Page 72 of Frozen Hearts
“She really did a number on him,” he states with a frown.
“Yeah.”
“You did the right thing. He needs to know we’re there for him. Will you manage okay, though?”
Tensing, I grunt, “I’ll be fine,” before shoving out of my chair and heading to my room.
Football games aren’t the only ones I’ve been avoiding. I haven’t been to a sporting event, period, since my football goals were stolen from me. But Logan is my best friend. He’s been there for me while I’ve spiraled out of control these last few months, picking me off the floor when I’ve been black-out drunk and cleaning my wounds when I get into a particularly nasty fight.
The least I can do is have his back while he mends his bruised heart.
18
RILEY
“Your admirer is back,” Ben comments after I step off the stage after our third performance of the night on Friday. He gestures toward the booths, and I follow his gaze past the open curtains of booth four to where Ruthless is currently lounging, eyes on his phone and looking awfully at home.
My lips dip in a frown.Dammit. I’d been hoping one weekend of bothering me would have been enough to satisfy him.
“He requestedme?” I ask, futilely hoping he might be here for tonight’s performances.
Ben nods, and reluctantly, I go to change and entertain myadmirer.
Although I still feel nervous as I approach him, there’s none of the clawing anxiety I felt last week. Ruthless is terrifying to look at. He’s built, his tall stature and bulky muscles meaning he dwarfs most men, covered in tattoos that scream unapproachable, and that sign on his forehead would have any sane person running away from him. Yet, I feel an odd allure in his presence. I know he’s bad for me. He hasdamagedwritten all over him, but there’s also something that piques my interest. That has me feeling at ease even when I’m confident that’s the last thing I should feel in his proximity.
I had a lot of time to study him while acting as his performing monkey last weekend. Had the opportunity to run my fingers along his chipped edges, to feel how worn they were, the sharp prick against my flesh from where they’ve been sharpened into weapons.
However, occasionally, I came across a soft spot. An unknown area of exposure. In those crevices, I uncovered a deeper understanding of this perplexing man where I sensed an unspoken similarity—an instant familiarity. Perhaps I was reflecting my own scars onto him, but I could have sworn I saw it…
His pain.
It felt so like my own.
So real.
Like veins of crystallized minerals carved into stone, pulsing with vibrancy.
A live wire ready to wreak havoc.
A land mine waiting to be triggered.
It was so raw, so exposed, I was tempted to reach out and touch it.
But I held back, recognizing that I could not weather the storm prodding him would induce. Ruthless is a bomb waiting to go off. One wrong touch and he will explode, whether he realizes it or not. I can barely handle the chaos of my own pain. I’m in no position to provoke him.
“Back again,” I drawl as I approach, dressed in a red corset, feathered skirt, and fishnet stockings. The outfit is finished with tall, black heels that take me from five-foot-six to nearly six feet tall and make my legs look endless.
At the sound of my voice, Ruthless looks up from his phone. Starting at my feet, his eyes slowly lift, pupils dilating with appreciation, as he takes in the thin strip of skin visible between my corset and skirt, hovering on my chest, before finally lifting to my face.
One thing I have come to recognize from working at Lux is when a man is lusting after a woman. And right now, in this moment, Ruthless. Wants. Me.
Of course, he doesn’t acknowledge it—our game wouldn’t allow it—as he wipes his expression clean with his next blink.
“You know,” I begin, “other girls here would happily perform for you.”
He smirks, the action cocky and sexy all at once. “None of them are you.”
The way he says it, I don’t think he means that as a good thing, and I tilt my head as I study him.
