Page 9 of Ivy

“Do you know how to handle that stick, babe”? Jay asks her. She cocks a perfect brow at him and gives a reply that makes me burst out laughing.

“Baby, I can handle any stick I hold, but I need time to find yours before I can play with it.” She winks at me before Jay lunges at her. I laugh as I watch Jay take Cassie's mouth in a full and passionate kiss, making me look away from the private moment. Their love is evident in their kiss.

I set the cue ball on the small white spot and line up the shot. I bring the cue back, but freeze. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, alerting me to the presence of a certain someone who has entered the room. Staying in my position over the table, I scan the room until I find him.

He walks through the pub like he owns the place. Talking to a few people who stop him, they are all smiles. A girl tries to rub her breasts against him, but he casually steps back, surprising me. Luke would normally eat that shit up, but he isn’t acting like the Luke Baker I have come to know over the past few months. I shake off the thought, line the cue back up, and take a shot.

The balls go scattering around the table, hitting the walls of felt. They clatter as they bounce off each other, making one hell of a noise. I know the sound can be heard over the music. I cringe at the sound and look up to see if anyone is paying attention. I see Luke staring at me. His heated gaze locks on mine and I straighten my spine. A smirk graces his face and my heart skips a beat. What the hell is this man doing to me?

Chapter 5

Luke

When I heard Jay saying they were going to Sail and Anchor with Ivy tonight, I knew I wanted to drop by. I changed up my usual clothes for tonight. I decided on brown boots, with blue jeans and a dark green t-shirt under my dark khaki winter jacket. I scan the room for Ivy, Jay, and Cassie as I say hi to a few people I know. Trisha steps up to me and greets me with her tits rather than her mouth. I fucked up once when I stuck my dick in her. She automatically thought that because we had sex, we were a couple. Yeah, she was super pissed when I told her that wasn’t the case.

“Hey, big boy. Fancy coming home with me tonight?” Her tits rub against my arms as I catch sight of my girl bent over the pool table.

Holy fucking shit. She is beautiful.

I step back a little and politely as I can, tell Trisha to fuck off. “Not tonight, or any other night for that matter. Stop texting and calling me, Trish. It was a one-time deal.” I walk away from her before she can reply, watching as Peaches takes a shot and the balls bounce around the table. She looks up and our eyes lock. She stands up and my dick disagrees with the movement.Yeah, I hear you fella.

My gaze never leaves hers as I make my way over to her. I bump into one or two people and casually mutter an apology, but I don’t stop my steps towards my peaches. Movement draws my eyes from hers as a man closes in behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. I freeze on the spot. My heart picks up speed. Did she pull someone already? She won’t pursue anything with me, but she will shag a random bloke! I clench my fists and go to turn away, but I see the slight panic in her eyes. She tries to pull his hands off her stomach, but he doesn’t budge.

That’sfuckingit.

I charge forward, her eyes telling me she doesn’t want him to touch her. I clip Jay’s shoulder as I pass him to get to my girl. He stumbles back some and goes to say something, but he must see where I’m heading. I stop in front of Ivy and the guy attached to her and speak.

“You mind letting my girl go, fuckhead?” I grind out. My blood is boiling over from him touching something that doesn’t belong to him. Her eyes stay on my face, but I keep my gaze on the arsehole holding her.

“Hey, man, clearly she wasn’t here with anyone, so I made a move. I was here first, so you can fuck off now.”

“Mate, I swear to fucking God that you had better get your hands of my girl, right the fuck now, or you will be eating through a fucking straw for the foreseeable future.” I growl this time, making my point clear to him. Ivy manages to struggle free and comes to me, but the lad grabs her arms, pulling her back and making her cry out in pain. I see red.

A growl rips through me and I lunge for him. Luckily, Ivy steps back in time. I grip him by the shirt and lay a punch on him, hitting him square in the face. A crunching sound hits my ears, telling me I just broke the fucker’s nose, but I don’t give a fuck. I let him go and he falls to the floor. I lean over him, and the fear on his face is clear.

“I ever see you touching my girl again—fuck, any woman that doesn't want you touching her—I will fucking end you. Got me?” He nods his head, blood dripping down on the floor next to him. I turn to see people watching, but no one gets involved.

Cassie has her arms around Ivy and Jay is standing in front of them, protecting them. The look on Ivy’s face breaks my heart. She is petrified right now. She’s visibly shaking and tears are running down her beautiful face. I just hope she isn’t scared of me. That would kill me. I take a step towards her, but Jay blocks my path.

“Don’t,” is all he says. My heart stops as, his face is displays both anger and disappointment. I frown at him, trying to figure out what he’s thinking. Jay lifts his hand to stop me moving forward, but must see the hurt on my face from his action.

“Luke, I—” I raise my hand to stop him saying anything else. One of my best friends thinks I would hurt his sister. I look at him, my heart beating like mad in my chest at knowing he doesn’t want me anywhere near Ivy. I drop my eyes to the floor and take a few calming breaths. My eyes start to burn with the threat of tears at the thought of Jay, and possibly Dex, not trusting me with their sister. I can’t be here anymore. I can’t be around them and have them thinking this bad shit about me. I look at Ivy and see she is still staring at me, trying to read my thoughts, but my head is hurting too much to try and analyse everything that just happened.

“I get it. I’m gone.” I turn and walk away, leaving a little piece of my heart behind. No one stops me from walking out of the pub. I decide to walk home and sift through all the thoughts that are running around my head. I truly believed that they trusted me. They have fooled me into thinking I belonged at Castle Ink. I shake my head, my heart hurting at the possibility that I won’t be working there anymore. I can’t work with them if they think that badly of me.

My walk home helps me clear my head some. I need to figure shit out before I make any big decisions.

*****

It’s been five days since I walked out of the pub. My phone has been blowing up with calls from Dex and Jay, so I turned the damn thing off. Addy came around, banging the fuck out of my door, but my arse was too drunk to fucking budge.

I move off the couch and walk into my kitchen to make myself more coffee. I need a fucking truckload to shift this hangover. I click the machine and go about getting my mug and the milk, when the doorbell rings. I groan at the thought of who may be visiting me. I am in no shape for visitors. I trudge over to the door and fling it open to find not only Addy, but Cassie as well.

“Great. The Olsen twins. And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” I say sarcastically, leaving them by the door and walking back into my kitchen. I ignore them as they flit around, getting themselves a hot drink. I pour myself a coffee and turn and lean my arse against the kitchen counter. I half cross my arms across my chest and hold my mug close to my pecs.

“We are far sexier than the Olsen twins, fucker,” Addy throws at me.

“Debatable.”

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