Page 87 of Red Flag
“Well, someone only needs to see you two fight to see the tension,” he laughed. “And you always eye fuck each other. Then there are all the moments I catch you alone together and feel like I’ve just walked into something. But, that first day,when he opened the door and said about a booty call.”
Thirteen weeks. Fuck. “Right.”
He laughed and pulled me in for a hug. “Liv, it’s all fine. Have fun. Just maybe keep him at arm’s length.”
“I’m not in love with him,” I retorted, defensive.
“Well, I should think not. He’s just… like I said, he’s known for being a great rider, not for his relationships. Remember, you had to get him a fake girlfriend. There’s a reason behind that.”
When proposing the idea, I’d expected him to say he knew who could be his pretend partner. A long-term friend with benefits or something.
“Livie, I don’t mean to be a prick. Just… you’re my friend and he’s… a cheat.”
“He hasn’t had a girlfriend for four years,” I laughed. “He was 23 then.”
Lucabreathed in deeply. “He was seeing a married woman.”
“Sounds like she’s the cheat,” I scolded.
“It’s not— don’t worry,” he said, shaking his head. “Just know I’ve got your back,Liv.”
“I appreciate that,” I told him. “But I think Nix and I are over already.”
“Why?”
“It’s not worth it.”
He nodded twice, lips pursed in sympathy as if he had a depressing realisation. “You’re why he’s been having the highs, aren’t you?”
“Definitely not.” The overwhelming need to pee hit me like a brick. “I’m going to the bathroom,” I said and stepped away from him.
“Want me to wait?”
I shook my head with a smile.
“I’ll be upstairs,” he said but he stayed to watch me enter the toilets.
My heart beat the same rhythm as the bass. The music faded inside, left with just the boom boom boom. A very sobering boom boom boom.
There was nothing quite like sitting on the toilet in a club, drunk out of my mind. This was definitely part of the reason I always went to the cubicles with the girls. We kept the ignorance going, too busy with giggles and pep talks.
I was so very tipsy, swaying slightly with my knickers around my ankles, the skirt of my dress scrunched up around my waist. I couldn’t force myself up, no matter how numb my thighs got. There was no option but to reflect.
I hadn’t been this drunk in ages. Not since—
Not since—
Oh, god.
I wanted to go home. I had to go home.
I steadied my breathing, running through my schedule for the next few weeks. Or Nix’s andLuca’s.
I just wanted to be home.
But, with this job, there wasn’t really one of thoseanymore. Or wouldn’t be for much longer.
Oh god, I’d fucked this up. I’d absolutely fucked it. I should have stayed far, far away from NixonArmas.
