and headed back throughthe parking lot. Nyla hesitated, and I tugged on her hand. “Secret entrance.” I grinned. “You want to avoid the crowd?” I raised an eyebrow, nodding in the direction of the line that wound halfway around the block and across the next street.

She stared. “Won’t inside be packed?”

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