Page 20 of Burn

Scarlet slaps her hand down on the table trying to draw my attention away from the firefighter. “Judah’s coming over here,” she whispers.

Judah who?I don’t even look.

Caleb’s eyes move away from mine to the distance and then back. “Is that the guy?”

“What guy?” Someone slap me upside the head. I sound like a fool.

He laughs lightly, his eyes dropping to my lips for the merest fraction of a second. “Your ex?”

“Oh, him. Yeah, probably.” Get this . . . I even bat my eyelashes. I’ve been brainwashed. Already. Show me a tattooed guy with blood caked on his face, and I’ll spread my damn legs for him.

Now do you see why I have all these rules and who not to date? By the end of the night, I bet we’re gonna have to add firefighters to the list. Pretty soon they’ll only be the guy at Starbucks who gives me free mochas on Tuesdays because I wear a low-cut shirt and he can see the goods one day a week. The shitty part?

I do it on purpose for the free coffee. I manage a hotel. Clearly I can afford my own cup of coffee, but it still doesn’t stop me.

I’m not expecting it, but in a quick reaction, Caleb grabs my left tit and sees for himself I’m not wearing a bra, his thumb grazing my nipple that’s something similar to those little pellet ice cubes you get from Taco Time.

I try to act offended. My game’s pretty weak. “Uh, what are you doing?”

Keeping his stare on mine, his tongue darts out and wets his bottom lip. “You want to make him jealous or not? Because another guy grabbing my girl’s tits—” He pauses and draws in a whistled growling breath. “—it’d make mecrazy.”

He growled. Imagine what his groan of pleasure sounds like. Fighting the urge to growl and paw at his face like a damn fool, I shift my thighs when the heat becomes unbearable and nearly fall off his lap. I’m a shit show. That’s all there is to it. Good thing his hands are all over me.

“What are you doing here?” Judah asks when he approaches the table, calmly, tilting his head to the side as if he really wants to know.

It’s all I can do not to break a glass against his head for being such an asshole to me. “It’s a bar, douchebag. Last time I checked you didn’t own it.”

Like how I added douchebag? There’s one thing Judah hates. It’s being called a douchebag. Maybe because he is one and hates to face the reality of it. Or maybe because he doesn’t understand how the term “douchebag” became an offensive cuss word. We actually had that conversation once, but it was boring so I won’t go into detail.

He knocks his knuckles on the table, his dark eyebrows drawn together in pain. “Let’s talk.”

I don’t answer. I’m not going to but Scarlet’s right. He’s totally fucking jealous right now, and all it took was me sitting on some random guys lap for five minutes.

“She’s kinda busy right now,” Caleb says, never making eye contact with him.

Judah doesn’t like this at all. And you know, I fucking love it. Screw him.

Tattooed hands slap down on the table as Judah leans in. Trying to be intimidating, he waits for Caleb to look at him, and eventually he does, but I can tell he’s uninterested and more than likely wants him to leave as badly as I do. “If we want to gettechnicalabout this, she’s still my girlfriend.” Judah darts his menacing stare to Caleb’s hand on my ass, then returns to the firefighter with the once again tensed body. “Maybe you should get your hands off.”

It’s not the reaction he’s hoping for, but I laugh in Judah’s face. How insulting! On his part. Not mine. How can he consider me his girlfriend when he broke up with me and kicked me out of an apartment I paid the rent on? I knew he was crazy, but this is certifiable.

“How so?” I shout over the blaring music. “I moved out. Actually, you kicked me out after youfuckedour neighbor.”

“You misunderstood me, baby.”

Baby?Are you fucking kidding me?

My face is turning a rosy shade of fuck you. What the hell is he talking about? Did the last ten years of constant drug use go to his brain all in one day?

Caleb smirks, nodding once and then runs his thumb over his lower lip. Pensive eyes dart to mine, then Judah as he adjusts me closer to his chest and says lowly, “Well, technically, there’s a pretty good chance I’m gonna fuck yourgirlfriendtonight.”

Judah’s jaw tightens as he shoots me a glare. I fight the urge to lay my head on Caleb’s chest and sigh contently as his words.

Instead, I wink at Caleb. “Your chances arereallyhigh.”

“Fuck both of you,” Judah mumbles, smacking the table as he walks away.

Caleb doesn’t miss a beat when he tightens his hand on my ass and mumbles into the side of my neck. “You wanna dance with me?”

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