Page 129 of Never Die for a Sinner
Now, the silence is maddening.
It’s my own fault. I have no one to blame but myself. He made it clear that he will never care about me the way I seem to care for him, and yet, I crawled into bed with him anyway.
The housekeeper and a man from one of the wealthiest families in the state.
It would be a great romance book plot if he weren’t such a dick.
“You know you don’t have to hide over here,” Alex smiles when he returns from grabbing us drinks. I’ve stuck to him most of the night, avoiding the area in the center of the room where people are dancing. One girl took her top off, and now the whole room is covered in boobs, and that’s not something I think I can partake in.
God, can you imagine the look on Levi’s face if he came in here and I was free-boobing in the middle of the room? It’s almost worth it.
Aside from that, the music is really loud, and I’m getting tired, ready to crawl into my bed in the quiet of Cross Estate.
Maybe I am a recluse,I wonder dryly.
“I’m not hiding.”I totally am.
Alex grins and holds out a red plastic cup filled with an electric blue liquid.
“Is thisWindex?”
He snickers, leaning in until his lips are close to my ear so that I can hear him.
“It’s punch.”
“But what is it?”
“Fruit. Vodka. Try it. You’ll love it. The fruit’s the best part.”
My mouth is dry, and thus far, I’ve only managed to swallow down one beer, which I must say, tasted like actual butt.
“Do you want to dance?” Alex asks. I reach for the cup, but before I can take it, it’s snatched out of my hand.
“She’s good, actually.”
I don’t have to turn around to know who that voice belongs to. The scent of whiskey and sin is enough. Despite myself, my heart flutters at the knowledge that he’s here, even though I know he will try to make good on his threat.
He showed up. That’s more than most have done in my life.
I can feel the warmth of him brushing against my back. The electricity that seems to flow through us makes it feel like my body’s attached to a live wire.
“I asked Ava,” Alex says cooly, his gaze locked on the man over my shoulder.
Levi moves closer, and I can practically feel the hostility flowing between them.
“And I answered you,” Levi says darkly.
I’ve read about this moment in romance novels. The part where the two love interests face off for the main girl. This is just like that, only one is just my friend, and the other has already made it clear he wants nothing to do with me, and I have never been the main character.
Why they’re choosing now to compete in their pissing match is beyond me.
—Or should I say, right over my freaking head?
“I’d like a moment alone with Ava.”
“I’m not leaving her with you,” Alex shrugs, and I swear, I could hit him for continuing this strange caveman-esque showdown with Levi.
“It wasn’t a request,” Levi counters, and a shiver slips up my spine at the warning laced in his voice.
