Page 78 of Twice the Rivalry

She yawned. “Yeah, yeah. But for the record, this is a one time thing. I don’t need you in my space all the time.” Then she snuggled in to him tighter, her arm draping over his middle, and her breathing evened out within seconds.

He didn’t move for a long time. What the hell was he doing? He should be easing out of bed and going back to his own, especially since this was supposed to be casual. So why was his body refusing to move? This was all sorts of a mistake, and every warning bell in him was screaming, telling him to get up and run far away. That he was getting in deep, and it was not going to end well for either of them.

He laid his head back down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling, a sinking feeling starting to settle into his gut. Damnit, he cursed silently. He was doing the one thing he swore he would never do again. He was falling for her. The one woman he knew he couldn’t have, and wasn’t sure he wanted.

Liar, his mind taunted. If you didn’t want her, you’d be in your room, or fucking one of the club girls.

He shut his eyes tight as he tried to quell the panic rising inside him. No, this could not be happening. He couldn’t fall for his rival. Well, sort of rival. True, they still fought and bickered over things, but it wasn’t the same as before. There wasn’t that angry, hateful tension between them. This time, it was a whole other kind of tension. The kind that usually ended with her bent over the desk or up against the wall, with his dick buried inside her. All because of her sassy mouth and the way she loved to drive him crazy. Hell, he knew she was doing it on purpose to get a rise out of him, but he didn’t care. Probably because he did the same to her.

He opened his eyes and looked down at her again. She was nothing like any of the women he had dealt with before. Even Hallie had been different. Sure, there were similarities, but Glitch was a ball-buster. She was reckless and wild, but she never intentionally hurt him. Telling him he had a small dick, or messing with his shit was one thing, but she hadn’t toyed with his emotions, or tried to use him to advance herself. Hell, she didn’t need to. She was fucking amazing at what she did, and she didn’t need him. If anything, he needed her. And wasn’t that a blow to the ego?

He bit back a groan. He sounded like a damn woman worrying over shit. God, he needed to get a grip.

He tried to think of everything going back to the way it was before without Glitch, and his gut cramped. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He was in so much shit. He was falling for Glitch, if he hadn’t already fallen, and now he had to figure out what the hell he was going to do.

When this was all over and her team came back, Glitch wasn’t going to stay with him. She had her team, her family, so where did that leave him? He blew out a soft breath and looked down at her again. She let out a soft sigh, and her arm moved so that her hand was on the center of his chest, her leg moved over his, curling farther into him.

His heart stuttered, and he knew it was no longer a question. He had fallen for Glitch. All her rough edges, and the soft heart underneath. Even her sassy mouth and the way she came in like a battering ram. But he saw her vulnerable, he saw her hurt, and he saw her happy. She was complex, layered, and he wanted to peel each back so he could uncover every piece of her.

Even the pieces her team didn’t know existed. He wanted it all.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX

GLITCH

She tried not to be annoyed that Code avoided her for most of the last day and a half. Sure, he said it was because he had to help plan the run the guys were leaving on today, but she wasn’t stupid. There was something else there, and she couldn’t quite place it. There was an underlying anger and confusion in his eyes, and last night, he went to his own bed, leaving her to sleep alone. She had half a mind to break into his room and demand to know what the hell was going on, but something stopped her.

Probably the fact that she was always doing that to him, and she needed to stop. He was entitled to moments alone, just like she was. Still, something changed after the other night, and she wasn’t sure what it was. Had something happened while she was asleep? She had been out like a light, completely exhausted, not even waking when he left her, and she slept until almost noon.

Why was she worrying about it anyway, she scolded herself as she made her way back up to her room. She just finished her workout, and she needed a shower. She offered to help Code with his planning, but he assured her he had it under control. He thanked her for her offer though, which staved off any irritation at him for excluding her. Which made no sense. Why was she getting upset that they weren’t working together on everything? They weren’t a team. He had his own club business, and he didn’t need her help with that.

Which begged another question, why was she wanting to spend so much damn time with him? She walked into her bedroom and shut the door behind her, locking it before stalking into the adjoining bathroom.

Standing in the shower, she stood under the hot spray and tried to sort through her thoughts. God, she hated being a girl sometimes. Most of the time, she didn’t bother overthinking anything, she got shit done. Her team wasn’t big on sharing feelings unless they had a beef with one another. Guess that was what she got for working solely with men. She rarely told people if she was having a hard time. Why bother them when they had so many other issues that were way more pressing? Like rescuing women from their captors. Her feelings were trivial in comparison.

Still, she could admit that she liked being around Code, having someone to talk to about the things they had in common. Most of the guys’ eyes glazed over if she got too technical. But it wasn’t just the tech stuff. It was the social aspect too. She liked that here, she could interact with the women, especially Karissa. That she had someone to vent and got a female’s perspective. After all, talking to men was the same thing a lot of the time. Especially the men in her life. It was either bikes, the mission, or finding women to fuck, with the occasional sparring session thrown in for good measure.

Okay, so she was lonely and in need of female companionship, she thought to herself in exasperation. It wasn’t something she needed to cry about, she told herself firmly. She was far better off than the majority of the world, and if that came with a little loneliness, so be it.

That, of course, turned her mind to Code. Damn it, she really needed to get a grip around him. Him sleeping in her bed the other night messed with her head. She had always gone to him, always had a space he hadn’t invaded and was still her own. But she couldn’t say that anymore. Now, she had his scent on her pillow, on her sheets, and the memory of wrapping herself around him. For the first time in a long time, she hadn’t felt alone at night.

She gave a low grown and quickly rushed through the rest of her shower. This was stupid. Here she was, being a damn sap about this whole situation, when she was a badass bitch. She didn’t need a man to make her whole, and no man was worth this much headache. She needed to get a grip, and if whatever she and Code had was done, then it was done. She would be leaving soon enough anyway.

So why did her mind want to reject that idea so badly?

She got out of the shower, toweled off, and dressed in a pair of black yoga pants and an old t-shirt before climbing into the middle of the bed, grabbing her laptop and phone. She could hear a lot of moving around and noise in the hallway, but she ignored it. She needed some time to herself. Mostly she needed to look at her business and all the emails and correspondence from her legal team and advisors.

For the next hour she answered email after email, made notes, and then smiled when she saw the name of a scholarship award recipient. It looked like Nari did indeed plan on pursuing her education, and had responded to her call for applications. Sure, her grades weren’t as high as some, but her recommendations from her professors were glowing. She sent through the approval to her team, and also gave them approval to increase the scholarship amount if she needed more. She might be a club girl, but she was obviously trying to do something she enjoyed, and if Glitch could make it easier for her, then so be it. And, you know, they needed more women in this field. Far too many men out there needed to be knocked down a few pegs.

Which of course, made her think once again about Code. Damn it.

She scowled at her screen, but picked up her phone when she heard it go off. Her scowl was quickly replaced with a smile when she saw the caller ID.

“About time your lazy ass called me,” she griped, even as she worked on blocking the call from any outsiders. Couldn’t be too careful.

“Babe, if I had known you were pining for me, I’d have called sooner,” Taz drawled in that thick southern twang. “Tell me the truth. It’s my dick you’re missing, isn’t it? You’re still thinking about seeing all my goodies and wishing you jumped on them when you had the chance.”

She rolled her eyes but grinned. “Oh sure,” she replied sarcastically. “About as much as I want to catch whatever disease you’re carrying around from all the tail you get.”

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