That’s when he’d seen Natalie with her douche date and everything shifted. It was game on.
Because whatever the hell he was doing with Natalie it was a game, and he wasn’t certain he was winning…
Either way. It made him feel good.
Excited him. Lit him up in a way that didn’t leave him with a hollow feeling afterward. When she’d said she couldn’t tell he had feelings, something had stung his chest. The thought that he might have hurt her didn’t sit right with him. She didn’t let him hide or brush shit off or be overly casual. She called him out.
Every. Damn. Time.
And there was that overanalyzing crap he needed to get away from. So he’d had sex with Natalie and felt better, felt good, felt more whole afterward. What the hell did that even mean? It meant he needed to stop being a pansy and get back to doing what he did best: having fun.
Which meant he’d need to be way drunk for that to happen. Because he’d had something beyond fun with Natalie just second ago. Now he needed a bit of numb.
He smiled at the blonde, and she ordered another round of shots. Thank God Chloe wasn’t moving as fast these days thanks to the baby. And Gage had mentioned something like “pregnancy brain” once. Whatever affliction that was, East hoped Chloe had it, otherwise he was pretty sure she’d see right through him to the fact that he’d just had sex with Natalie outside her establishment.
But she just poured the shots, smiled, and waddled back to the other end of the bar. He let out a sigh of relief.
He heard the familiar click-click of those heels and turned to find Natalie walking back to her date, not sparing him a glance. She looked put together, every hair on her head glossy and in its place. No one would ever know he’d just had his fist wrapped in it. She was perfect, and that damn dress…
He watched her walk all the way back to her table and followed that zipper the entire time, knowing what was beneath it. He ran a hand over his pants pocket where her panties were. No one would ever know that the sweet and friendly Natalie St. Clair was really a wild, sexy vixen underneath. She just needed someone to tap into that. And damn did East want to tap that…again.
Shit, he was getting hard just thinking about her. He watched her big eyes look bored with her date and then flash to him. Oh yeah, she saw him. And he saw her. Saw the way she glared with the heat of anger and something else…like the thought of what they’d just done. And judging by the way she was biting the inside of her cheek, she was liking those thoughts.
He would protect Natalie. Always. Even from boring idiot dates she went on.
“Can I get two more shots, please?” East asked Chloe. She poured them without question. Before his date could ask, East picked up two and the blonde picked up the others. “I want to bring a round to my friends.” He motioned for her to follow him.
A few steps and a long heated look later, he was standing at Natalie and the douche’s table.
“Hi, friend,” he said to her.
She looked like she was ready to smack him. But instead she blinked a few times and gave a tight “Hello.”
“Just thought I’d buy you and your date here a drink,” he said and put the two shots down. He took his own from his date.
“Thanks, man. That’s cool of you,” the douche said.
“Of course,” East said. He clicked his glass with the douche’s and fantasized what punching him in the throat would feel like as he watched him down the shot. “It’s the polite thing to do. Just making sure my friend over here is taken care of.” He winked at Natalie.
“Oh, you two are good friends?” the douche asked.
“Oh yeah,” East said leaning on his heels. “We go way back. In fact, this one time we went to the back of this very bar and—”
“Cheers,” Natalie cut in. She didn’t bother clinking her glass, just downed her shot and set it down.
“Thanks for being so thoughtful, East. Always using that brain of yours,” she said around a slight cough from the hard alcohol.
He smiled. He wouldn’t have outed them, but he wanted to see her reaction, and he’d gotten one.
“So you went to school together?” the douche asked.
“He’s my older brother’s friend,” Natalie said.
“But Natalie and I have always had a special bond. Isn’t that right, darlin’? I take good care of her.”
She just stared silently at him, but the message behind her glare was clearly What the hell are you doing? He wondered. Why was he goading her? Oh right, to get the fire in her eyes going, because damn that fire was good. But he was being an idiot and he knew it. Maybe Natalie had been right. Maybe she had a thing for idiots.
“Thank you for the drink. See you around,” Natalie said dismissing him. She turned her attention to his date and smiled. “And it was nice to meet you…”