Page 26 of Little Devil

“Like a date,” he corrects me, laughing lightly when I slip up and miss my shot.

“Xan..” Travis warns from beside Kian, not so subtly shaking his head no.

“What?”

“What do you mean, what?” I hiss, quickly checking left and right to ensure no one else is listening to our conversation. “I’m not going on a date with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t like you.”

He raises a brow at that, somehow knowing I’m a liar. “You wanna play or not?

“A date doesn’t last twenty four hours.”

“Twelve, then.”

“Two.”

“Six.”

“What the hell are we gonna do for six hours?”

A slow, dirty little smirk spreads across his face and I drop my jaw, struggling to hide the heat creeping up my neck and over my cheeks.

“You’re disgusting.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Jesus, just–” I stop myself from going off on him and take a breath, lowering my voice while I back away to give him room. “Just take your damn shot.”

He grabs his cue and leans over to do as he’s told, easily sinking three balls without issue. “Your boyfriend’s watching us, you know?”

I roll my eyes and fold my arms over my chest, avoiding Noah’s glare on the side of my face while I lean my ass back against the table. “He’s not my boyfriend anymore.”

“Does he know that?” he throws back, pausing to look up at me when I don’t answer. “I can help you make him jealous if you want.”

“I don’t need to make him jealous.”

“I know.” He grins, straightening up to crowd my space. “I just wanted to kiss you again.”

Kian chokes on his cocktail and I grind my teeth, ignoring the three of them while I turn my attention back to the game. We’re neck and neck with five balls left on the table and it’s my turn to shoot. I could be wrong, but I swear he missed that last shot on purpose.

He’s offering me an out.

A way to say no if I want to.

I swallow my sudden nerves and bend over to pot my last two solids, looking at Xander over my shoulder when I feel his heat at my back. “Do you mind?”

He lifts his hands up in mock surrender and backs up a couple steps, but he doesn’t move from behind me. I let out an aggravated breath and force myself to pay attention, pretending I don’t feel the odd sense of excitement running through me with his eyes on my ass.

One more shot and it’s over.

I line it up and keep my eyes on the eight ball, hesitating a little longer than necessary before I pull my arm back to take the shot. It only takes me a half a second to realize my mistake, and as soon as the white hits the black, it rebounds off the edge of the side pocket and I miss.

Shit.

Travis and Kian both stare at me in disbelief and Xander smirks to himself, casually pressing his chest to my back to speak in my ear. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”

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