Part 44 (1/2)
”Someone make it stop,” I mutter, putting the pillow back over my face.
”Look, man,” Whip says somewhere around the vicinity of my head. ”We're just trying to give you some advice.”
”f.u.c.k all...” I tilt the pillow to the side to glare at him. ”Sophie has been well satisfied. Repeatedly.”
h.e.l.l, now I'm thinking of that look she has when she comes, the way her little nose wrinkles and her eyes squeeze tight as she arches her neck and moans... I put the pillow on my lap and snarl.
”Are you sure?” Rye waggles his brow. ”I mean she's obviously not happy about something-”
”She's upset because I tore into her like a jealous, untrusting a.s.shole, you git. Not because I couldn't get her off. f.u.c.king h.e.l.l.”
”Ah.”
Yes, ah. As if that does me any good.
Rye turns on the TV and settles down in a chair. ”Oh, Supernatural is on.”
”No,” I cut in, pained. ”Not that one. Sophie has a thing for Dean. I can't watch it without hearing her sigh and coo.” G.o.d, I miss her.
Rye quickly changes the channel to a car show.
Unfortunately, all I can think about is Sophie l.u.s.ting over my Ferrari. s.h.i.+t. The woman is threaded through every fiber of my existence. I'm unraveling.
”I love her.” The words come out stilted, foreign on my tongue. But they are the truest part of me.
”Of course you do,” Jax says with the patience of a father talking to an irritable toddler.
Killian snorts. ”We've all known since you threatened to kill Jax over her.”
”I don't recall such threats.” I only thought them. I was so blind back then, trying to convince myself Sophie was a pa.s.sing fancy when I'd been falling for her from the moment she opened her mouth. My clever, chatty girl. She's turned me on my head, made me a better man, made me live for the moment.
I glance around. The guys are giving me my privacy by watching the TV. But they are here. For me. They'll never leave me behind. My mates. My family.
”I love you too,” I blurt out.
And instantly regret it. My face burns as they all turn my way with varying degrees of shock in their expressions.
Rye gurgles on a laugh.
”f.u.c.k,” I mutter. ”That's not... You know what I mean. You're my mates.”
”'In Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day,'” Killian drawls.
They all laugh.
”Sod off,” I growl, fighting a smile. But I won't retreat anymore. Sophie was right; it hurts both me and them when I do that. I look each of them in the eye. ”I mean it.”
Whip tosses himself on me, which b.l.o.o.d.y hurts, and musses my hair. ”We love you too, Scottie boy.”
I shove him to the floor. ”Animals, the lot of you.” But I feel better. Except I don't. Not at all. ”I am f.u.c.ked, aren't I?”
”Pretty much,” Killian says with a nod.
”I'm not falling in love,” Jax declares. ”I have enough f.u.c.ked emotions to work through.”
”Famous last words, dude,” Whips says from the floor.
”So, did you apologize to Sophie?” Jax asks.
”Of course. But I c.o.c.ked it up, and she asked for s.p.a.ce.”
”You didn't give her s.p.a.ce, did you?” Killian sounds horrified.
It gives me pause, and I peer up at him. ”Wasn't I supposed to?”
”No, you don't give them s.p.a.ce,” he wails. ”That's only some s.h.i.+t they say to see if you'll fight for them.”
Outrage punches through me. ”Why the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l would they do that to us?”
”To see if we're paying attention?” Jax offers.
”To torture us?” Rye counters.
”It's simply biology,” Whip says as if he's suddenly an expert. ”Men are wired to love the hunt, and women are wired to love being hunted.”
”That sounds like something women would call s.e.xist,” I counter.
”They might protest,” Whip agrees. ”But deep down they know it's true.”
”Women should come with instructions.” Rye takes a sip of his beer and stares down at the bottle. ”Or a warning label.”
Killian laughs. ”They do, man. You just have to learn how to read them. Problem is, most of us don't learn how until a woman has knocked us on our a.s.ses. Trial by fire, my friends. And you will burn.”
”Killian James, prophet of doom,” I say, knowing he's right. And hating it.
”Look,” he kicks my foot. ”You f.u.c.ked up. Now you gotta go make a gesture that shows her she's the most important person in your life.”
”Should I go sing a song that calls her an easy lay?” I ask. Which is low, because that was Killian's mistake with Libby.
The guys snicker, and Killian kicks me again. ”I married the girl, jacka.s.s, so I won.”