A Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men 5)

Damn, was I good or what?

“Well, I can’t meet him now,” the chosen one squawked, looking panicked. “What do I tell him if he’s still out there whenever we leave the bathroom? I can’t even look him in the eye without seeing...” She shuddered. “No. Just, no.”

Pimple popper slid her arm around her friend in comfort. “It’s okay, Kelly. We’ll sneak you out of here. He’ll never see you.”

“Ohmigod, thank you.” Kelly stepped toward me for a hug. “I don’t know how I could ever repay you for this.” She looked really grateful too. I probably should’ve felt my first twinge of remorse right about then. But nope. I didn’t.

I hugged her back, glad Oren wouldn’t be feeling those really big boobs pressing against his chest later on. “I’m just glad I warned you before it was too late.”

After getting a round of hugs from the other three girls—all with overly huge boobs that put my C-cups to shame when they embraced me—they hunched their shoulders together, formed a tight circle around Kelly, and hurried from the bathroom.

I had to watch this, so I followed them out and propped myself against the back wall of the bar.

Folding my arms over my chest, I snickered at how obvious they were about making Kelly duck down within their group and hide from him.

But Oren was absolutely clueless to their pathetic attempts as he stood way on the other side of the room, talking to Quinn. He didn’t even notice their hasty exit. But he would eventually, and that made me smirk.

Things were about to get interesting.

I stuck around Forbidden a while longer and watched Oren from a safe distance. He glanced toward the hall opening to the bathrooms with a slight frown a few times, probably looking for Kelly and her sidekicks, but he didn’t seem all that perturbed that he never spotted her again. He just kept mingling through the crowd and talking with everyone who stopped him.

“You’re being really obvious tonight,” Zoey said from beside me.

I didn’t even glance at her. “Hmm?”

“With your Ten-watching,” she cautioned. “You’re not even bothering to hide it. Did he tick you off that much when he chased that guy away from you?”

“Oh, I’m over that,” I said, though I wasn’t. I still wanted to hurt him, not only for turning me down and then going to other women like Kelly, but for keeping me from the exact thing he would’ve done with her.

I finally glanced at Zoey. “I just heard a couple girls talking about him in the bathroom earlier. My ears are still ringing from the things I learned.”

Zoey shuddered. “I can only imagine. Actually...” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t even want to imagine. His idea of fun no doubt goes beyond what I could even fathom.”

The idea of that seemed to disgust her, but it turned me on. That probably meant I was a freak. Well, yeah, I had to be a freak. I wanted Oren Tenning. That could not be normal. But still, why did I crave such dirty things? With him?

I checked the time on my phone. Eleven thirty. If he truly meant to meet Kelly at midnight, he’d have to leave soon. But he was still here. Maybe this meant he wasn’t—

“Yo, Ham. I’m heading out.” He appeared out of nowhere beside me to tap the top of our table and get his roommate’s attention.

I yelped because I hadn’t even noticed him moving our way. With a low growl, I scowled at him for startling me...or maybe for leaving now, because that meant he was still planning on meeting Kelly. The ass.

He met my gaze and paused. Reading something—though I’m not sure what—from my expression, he leaned close to talk into my ear.

“What? You’re not still mad at me for chasing off that little boy, are you?”

I sniffed and lifted my chin. “You’re just as bad as Noel. I mean, you’re never going let me date anyone without any kind of interference, are you?”

He watched me a moment longer, his intent expression harboring all his thoughts. Then he leaned in again. “How about this? If you ever find anyone good enough for you, I will step back and let you at him without even a single fuck-off glare in his direction.” Then he leaned even closer. “Problem is, I don’t think anyone will ever be good enough for the likes of you.”

When he reached out slowly and caught a tendril of my hair, the achiest look entered his eyes. He studied the lock he was methodically winding around his finger, and the way he watched it was just...I knew that look and recognized it intimately. Every time I saw him, I felt it rising from my own core, wanting, yet helpless to take.

A shudder wracked me. Once upon a time, I’d told Zoey that if I knew for certain Oren really, truly liked me—liked me the way I liked him—I wouldn’t let Noel keep us apart. And I’d meant it.

I still meant it.

“Even you?” I asked him.

His eyes flashed at the question. “Especially me.” Dropping my hair, he stepped back and straightened before he cast a quick glance toward the bar, as if testing whether my brother could see us or not. When he seemed to realize Noel hadn’t spotted him touching me, he turned away and strolled off.