Perfectly Toxic (Sterling Shore 9)

“I don’t have to know them. These are my people. Look at everyone having fun. Why can’t you loosen up?”

Okay… So that’s annoying. I’m not a wet blanket, but I’ve been there and done that. It’s just not as appealing to me to hang out and get wasted with a bunch of strangers.

“Maybe if some of the others were here,” I say with a shrug.

He arches an eyebrow. “Tag has a new baby. Rye is probably digging himself out of whatever contraption Brin has thrown at him. Corbin is with Ruby at some hotel, checking out their possible wedding location. Wren and Allie are with Angel. Dane and Rain are—”

“I get it,” I interrupt, sighing. “I know everyone is out doing something tonight. I was just saying I don’t feel comfortable getting wasted with—”

A fight breaks out in the middle of the floor, and five guys dressed in tactical gear—Ethan’s hired security—swoop in from out of nowhere and break it up before it can really get started. Some guy bumps into me in his haste to get away from the action, almost knocking me over. Ethan catches me then shoves the guy, ready to get into a fight as well.

“Stop,” I tell him, shoving at his chest when the guy taunts him.

“She shouldn’t be in the fucking way,” the guy says, as if he’s goading Ethan.

Ethan easily pushes past me, and his fist collides with the guy’s face. All the asshole did was barely bump into me, and now Ethan is on top of him, pummeling him as his security guys wrestle their way through the crowd.

By the time they pull him off the other guy, the guy’s nose is a bloody mess, as well as his mouth. He’s clutching his side, and Ethan is still giving the security team hell, making three guys hold him back.

I guess I have my answer about what he’d do if he found out my ass was getting grabbed all night.

My heartbeat is in my ears as Ethan curses and threatens the guy, acting completely crazy. I’ve never seen him lose it like that, and I have to blame it on the fact he’s too drunk to think logically. What if that guy sues him?

“I’ve come to all of his parties, and I’ve never seen him go ape shit like that,” one guy is saying.

“Yeah, he’s fucking psycho. Awesome!”

Feeling even more uncomfortable, I slowly make my way back to Ethan as he shrugs off his last security guy. He’s telling them to make sure that ‘piece of shit’ never comes back.

When he sees me, the violent man on the surface ducks back into hiding, and he pulls me toward him again, kissing the top of my head with a tenderness that contradicts the brutal act he just displayed.

“You okay?” he asks, tilting my chin up so that my eyes can meet his.

“I’m fine. That was way over the top.”

His look hardens with that. “The hell it was. This is my house, and you’re my girl. Fuck him. He needed his ass kicked.”

I want to slap him and kiss him in the same breath. I hate the whole caveman thing, but at the same time, I’m fairly positive no one has ever been so fiercely overprotective of me. However, I still think beating the hell out of a guy over something as simple as that is overkill.

What would have happened if security hadn’t been here?

Ethan moves me against him, kissing me again, and I give up thinking until we start moving toward his bedroom.

“I think you owe me bathroom sex,” he murmurs against my lips, pushing his door open.

My smile spreads, surprising me, but that smile dies immediately when we hear the moans and growls coming from somewhere in the dark room.

“What the fuck?” Ethan barks while flipping on the light.

On his bed, Star Morgan and some guy I’ve seen at the gym—Cody?—look up from their joined positions on the bed, fully naked.

“What the hell, dude?” Cody snaps.

“This is my fucking bed, dude. It’s off limits. This damn door was locked!” Ethan explodes.

Cody curses while rolling off Star, and I’m subjected to seeing all of his naked body, including his condom-covered penis—as he grabs his jeans with jerky movements. Star… I also get to see her. She grabs a sheet, but it’s too late. I’ve gotten an eyeful.

I’m not sure how I feel about his ex being on his bed. Naked. Even if it is with another guy.