Page 25 of Insatiable Hunger

Jordan’s lips tilt into a shy smile before he gives me a quick kiss. “Okay, night, Elias.”

Getting out of the car, I jog up the stairs, barging into the house, not giving a single fuck how loud I am. I check the living room, the kitchen, his office, and he’s not anywhere down here. Storming up the stairs, I make my way to the end of the hall, peeking my head into their bedroom. Neither of them is in there, but the shower is on, and the door is left ajar.

Well, not going in there.

Annoyed that I can’t seem to find him, I cross the hall, pushing the door open to my room. Once the light is flipped on, my hand flies up to my mouth, stifling the scream that’s trying to come out.

“What thefuck, Zeke?” I slam my door shut, resting my back against it as I glower at him. “What are you doing in my fucking room? And in the dark?”

As usual, he ignores my questions completely. Ezekiel Alvarez clearly answers to nobody. “I thought I told you that you would not be sleeping with Jordan.”

I huff out a laugh because he can’t be fucking for real.

Zeke arches a brow at me, hand running over his thick, cropped beard. The light catches on that gaudy as fuck ruby and gold ring he wears, and I want to roll my eyes at how ridiculous it looks. “Is there something funny, Elias?”

It’s my turn to ignore his questions. I’m fuckingdonewith these fucking head games. I’m done dancing around our past, and I’m fucking done with him thinking he has any say in what I do. “What the hell is this, Zeke? Huh? You fuck me at a club three years ago, then you marry my mother without so much as even acknowledging the fucking situation between us, and then when I move in, you have the audacity to berate me for going on a date. And while, yes, that date just so happens to work for you, I didn’t know that at the time, nor do I fucking see why it matters.”

Dragging in a deep breath, I exhale, my body jittery, pulse racing as he studies me like a problem he can’t solve. “And then,” I continue, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to ignore how the way his blank expression makes my blood boil. Zeke is this beast of a man, but when it comes to this, to me and him, he’s done nothing but behave like a fucking coward. He refuses to acknowledge this elephant in the room, but his possessive, jealous tendencies come flying out any chance he gets. “You let me watch movies with you and act like a decent human being, only to turn around and act like a jealous fucking boyfriend the moment you see me with someone else. That makes no sense. None of it. Get a fucking grip. What happened between us can’t be taken back, but you also have no say in how I choose to live my life. I am a perfectly single guy, and I’m allowed to date, Zeke. And you don’t get a say in that.”

My chest heaves as I watch, waiting to see what he’ll say back. He’s a loaded grenade. All the deflecting and ignoring he does is bound to make him explode at some point. I swear his eyes darken at the same time they narrow on me as he raises off the bed. He stalks toward me, only stopping once he’s in front of me, so close I can smell his aftershave. “I will not tell you again, Elias. You will not be seeing Jordan. You will not be dating him. And you certainly will not be fucking him.”

Zeke shoves me out of the way, exiting my room before I can even respond.

My body is on fire as I try to catch my breath, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I go through everything that’s happened tonight in my mind. He’s out of his fucking mind if he thinks I’m just going to lie down and blindly follow his every fucking demand. Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I unlock it and find Jordan’s contact.

Me: Let’s pick up where we left off tomorrow after you get off work.

A grin slides on my face as I watch the text bubble pop up as he responds to me.

Jay: I’m actually going out of town for work tomorrow until Friday. But once I’m home, I’m down… just maybe not in your driveway this time. ;)

Me: Your place?

Jay: For sure. I’ll hit you up when I get back and we can go from there.

Me: Cool. Can’t wait to get my hands back on you…

Jay: Fuck, me either.

Take that, stepdaddy.

Chapter Thirteen

Zeke Alvarez

If there’s ever a time to be thankful for tiny blessings, it’s today. The universe knew I was running on little sleep and even littler patience. It somehow knew if faced this morning with the stressors from last night, I’d snap. Thankfully, Jordan is traveling the rest of this week for work, so I don’t have to see him after catching him jacking Elias off less than twenty-four hours ago.

The image is seared into my memory, no matter how much I try to get rid of it. And every time it pops back up, I get even more pissed off than the last time. If Jordan was in front of me right now, I’d clock him. Which, as his boss, isn’t the smartest move.

On the way home from the event last night, I had every intention of sitting Elias down and talking about what happened outside. It was wrong, and inappropriate on my part, and I wanted to clear the air. But then I got home and saw Elias with Jordan, and all logical thinking went out the window. All good intentions overshadowed by a burning rage.

I haven’t seen Elias since I left his room last night. It’s probably better that way. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about him that unlocks something inside of me. Something primal and possessive, and it’s been this way since the very first time we met. Leaving that party all those years ago, I knew I needed more of him, but didn’t know why.

Or how I was going to make it happen.

All I knew was that I had to.

Finding out he was Valerie’s son was unexpected, to say the least. It threw a wrench into my every plan. I can’t even count how many times I almost called the whole wedding off because I knew there was no way I could be near him and not be utterly consumed by him.

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