Page 62 of Wildest Dreams

“Why not?” he asks hoarsely, eyes wildly searching mine. “You know how I feel about you, and I can tell that you feel the same way about me. Why aren’t you letting us do this? Let us do this, Aisling.”

A thought crosses his mind and he pulls me tighter against his chest.

“Is it because you’re worried about what Connell will say?” he asks. “Because you don’t need to worry about that. Your brotherlikes me, baby. I’m pretty sure he knows that I’d fucking die for you.”

I blink rapidly up at him, overwhelmed and confused.

“If you woulddiefor me,” I say hoarsely, “then why the hell did you spend tonight getting all flirty with a damn hen party?”

I mean, I don’t blame them for wanting to get up close with Tanner, but my own brand of feminism means that I can put my own feelings first sometimes – if other girls are flirting with the guy who I secretly like then that doesn’t mean that I have to be okay with it.

Tanner looks up at the dark ceiling, praying for strength. When his eyes drop back down to mine there’s fire in his irises.

“What in the hell are you talkin’ about, woman?”

“Don’t call me that,” I whisper, even though I secretly love it. “I saw you over there with the football guys.”

“For about five damn seconds. The moment those chicks started climbing up on our table I hauled ass as far away from them as fast as fucking possible. I saw you on the pole, got hard, and then I guarded the booth. I wantyou, Aisling, okay? I want to spend all of my nights withyou.”

I stare up at him in shock, blinking fast as the room sways around me.

Tanner narrows his eyes on me and then they widen, his spine shooting straight.

“Oh,” I whisper at his sudden increase in height, “now you’re like six-foot-a-billion.”

“Aisling,” he says urgently, one hand firmly cupping the back of my neck. “Aisling, are you…? No. Aisling, are youdrunk?”

I frown at his swollen pecs. “You got a problem with that?” I mumble.

“Goddammit Aisling,” he rasps, wincing when I peep up at him again. “I didn’t… I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have… hauled you up here like that if I didn’t think that you were–”

I roll my eyes so hard they almost fall out of my head. “I had, like, three shots of whiskey, Tanner. I’m a big girl. I can handle a couple of two-hundred pound hockey players.”

He blinks down at me, his big chest rubbing against mine.

“The guys… they didn’t try anything on with you, right? Before I got there?” he asks quietly, dangerously.

“So what if they did? Everything’s just temporary to you, right?”

Wow, I have really got to stop putting my heart on my sleeve like that.

Tanner shoves his tongue in his cheek, his eyes burning as they stare into mine.

“That’s what this is about?” he asks. “That’s what’s had you shit-scared for four years? Seriously?” His jaw tics angrily and then he curses, looking away. “We can’t talk about this right now. I need you to be one fucking million percent sober when we talk about this.”

I literally never want to have that conversation so I allow myself to tune everything out and bring my fingertips up to explore his beautiful broad shoulders. His muscles tense the second that I touch him but then he allows himself to relax, watching me warily from above.

I glance up at him from under my lashes and then brush my thumbs over his nipples.

“No,” he grunts, making me smile naughtily as he turns me around and begins walking us toward the bar’s exit.

I look back at him over my shoulder and his palms slide dangerously high up my ribcage. I arch an eyebrow at him and he grunts, stopping himself from reaching what he was hoping for.

“I’m taking you home,” he says, more to himself than to me, slipping his phone from his jeans so that he can text to see if Caden and Winter will be joining us.

Another thought twinkles in my mind and suddenly I’m laughing again.

What can I say? I’m a happy drunk!

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