12
Lourde
Over lunch, I filled Pepper and Grace in on Hunters’ scary late-night visit, leaving out the part where Barrett slept in my bed. Horrified at the lows he went to get me back, they soon had me convinced to go out tonight and forget about him once and for all.
Except my mind wasn’t on my ex. It was on the smooth, curved wall of muscles underneath Barrett’s shirt and the sweaty man smell that hit me between the legs.
Your pussy’s not worth the trouble.His words swirled in my head. The way the word ‘pussy’ rolled off his tongue lingered between my thighs. Did I need to be carved from gold for him to want me?
He let my hands wander up his shirt longer than I thought possible. Did that mean he enjoyed it? And the way his fingers dug into the shell of my hip—possessive and strong—felt like he wanted to do dirty, unimaginable things to me.
Sure, my brother was a problem, and we’d be hurting him, but that was only if he found out. I needed a rebound. And Barrett, with his towering physique and dark, mysterious eyes, could be it. Heck, I needed him to be it.
Tonight, I chose another skimpy outfit picked out today with the girls on another shopping trip. Because Barrett said I shouldn’t wear things like that, I went and bought more. And because he wasn’t home when I left, I got away with it.
Thanks to grueling spin classes, my creamy-toned legs looked fucking hot in a short sherbet pink dress with a plunging neckline. Cinched at the waist and braless, it left very little to the imagination.
* * *
“You shouldn’t be sitting here with us, especially looking like fire,” Pepper said.
She and Grace were happily chilling with their wines in the club's corner. Jake and Dane had set off to the bar to get another round, and Rex, a guy I’d met earlier, had gone with them.
“I’m warming up.” I smiled, sipping on a glass of rosé and people watching. “Plus, I’ve already met Rex.”
Lined with sweaty bodies, the club was the most exclusive in town. Thumping bass roared through the speakers, and from upstairs, we watched the DJ below spinning tunes that made the dance floor come alive.
“Why limit yourself to one man,” Grace added, dancing in her chair.
“Look, over there. He’s a hotty!”
“Who’s a hotty?” A familiar voice boomed behind me.
Holy Shit.
“Barrett?” Pepper lifted her gaze above me.
I turned around. My sight was level with his groin as he stood directly behind me. I blushed, imagining what it would feel like looking up from on my knees, pleasuring him from here. Wearing dark jeans, a V-neck t-shirt, and sneakers, casual Barrett was alarmingly hot. “Pepper, Grace.” He smiled.
His gaze fell to me, directly down the swell of my cleavage. I held my breath as his gaze moved lower to my thighs. “Lourde,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. I bit down on my lip like I was in trouble. Fuck, I wasn’t a kid.
“What are you doing here?” I straightened my back, and his eyes shot back down to my open neckline.
He blinked, then added, “Your brother sent me this.” He turned his phone around, and the screen lit up. A picture of me talking to Rex, the guy I’d met earlier, appeared on his phone. Except I didn’t notice his hand was on my ass. I didn’t even feel it there if I were honest. Goddammit. Okay, so it didn’t look good even though it was completely innocent, from my side anyway.
Pepper and Grace leaned over my shoulder to get a shot at the phone. “Oh, that’s Rex Fisher,” Pepper said. “I think he fancies our Lourde here. He should be back soon.”
I glared at her. And she stared back at me a second before the lightbulb went off.
“Ah, Grace and I are going to do a lap, find our men and drag them onto the dance floor.”
“Huh?” Grace said, looking at Pepper, then me. Then the penny dropped. “Yes, the boys. Dancing.”
I rolled my eyes as Grace quickly shot up and disappeared.
Barrett sat in the seat opposite me, and I crossed my long legs in front of him momentarily, contemplating a Sharon Stone Basic Instinct style moment before realizing I was actually wearing a thong.
Whoa!I loved this new me. Confident as hell and embracing my sexuality like never before.
“How did you find me, Barrett?” I asked, cooling my jets.
“It’s easy in a small town like this, where social media gives away every location.”
“So what, my brother sent you to babysit me?”
“Something like that.”