Page 44 of The Final Deal

Zak clears his throat and says loud enough for me to hear, “The other night was a mistake.”

Chapter 17

Bad Girlfriend

–Theory of a Deadman

My heart plummetsinto my stomach. “What? Why?”

“Because now I can’t stop thinking about you.” He reaches up to twirl a lock of my hair on my shoulder, giving it a slight tug. “How much I wish we could be nineteen again and fucking like animals every chance we got.”

My eyes widen. “Honey!”

“What?” He flashes a devious smirk, then takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “I’m crazy about you, babe. Always have been, always will be.”

I look over my shoulder at the group we’ve abandoned, wondering why Adrian hasn’t snatched me away yet. Hot fingers guide my chin to face Zak, and he kisses me again.

Despite the need for more, I pull away. “What happened to staying away?” I question.

His tiny smirk makes my heart stutter. “Maybe we make tonight an exception.”

I couldn’t agree more.

My lips crush his, relishing the familiar cool sting of his piercings.

Someone whistles behind us. “Y’all lovebirds just gonna tongue-fuck at the bar all night or what?”

Scott appears on my left. His face is reddened, and he slurs his words as he waves the bartender down for another drink. When his next whiskey sour arrives, I snatch it.

“Hey, that’s mine!”

“Yeah, no,” I reply, taking a sip. A set of hands rests on my shoulders; the hellhound all but physically guards me from my right shoulder. “I’m doing you and Bex a favor.”

“Fuck you, and fuck Bex,” Scott snaps.

I raise the glass toward him. “That’s why I took this.”

He shakes his head, grumbling curses, and ambles off toward the tables where everyone else congregates.

Adrian eases out of hiding and takes Scott’s place. “What happened to behaving?”

“He is,” I smart. Tilting my head to the side and exposing my neck, I show Adrian my unblemished flesh. “See? No biting.”

He leans in, and his lips vibrate against my ear as he purrs, “Did you not learn when you got spanked and had dinner in the nude?”

I grab the stolen whiskey sour and spin around on the stool to hop off. “Nope.”

I return to our group and sit in the middle of three empty seats. Shannon is off with Andrea in the outdoor game area, and Robbie is positively miserable despite his “epic” performance of his favorite song by his favorite band—probably because of what everyone else is discussing.

“I knew she was crazy, but notthatfuckin’ crazy.”

“Not like Denver helped. At all.”

“Rob, did she ever try reaching out to you? Before…”

My brother knocks an entire double in one go without making a face. He crosses his arms and stares at his empty glass. “Yeah, I spoke with her a few times. Not like any of it helped.”

The twins sit on either side of me. Adrian covers my thigh with his hand and squeezes; Zak throws an arm over the back of my chair and pulls me toward him a little. But then Adrian drags his hand up until he finagles his way between my thighs that are pressed together.

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