Page 56 of Overtime
I don’t love the idea of them having heart-to-hearts about me, but now I’m a little curious. I shake my head though because I can’t imagine Tobias is a good source of information.
“Because you’re so fucking good at relationships.”
“Relationships, no. Sex. Women. Figuring out what they want? I could medal in that if it was an Olympic sport. Fuck… Listen to me. Women like her are in charge all fucking day long. They make all the moves. All the decisions. Smile at assholes more times than should be humanly possible. When it comes to sex, sometimes they just want to get fucked hard against a wall by someone who knows what they’re doing to forget for a bit.”
“I’m well aware of what Joss likes. I just don’t want to fuck shit up where she’s concerned.” I can’t afford to lose her, not now that I have her back in some form.
“Well, bad fucking news. You’re fucking it up as we speak. She’s over there, chatting up Danvers and Oliver while you’re sitting here sipping a soda.”
“I’m letting her have her fun.”
“She didn’t come to this party to chat while you babysit her. She came to this party for the same reason most of these people do. She brought you here to be that reason. I suggest you go take care of it. Cause if you don’t, I’m not gonna let someone like her go to waste on Danvers or Oliver.” He grins in a way that actually makes me want to punch him, and I clench my jaw. He laughs in response. “Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought. Get. Your. Fucking. Girl!”
TWENTY-NINE
Joss
I’min the middle of hearing some diatribe about rules and referees when I suddenly feel a hand around my wrist. I look up to see Colt standing over me.
“Come with me.” He nods his head.
“Oh um, I guess, excuse me,” I say to the two guys I’d been talking to.
One starts to protest but when he sees it’s Colt standing behind me, he just gives a lift of his chin and goes back to talking to his buddy. Colt’s grip around my wrist tightens as we weave through the crowd, and I follow him.
“Thanks for saving me from that shitshow, but is there a fire or what’s…?” I trail off when I realize I’m not getting an answer, and I’ll just have to wait to see what my fate is.
We come to a set of double doors, and he opens one up, ushering me inside and then closing and locking it behind us. My eyes have to adjust because this room is darker but as I blink, I realize it’s a library. A substantial one, with a spiral staircase that leads up to a second floor and reading tables that actually have open books on them.
“What in the other world is this?” I stare at the massive space.
“Yeah, Tobias is a giant nerd. It’s his dirty secret. This isn’t where we’re going though.”
“No?”
He takes my wrist again and leads me up the staircase and over a catwalk, up another set of stairs to a mezzanine area that sits just in front of a massive window. Moonlight pours in through it, and I imagine this is how the library is lit indirectly during the day. There are a few big leather chairs sitting in front of the window alongside a telescope, and a bar cart. Whiskey tumblers and bottles are scattered over the top of it.
“I feel like we’re entering his secret lair where he plots his evil plans or something.”
“Just a place where you can get a birds-eye view of the party. And I can get some quiet,” he says as he walks me up to the glass.
I look down, and I can see all the people outside in the heated pool and hot tubs. It even has a very interesting angle into the pool house. I raise an eyebrow when I can see the view in there.
He shrugs when his gaze follows mine to the couple there. “You wanted to enjoy the debauchery.”
“Is this your usual spot?”
“I don’t usually come to these parties.”
“But you must have at some point, or you wouldn’t know this exists.”
“I used to. Trying to be a team player and keep an eye on Tobias because I always worry one of them is going to get out of hand. I can’t afford to lose him.”
“Right.” I nod, listening but partially distracted by the scenes out the window. “So you’d just sit up here and… watch?” I bite my lip, trying not to smile at the idea of Colt up here like a voyeur, sipping whiskey and people-watching.
“Yep. Until I got tired of watching.”
I don’t miss the change in his tone, and I can practically feel the heat of his body as he presses closer behind me.
