Page 58 of Loathe Thy Neighbor

Darlene doesn’t answer, but the thick swallow is telling enough.

“I knew it!” River explodes. “That’s it. I’m going after him.”

She takes two steps before I’m wrapping my arm around her waist, holding her in place.

“What are you going to do? Go steal a slice of pie from an old man?”

“Yes!” She squirms in my grasp, trying to free herself to go do just that.

The saddest part is, I believe her.

She’s desperate at this point.

“You cannot steal pie from customers, River, especially not the old ones. That man is easily in his nineties. For all you know, this could be his last piece of pie ever.”

“It could be mine too!” She tries to run again, and I grip her tighter.

Big mistake.

The friction she’s causing is making my already lonely cock weep with the little attention it’s receiving. If she doesn’t stop, it’s going to be obvious that I’m enjoying having her rubbing against me way too much.

Knowing River, I doubt I’d skate through that embarrassment unscathed.

I drop my lips to her ear. “Remember what your little yoga show did to me last night? I didn’t even touch you, and you did that to me. Do you want to be writhing against me right now?”

Like I knew it would, it works, and she stops fighting me.

I relax my hold on her but don’t fully let her go, not trusting her one bit.

Her cheeks are red as she straightens, smoothing down her shirt. “You can let me go now, Dean.”

I don’t.

“Can I trust you?” I say, my lips a little too close to her ear.

“Yes.”

“Do you promise not to chase after a poor, helpless old man and behave?”

She grunts. “Yes.”

“Okay.” Slowly, I release my hold on her and take a step back, letting out a relieved breath because I couldreallyuse the space.

If she noticed anything rubbing against her, she keeps it to herself, not saying anything as she adjusts her clothes and sorts herself out.

“Now, go get us a table while I finish ordering.”

“Fine, but only because if I leave, you’ll have to pay for my dinner.”

She takes off in the direction of where the old man went and I grab her wrist, tugging her back toward me.

I shake my head as she peeks up at me innocently.

“Theotherway,” I tell her.

She pouts and doesn’t like it but does what I tell her, sashaying off to find us a seat on the other side of the diner.

When she’s out of earshot, I turn my attention back to the register.