“We’re here for you, Ariel. Whatever you need. We love you and we’re going to help you get through this, okay?” Belle whispers.
I hate that she’s being so nice to me. I hate that they’re all being so quiet and sweet and nice. The one thing that bonded Cindy, Belle, and me was the fact that we didn’t take shit from one another. We didn’t coddle each other, and we sure as shit didn’t baby each other. I know they’re trying to be supportive and good friends, but that’s not what I need right now. I need to be angry, and I need to yell, and I need to do anything other than sit here like a loser who just lost her home and everything she loves, biting down so hard on my bottom lip I’m pretty sure I taste blood because each word out of their mouths just makes me want to cry.
“All right, can we be done with the pity-party shit now? This meeting of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is adjourned. Get your asses moving and let’s go.”
My head whips up from staring at Cindy’s hand on my knee, and I glare at Eric as he crosses his arms over his chest and sighs.
“Hey, show her a little compassion!” Cindy scolds him as she pushes up from her squatting position and turns to face him.
“Sorry, I’m all out of compassion,” he deadpans, his eyes moving away from Cindy to give me a wink. “Can I offer you a vulgar comment instead? Your tits look amazing in that tank top. They’d look much better out of—”
“Oh, my God, you’re a pig!” I shout, jumping up from the couch and crossing my arms over my chest to try and cover up the goods he’s blatantly staring at.
“PJ, kick his ass!” Cindy orders, pointing at Eric.
“Not my circus, not my monkeys,” PJ mutters, slowly walking backwards across the room with a box in his hands, pausing by the front door. “I’ll just go put this in the car with the others.”
He quickly turns around and heads outside as Belle stands up next to me.
“Vincent?” she asks pointedly, nodding her head in Eric’s direction.
“Uh, what he said,” Vincent mutters, pointing towards the front door where PJ just exited as he looks over at Eric. “May the force be with you.”
He too quickly turns and walks across the room and out the door, leaving Eric alone with the three of us.
“Chop-chop. I’ve got places to go and things to do,” Eric states, clapping his hands together twice.
“Don’t you mean places to go and women to do?” I reply snidely.
“Is that an offer? We don’t have a lot of time, but I’m sure I could get the job done in five minutes or less.”
“Five minutes or less?” I laugh. “So, are you just selfish or is this a medical problem? You know, they make a pill for that now. There’s no need to be ashamed.”
“Nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart. I’m not selfish and I definitely don’t need a pill. Give me three hundred seconds and I’ll have you screaming my name.”
His voice is low and he stares down at me, not even bothering to hide the desire in his eyes. I blink up at him in confusion, wondering when in the hell my feet took me across the room to stand a few inches away from him. I can smell his cologne and feel the heat from his body, and my traitorous skin breaks out in goose bumps, which just pisses me off.
“You wish,” I mutter.
“Every single second I’m within ten feet of you.”
I can’t really tell if he’s joking right now, since he’s looking at me so seriously. Obviously he’s just doing this to get a rise out of me, and it’s working.
Pulling my head out of my ass, I finally look away from Eric and scan the room, realizing Cindy and Belle are nowhere to be seen.
“They walked out a few minutes ago. The sexual tension must have been too much for them,” Eric states.
“Oh, my God, will you shut up already,” I complain with a roll of my eyes.
“Are you pissed off?” he asks.
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” I reply.
“Do you have the sudden urge to scream and punch me in the face?”
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Good.”
My mouth drops open in indignation and my hands smack down onto my hips.
“Good? Seriously? You’re happy I’m pissed off? You are a menace to society.”
He closes the distance until we’re toe-to-toe, and instead of moving away, my entire body locks down and I hold my breath when his hand comes up between us, his fingers going under my chin and gently tipping it up until his eyes are locked on mine.
“Your sarcasm and attitude is fun to watch. Honestly, it’s the highlight of my day, wondering what the hell will come out of that mouth of yours next.”