Page 145 of Sweet Venom
Jude hops off the bike and removes his helmet, revealing hard features and a scowl that’s worse than his permanent one.
It should be wrong that my chest flutters and my stomach tightens upon seeing him.
It should be illegal.
He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me flush to his taut, muscular side.
He’s not even touching me directly, but his grip starts a little riot on my starving flesh.
God, am I becoming a sex addict?
Because he didn’t come over yesterday, and I couldn’t help being a little disappointed. That’s part of the reason why I joined Dahlia and Megan for the game in the first place.
“What’s going on here?” he asks Preston and Marcus, who’ve stopped glaring at each other or whatever those two are doing.
Marcus smirks upon seeing Jude’s arm around my waist. “Just a friendly drop-by.”
“Nothing about your presence is friendly, Osborn,” Jude says, tightening his grip on me.
“True.” He taps his lip. “Is Vee your girl, Callahan?”
“Her name is Violet, and yes, she is. You have a problem with that?” Jude shifts slightly, so he’s kind of shielding me.
But I’m just staring dumbfounded because, did he just call me his girl? I’m not. We’re just…friends with benefits.
Okay, we’re not friends, so it’s just the benefits, I guess.
“No problem whatsoever.” Marcus grins and then points a thumb at Preston. “Armstrong might, though, considering he was flirting with her. Keep a better eye on her, yeah? Wouldn’t want her to end up in a freak accident.”
Jude takes a step forward, but Preston is already wrapping an arm around Marcus’s throat from behind, choking him. “Never mind us, big man. I’mma beat the crap out of this creep real quick.”
“Question. What’s with all the choking?” Marcus strains, tapping Preston’s arm. “Is it a form of paraphilia up for exploring?”
“Just call someone to throw him out of town,” Jude tells Preston. “And don’t kill him.”
“But why not?” Preston glares down at him. “He’s obviously itching to meet his maker.”
“If you’re my grim reaper, why not? Yum.”
“Fucking creep.” Preston shoves him away. “Your face doesn’t even give me the urge to kill. What a turn-off.”
Jude narrows his eyes on both of them, then pins Preston with a look. “Call someone. Don’t do anything alone.”
Then he’s dragging me to his motorcycle.
“Wait.” I pull on his hand. “We’re not going to the club?”
He pauses, pulling out the extra helmet. “Do you want to?”
“Not really.”
“Then you won’t have to.” He slides the helmet on my head. “We’re going on a ride.”
29
VIOLET
Idon’t know what I expected.
