Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons 5)

“It’s nonrefundable,” I said, cutting him off. “And I gave it to you so you would use it.”

“Rose,” he said softly. “That’s a big gift, yeah?”

“I ruined your boots,” I replied.

“Needed new ones, anyway, babe.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said stubbornly.

Mack was quiet for a long moment. “You’re sweet.”

There wasn’t anything wrong with his words, exactly, but the way he said them—like I was a little kid—made me narrow my eyes in irritation.

“I’m not sweet,” I said flatly. “It’s the rules of a prank war. If you ruin something, you replace it.”

“Can’t take that much money from you, Rose,” he replied.

“That’s bullshit,” I snapped.

“That’s the way it is,” he said with a shrug.

“Fine, then, I’m done,” I replied, with a little wave of my hand. I moved to go around him, but I didn’t get far when his arm wrapped around my waist.

“You’re givin’ up?” he asked.

“If you’re not wearing new boots tomorrow, then yeah, I am,” I shot back.

His arm tightened around my waist as I tried to walk away, and I swallowed hard as his front pressed against my back.

“Baby, I’ve got new boots on now.”

I was so busy letting the word baby roll over me that it took me a minute to put the pieces together, but when I did, a mixture of annoyance and guilt filled me. If he hadn’t used the gift certificate, he’d just paid a shit load of money to replace something that I’d broken.

“You’re kidding me,” I snapped turning my head to look up at him.

“Did you think I’d ride in my flip flops all week?”

“I thought you’d use the gift certificate I gave you to replace them,” I practically shouted.

“I’m not takin’ money from you.”

“It was a gift!”

“It was too much!”

The words were like a slap in the face. How often had I heard that? I was too much. I was always too much. I couldn’t even reply as I jerked away from him. Why had I harbored this ridiculous crush for so long?

“Come on, Rose,” he said, following me toward the building. “Why are you so pissed?”

“Not pissed,” I said, shaking my head. “You won. Congratulations.”

“Jesus,” he muttered.

He followed me all the way to the back door, but as soon as I’d reached it, grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the side of the building.

“You’re just going to leave it,” he said incredulously. “You’re gonna let me win.”

“Yep,” I replied emotionlessly. I could feel tears burning at the back of my eyes and I wanted to get as far from him as possible before the waterworks started.

“Damn,” he said, taking a step backward.

I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol, or the fact that I was so frustrated that I could barely see straight, but I never intended my next words to fall out of my mouth the way they did.

“I’m not too much,” I said, glaring at him.

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“I’m not too much. So fuck you.” I could feel my chin starting to tremble, and that frustrated me even more.

“I didn’t—”

“I don’t even know why guys say that,” I said, cutting him off. I lowered my voice. “You’re too much, Rose. Too sarcastic. Too loud. Too emotional. Too mean. Fuck that.” I jabbed him in the chest with my pointer finger. “Maybe you’re not fucking enough.”

In the space of a heartbeat, I was against the wall, Mack’s hand pressed firmly against my sternum.

“I’m enough for you,” he said, his nose almost touching mine.

“I doubt it,” I scoffed.

His lips made contact as soon as the words left my mouth, and it wasn’t like any kiss I’d ever had before. His beard was soft, but it was the only thing that was. His mouth was firm against mine, and his lips were chapped, and as I dug my fingers into his back, I realized that our kiss was just an extension of our argument. I pushed and he pushed, and my head swam as his hand wrapped around my jaw and positioned it how he wanted.

Burrowing my hands under his cut and t-shirt, I dug my nails into his skin and he groaned deep in his throat. His thigh pressed between mine as our tongues dueled, and I had just enough presence of mind to spread my legs to accommodate him. Then it was my turn to groan.

I wasn’t sure how far we would’ve gone if the door hadn’t swung open beside us and my cousin Cam’s voice hadn’t brought us back to reality like a burst of cold air.

“Trix’s gonna be pissed she missed that,” he said to Leo as Lily’s other half came out the door behind him. “She didn’t feel like comin’.”

“Her turn to keep the kids, anyway,” Leo replied.

Me and Mack stood frozen except for his leg slowly sliding from between mine, the friction making my eyes roll back in my head. I barely stifled a gasp.