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Tori stood to head to the restroom, offering her friend some final advice before she left. “You better do something. This is awful seeing you two like this. You need to talk to him.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Chris watched Torithrough the window as he stood in the parking lot negotiating with the last person he’d planned on talking to tonight. From the looks of it, Tori and Claire were in deep conversation at the bar. Maybe it had something to do with Jake’s pissy attitude. The guy had been miserable to be around all night. Claire didn’t look much better.
“I already told you I’m not interested in the Louis Kay fight,” he ground into the phone, watching Tori’s bright smile. Even when it wasn’t aimed in his direction, it did funny things to him.
He swore under his breath as Benny went off on another tirade of what he was and wasn’t willing to do to help Chris out. Benny was a shrewd businessman, and he knew what he wanted. In this instance — a Chris vs. Louis rematch.
“Fine, I’ll do it. But I want everything I’ve asked for, and I want it in writing.”
He shoved the phone in his pocket and headed back into the bar. He bypassed the table, none of the guys noticing otherwise, and headed down the hallway where he’d seen Tori go. Tonight had been awkward and tense. He wasn’t sure if Tori had told anyone about them. She had jumped at his touch. That was a ball-buster. After last night, he thought they were on the same page. Now he wasn’t so sure. Was she actually embarrassed to tell her friends, or was it possible he had misread things between them? He reached the end of the hallway just as she exited the bathroom. She was staring at her phone and completely oblivious to him until he grabbed her and pulled her into the dark corner.
She squealed at his rough touch, wide-eyed and panicked. “You scared me,” she rasped out when she got a good look at his face.
“That was the idea.” He smiled, nuzzling into her neck and breathing in the intoxicating smell that was all her.
He walked her backward until her shoulders hit the concrete wall at the end of the hallway. He placed his hands on her hips, feeling the hard curves of her body. He needed this. He needed to make sure they were in this together. If he had to define it for her, then that was what he would do. He’d ask her to be his damn girlfriend like they were fourteen years old. Whatever was necessary to make sure she belonged to only him.
“Someone could see us.” She tried to squirm out of his grasp.
He tightened his hold. “I don’t give a fuck. Let them see.”
“You don’t mean that,” she said, looking up at him with wide eyes.
“Sweetheart, I intend to kiss you right here and right now, and if that means the whole bar will see it, then so be it.”
He confirmed the statement by taking her mouth, slipping his tongue through her parted lips. She was hesitant and stiff, but as he deepened the kiss; she relaxed bit by bit until she was limp in his arms.
God, he wasn’t sure he would ever get enough of her. Enough of them like this.
He registered the faint sound of footsteps heading their direction and stepped to the side to shield her from prying eyes without breaking the kiss.
“Well, hello, you two.”
She let out a small gasp and pulled back at the noise. Chris blocked Claire’s view while Tori composed herself, running a hand over her hair and mouth. A quick glance back at Claire showed her waiting, hands on her hips, with a smug expression on her face. She didn’t have the look of someone who knew her best friend had been hooking up lately. Talk about a kick to the balls.
Was she still keeping their relationship a secret? That seemed to be a pattern. She hadn’t told Claire about their first kiss or about all the rest. He hadn’t minded before when they were just kids and their relationship was unclear, but now it stung. Maybe she didn’t feel as strongly about him as he did for her.
“Two minutes,” he whispered in her ear before backing up, allowing her to move freely.
She didn’t move. Instead, her eyes scrunched in confusion at his words.
He leaned in closer and kissed her cheek, whispering a little more gruffly this time. Every second without kissing her felt like hell. “You’ve got two minutes, and then I’m dragging you home to continue this.”
“Well that lookedlike it didn’t suck.” Claire had a smirk on her face and one foot cocked to the side, toe tapping.
Tori ran her fingers over her swollen lips. It hadn’t sucked. Not even a little bit.
“Why does it feel like you’re keeping secrets again?” Claire’s voice dropped, and a gloomy look washed over her face.
She forced herself to snap out of her Chris-fog. Claire needed her. Tori found her bearings and motioned with a tilt of her head toward the ladies’ room. They locked themselves into the one-stall bathroom where they could talk in private.
Tori placed both hands on the pedestal sink and leaned in, staring at her reflection. The evidence of her hallway encounter was written all over her flushed face.
“Tori Calloway,” Claire started, “you have so much explaining to do.”
“I’m in trouble.” She turned quickly, meeting Claire’s pouty face. “I really like him.”
