Page 77 of EverGreene
“Was all that even necessary?” I raised my voice to just shy of a yell.
“He shouldn’t be touching women without their consent.” Loche shrugged, taking a seat in the stool vacated by Brian.
“Are you the bro cops? You can’t just put your hands on someone like that. You’re lucky he doesn’t call the police.”
“And what would he tell them if he called them? That he grabbed a phone out of a woman’s hand because he was butt hurt that she wasn’t paying attention to him?”
“How long had you been watching our interaction to knowthat? Were you waiting in the shadows, watching me, waiting to spring into action like you’re my goddamn savior? And what’s with calling me your girlfriend?”
Loche snickered, his golden brown eyes vibrant like honey in the sunlight. Being undeniably physically attracted to him while also pissed off at him somehow managed to piss me off even more. “That’s a lot of questions there, Nevermore. How about yes, yes, and if needed. As to your last question, would it be so bad to be my girlfriend?”
I hesitated, because would it be? At least Loche was willing to put an identifier on something, whereas V didn’t seem to be in any hurry.
“Oh, yeah,” Loche added, “the boyfriend, right?”
“Yeah. I guess.” Loche cocked his head, appearing as confused as I felt. “Why are you even down here, anyway? I thought you were working on outlining Conrad’s closing and calling the witnesses who are appearing tomorrow?”
“Damn, slave driver. Can’t a guy take a break?” Loche nodded at the bartender, who came over to take his order. “Whiskey. Neat.”
“Calm down, Hozier, it’s a little late on a school night for straight-up whiskey, isn’t it?”
“I’ve had to be around Conrad all day and most of this evening. I deserve this drink.”
“You and half the trial team who were down here earlier, it would appear.”
He glanced down at my drink before meeting my eyes again. “Rough day for you, too, then?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I normally have a drink in my hand at eleven at night.”
The bartender set Loche’s whiskey down in front of him. He lifted the glass to his lips, taking a swig and setting it backdown on the bar. “You know, there are meetings for that, right?”
“How’d we get on the topic of your weekend plans?” I picked up my glass, draining the last of the vodka cranberry in one satisfying gulp.
Loche inspected me the way he usually did—right before asking me something I might not know how to answer. “What is this dance we keep doing with each other?”
There it was.
“I didn’t think we were dancing. In fact, our butts seem to be firmly planted on these sticky barstools.” I moved my leg, only to find my pant leg stuck to the wood. “Most likely for the rest of our lives, it would seem.”
“You know what I mean. We bantered back and forth to combat the sexual tension between us, then we got to know each other, maybe even developed feelings for each other, only to go back to bantering back and forth again. It’s a continuous loop, and I have to believe you’re just as tired as I am.”
My mouth fell open, trying to form words my brain hadn’t settled on yet. Under normal circumstances, Loche would be balls deep inside of me right now, preferably with him taking me from behind in front of the full-length mirror in my room—not that that scenario had crossed my mind every time I happened to catch him bending over in the courtroom, or sharing knowing glances with me during trial, or just being in his general orbit, or anything.
“I know that you may not be in a position to give yourself to anyone, or maybe just to me right now. All I’m asking is that you consider giving me a chance and choose me.”
“That whiskey must be stronger than I thought.” My heart beat so fiercely in my chest I thought it was going to burst out of my body, which both excited me and riddled me with guiltat the thought that there was a very real possibility I may want Loche even more than I wanted V.
“Deflection.” The corners of Loche’s lips curved into a small smile. “A classic Ever move whenever you don’t want to answer a hard question or are trying to lighten the mood in an awkward situation. It’s your way of escaping when you can’t physically escape, but I’m not keeping you here, am I?”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. Loche had always seemed like a consummate observer. I just hadn’t realized how well he’d been observing me. It was unnerving, yet somehow hot at the same time, that he knew so much about me and had cared to retain it.
Loche leaned in closer to me, which did nothing for my heart rate. “Do you want to run away from me, Ever?”
I gasped involuntarily as though in that very second my entire body was succumbing to Loche. Speechless, I shook my head.
Satisfied with my nonverbal answer, he leaned close enough that I could taste the whiskey on his breath when he spoke. “Good.” He crooked his head to the side, drawing in closer. I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to surrender to Loche Greene right here in the middle of a hotel bar.
“Loche.” The sharp-tongued voice of Conrad broke both of our trances.
