Page 52 of Between Love and Loathing
“We?” She looked at me, confused, and then her small mouth formed a little O. “That’s okay. I’ll just, um … get an Uber?” She glanced around like she needed help getting out of the situation.
I leaned close. “My girlfriend would never take an Uber home, cupcake. Tell your friends bye.”
Instead, she peered over at my brother. “Dex, tell your brother that of course I would go home in a cab. I could potentially be so very angry at you for making such a scene in a club with all our colleagues and friends.”
“And I could be so over your shit that I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here if you don’t listen.”
“Yeah, I’m avoiding this one.” Dex shook his head and took two steps back. “But give him hell, Clara.” He winked at her and walked away.
“We go home or I’m taking you to a bathroom to bend you over a sink to teach you what happens when you don’t listen.”
She bit her bottom lip slow, her eyes dipping to my pants. “What happens?”
I leaned in as I wrapped my arm around her stomach to pull her close and whispered against her ear, “I fuck you so good, the only way you get home is with me carrying you out of here. That what you want?”
Her green eyes had misted over as her ass rubbed back and forth on my cock and we swayed to the music. I was right on the edge now, ready to drag her to a dark corner.
“You came!” Paloma yelled loudly from two tables down and both Clara and I snapped our attention that way. Then she smiled at us and waved us over. “Clara, didn’t I tell you he would come if I said you were here?”
At this point, we were well into the night and Clara was stifling a yawn as she rubbed at a spot on her shoulder I knew must cause her pain. She massaged it a lot. Even so, she smiled brightly and pulled me over to her friends, saying, “Valentino, I’m so happy you came.”
Valentino combed a hand through his hair and smiled softly at her. “Didn’t want to miss a moment with the delightful woman who makes delightful desserts.”
Goddamn, when she blushed at his compliment, I knew right then. I’d be damned if I let Valentino or anyone else have her attention for a second longer. “We’re headed out actually.”
He had the audacity to look hurt, like Clara meant anything to him at all. “Well, the market is tomorrow, Clara. We could meet? How about I give you the address?”
Before I could tell her no, she handed over her phone as she vibrated with joy while he added details.
I wasn’t going to deny her the perfect ingredients at whatever this so-called market was tomorrow, but she damn sure wasn’t going to be going without me. As he handed her phone back, I leaned close to her, “We going to your house or mine?”
She frowned and pouted out her bottom lip, like she was so sad about leaving all her friends. “It’s rude that we’re leaving when more people just showed up,” she grumbled as we exited through the back doors into an alley.
“I’m not staying just to appease people, Clara.” The woman would have stayed all night and well into the next morning to make everyone happy.
“Well, maybe you should try every now and then.” She folded her arms over her chest, and as I saw the goose bumps rise on her skin, I sighed at her lack of foresight.
I shrugged off my suit jacket to drape over her shoulders. “And you should trynotappeasing people. Your happiness shouldn’t be reliant on theirs.”
“It’s not,” she retorted much too fast and then stomped her foot, drowning in my jacket now. “I just know things go more smoothly when you try to accommodate—”
“What about yourself? You willing to sacrifice your comfort for theirs?”
“I’m not uncomfortable.”
“You’ve been kneading at your neck and shoulders for the past ten minutes,” I pointed out and massaged her shoulders for a second. She gave in enough that she closed those emerald eyes and sighed. “You were yawning too, cupcake.”
“Whatever,” she grumbled because she knew it was true.
I pointed over to the corner of the street and said, “Callihan will pick us up over there. Don’t want to block this alley.”
I steered her that way as she went on and on about how I of course didn’t care about other people’s feelings. “And if you’d just let me take a cab home—”
“Not happening.”
“Fine.” She threw her hands up. “We have to go to my place though because my cats need to be fed, but I don’t want you staying over.”
I never stayed over at a woman’s house. It was a damn rule. Yet, I was immediately pissed she didn’t want me to. “You can’t have your boyfriend stay at your place now?”
