Noah’s on me in seconds, kissing my head, my cheeks, my lips. “Good job, baby girl.” He murmurs, and I feel like I’m being rewarded the same way you would a trained dog.
Sit. Stay. Good job, baby girl.
Three Years Earlier
BEING WITH MIK IS INTOXICATING.
I watch her with a euphoric like amazement. She dances next to Pax, the grumpiest of all of us, with the biggest smile spread across her face. Pax, on the other hand, is not amused.
She’s the only one in this shitty bar dancing. She’s also the one who suggested this dump. I think she wanted to see how out of place the four of us would look in this shitty college town bar.
But she’s happy, that’s clear.
Not even twenty-one, bringing a cup of Natty Light to her lips—a plastic cup because that’s what this dive bar serves their drinks in.
Beckett chuckles next to me watching the scene unfold. Mik brings her cup close to her lips, using it as a microphone while she mouths the words of whatever bubblegum pop song blares through the speaker.
She’s electric, being with her sends a spark through my body, consuming me. I’m like an addict when I’m with her, obsessed with her, my eyes can barely leave her.
She dances her way over to me, swaying her hips in the tight ripped skinny jeans plastered to her body. She wears a cropped hoodie and there’s about an inch of skin exposed between her hoodie and jeans, giving me a glimpse of her creamy skin.
Her eyes find me, watching my gaze trail over her. She stalks closer, hooking a leg around me so she’s hovering over me, her tits perfectly level with my head. Her body sways to the music and her eyes drop down to watch me.
Instinctively my hands move to her waist, gripping her hips. A quick rhythm is beating in my chest, all of my senses are heightened from being around her. She’s like a drug, slipping me into a euphoric state where everything feels better.
All of the shit in my life, all the issues with my family, the business, the obligations—everything slips away when I’m with her.
Each of us have our vices. Beckett gets high to sink away from his mind. Vaughn relies on booze. And Pax, well Pax gets his thrills in other, more painful ways.
I use her.
My safe haven, my heart. She dulls the ache, chases away the monsters, steadies me. I don’t even think she realizes, I don’t think she knows what she does to me.
Her head drops down to kiss me slowly. “You’re stuck in your head,” she taps my forehead to illustrate her point. “What are you thinking?” she asks, her lips turned up into a smile.
“You.” I tell her. That’s the truth, she runs through my mind constantly.
“Yeah?” she grins.
“Yeah, baby, always you.”
Mik squirms beneath me, breaking herself out of my grasp and pushing me off her in one fluid motion. The look on her face sends daggers through my heart.
Sadness.
Confusion.
Pain.
So much fucking pain. All the emotions play on her features while she backs away from me, dragging in ragged breaths.
“What did I just do?” The question leaves her lips in a broken cry. I see the glistening of tears pooling above her lower lash line. She has her back against the living room wall next to the fireplace, one hand on her chest, the other extended warding me off.
“What you had to do, baby.” I coo, slowly approaching her with both of my hands extended. I’m not a threat to her right now, and I need her to see that.
I need her to realize that we’re in this together. We’re a fucking team, always have been. She can’t run from this, hide from me.
But she’s still panting, dragging in air like she can’t get enough.