Page 25 of Dirty Martini
Because I once again acted like an idiot, and I have a feeling I’m going to pay the price.
CHAPTER TEN
Rhys
I fucking hate him.
As I grumble my way through work, getting ready to open the bar, all I can think of is Everest and the way he gets under my skin.
It’s been a few days since the whole headbutting incident, but I’m still stewing over it. My nose remains swollen, an ugly bruise forming on the bridge where the majority of the impact was. People at work have asked me about it, earning them a sharp look and a growl.
I’m not this guy. I’m reasonable, even-tempered, and calm. I’m not volatile and I’m certainly not violent. But of course, Everest is the one who brings it out of me. He makes my blood boil and bubble. Every single explosive urge I didn’t know I had comes out around him. He drives me crazy by invading everything. My life, my apartment, my mind. I’m slowly losing it because of Everest fucking Hill.
I curse him in my mind, slamming a glass on the bar top with way too much force. As he’s walking by, Butch raises a questioning eyebrow at me. When I shake my head in response, he simply shrugs and goes along his way.
Skylar and Britt, however, don’t have the same common courtesy.
“You finally going to tell us about that shiner you got there?” Britt asks, throwing me a look as she starts helping me set up.
“No,” I snap, then gently shoulder my way past her to get some more bottles of vodka.
Skylar scoffs and hops onto the bar, legs swinging as he props his chin in his hand. “Oh, comeon. Cass and I got to taking bets?—”
Cass walks by. “I didn’t participate.”
“And I bet on you getting it on with a daddy dom.” He winks at me. “All consensual, of course.”
Shaking my head, I snort. “You know I’m straight.”
He rolls his eyes. “They always are.”
Britt shoots him an incredulous look before turning to me. “Believe it or not, I’mactuallyconcerned.” She leans in to where Skylar can’t hear her. “You’re not in any sort of trouble, are you?”
I sigh, knowing they’re not going to let up. “No. Nothing like that.”
“Then who did it?” Cassius asks as he rejoins us, stepping between Skylar’s legs.
I wait a beat but then decide to fuck it. “Everest.”
“Woah.”
“Seriously?”
“Not the baby!”
Again, we all turn to look at Skylar, chuckling at his theatrics. Cassius shakes his head in humor, leaning in to nip at Skylar’s neck in a manner that’s way too intimate for someone who has a boyfriend.
“Rhys.” Britt snaps my attention away from Skylar and Cassius. “Are you going to elaborate?”
“He…” I trail off. I’m not one to go broadcasting my shit, not like Skylar and Britt. While I hate Everest with a burning passion, no one needs to know that but him and me. “We got into it and things got out of hand.”
Skylar wags his eyebrows. “In a sexy way?”
“No,” I deadpan. “Like in a I-fucked-around-and-found-outkind of way.”
“And you think that was smart?” Britt presses. “He’s Elton’s brother, right?”
“Yeah, he is, and no, it probably wasn’t, but the situation called for it.”
