Reno
“The fuck's your problem?” Leon stalked past me in the guy’s locker room, deliberately body checking me on his way.
Throwing his gym bag down with more force than necessary, he glanced up, eyes hard, and bit out, “Fuck all, bro.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, seems like it.”
He stood up, striding right up to me, and snarled, “I don't give a shit what it seems like.”
“Back up,” I warned, my tone low and uncompromising. “What crawled up your ass?”
He reclaimed the space between us, his head raised to stare right into my eyes. “You.”
Yeah, this shit wasn't happening. If I’d done something to piss him off, he could quit talking in fucking riddles and spit it out. I rose to my full height, three inches over his, and puffed out my chest. “The fuck are you talking about? And… watch what you say next.”
He stood immobile for a few seconds, before blowing out a breath and shaking his head. “You know what? She's not even worth it.” Dropping his head, he pivoted and grabbed his bag, throwing it over his shoulder before brushing past me.
“Hey! Whoa!” I grabbed his shoulder, spinning him back. “The fuck you going? You pull this shit then storm out like some chick with PMS? Hell, no. Sit the fuck down. Explain yourself!”
“Fuck you!” He shrugged my hand off.
“Le!” I roared, my voice conveying pretty convincingly that I wasn't messing around anymore. If he wanted to act like a dick, he’d better explain why and it better be fucking good.
His shoulders sagged, and he turned around, eyes scanning the room. Two guys stood by, watching the show. I raised a brow, and they disappeared.
Leon sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Riley. She... ended... whatever the hell we had going on.”
Fuck.
I inhaled long and slow. Stale air invaded my nostrils as I dropped my thumbs onto my hips and nodded distractedly.
Leon knocked his head against the wall, followed by a clenched fist, then he slumped to the bench. “Apparently there wasn't much to end, anyway.”
I stood back and watched my oldest friend grapple with emotions only Riley Mason could provoke. I'd been batting off the fuckers for as long as I could remember. She was the hottest chick in school, bar none. Feisty, smart mouthed, gave zero fucks... so, a walking wet dream. I'd been hard for her for at least the last four years. She'd been eye fucking me almost as long. I'd have to pull out her voice box and squeeze the words out myself if I wanted to hear her say it, though.
She'd pegged me as a man-whore early on and refused to re-categorize me. On the basis I’d plowed my way through most of the cheer squad multiple times, can't say I blamed her. What I could say, though, was her pairing off with Leon, no matter how casual they'd been, had provided a mental barrier I'd needed to keep my mind off her. And my hands. Mostly.
Coincidentally, it had kept every other guy at bay. Something I appreciated, for reasons I wasn't willing to analyze. The simple fact was that the thought of anyone touching her didn't sit well with me. Leon, I'd learned to deal with because whatever they did together—and I knew they’d never fucked—didn't stop Ri looking at me like she wanted to screw me on the nearest available surface. Call me a warped son of a bitch, but I craved that look in her eyes. I wanted her burning for me, even if I had no intention of dousing the flames. The situation was fucked-up, twisted, whatever. It was what it was. I wasn't about to analyze that shit either.
I was already picturing her hips swaying as she strutted around school. Fuck, she was too tempting. And every other asshole around here agreed. The girl was prime real estate, and she'd just gone on the open market.
Nope, not going there. I wanted her too damn much. Too much to pretend it would be a casual hook up. I had no intention of going anywhere near where that would lead.
But I
sure as shit didn't want any other fucker having her.
Head buzzing with all the ass backward ideas that unwelcome realization conjured, I tightened my jaw and attempted to pull my shit together before glancing back down to where Le's dejected form sat slumped over. Moving closer, I clapped my hand around his shoulder briefly then strode away.
I spent the next hour busting my ass and burning off a shit ton of excess tension. Showering and towelling off quickly, I scrubbed the coarse fabric against my skin then dragged it over my hair. My gaze finally settled on Leon's bent head. “You good, man?”
His brows hitched, like he was anything fucking but. “Guess so.”
I observed him a beat longer. “Catch up with you outside, yeah?”
Jerking his head in acknowledgement, he stood, pulling the sides of his bag open and stuffing his crap inside.
Hauling mine from the bench, I exited through the doors and down the hall. And the person who'd occupied my thoughts for the past sixty minutes appeared in front of me, seemingly out of fucking thin air. Because why the fuck wouldn't she?