Page 20 of Sweet Addiction
Still faking it.
No wonder he’s so good at lying.
“Umm... have you ever watched Dillan try to decide what book to read next?”Lilah asks the giant asshole, and I hide my face behind my hands.“She takes her time. Reads every blurb. Looks at every cover. It takes her forever to make up her mind. No way she’s jumping into bed with you, Beneventi.”
Fuck me.
“Pretty sure there’s an insult in there somewhere, Lilah,”he teases her, but it doesn’t hold any heat. Probably a good thing since all the damn heat in the bar is rushing to my face.
“There’s more to the books than spice, you know,”Kaleigh defends me.“It’s not porn.”
“Kinda disappointed to hear that.”Ryker motions to the waitress for a round of beer.
“Ohh... I have an idea.”Lexie waves her husband and Killian over to join us from where they’ve been acting like they aren’t making sure no one bothers their wives, and a pang of longing hits me square in the chest when I watch the two men make their way over.
Lucky drops a kiss on Lexie’s head before he picks her up, then sits down with her in his lap, and she steals his hat and kisses his cheek. I don’t know how long this whole honeymoon phase is going to last, but please God, let it end soon for our sakes.“Why don’t you guys join us for our next book club?”
My heart drops.
“No... really. We don’t—”I sputter as my heart races.
“Wait...”Killian looks from Lilah to Lexie, like Lex just grew a second head, and I offer up a silent plea to whoever the hell is listening that the guys will think this is just as bad an idea as I know it is.“Like read one of the books?”
“One of the naughty books?”Ryker’s grin spreads like a kid who was just offered keys to the candy shop.
Lilah ignores Ryker and flutters her eyelashes at her husband.“I mean... I could get you the audiobook,”Lilahoffers as Killian drops an arm on the back of her chair.“It would be fun. You should do it.”
I try to stop the train before it goes completely off the damn tracks, but my stomach sinks when I realize I’m already too late.“Really... you don’t have to?—”
“I’m in,”Jamie agrees a little too eagerly, and I know I just lost.
Shit.
“Me too,”Ryker adds.
Before long, all the guys have agreed.
All but one.
The lone holdout waits until I give him my full attention. Those ridiculous navy-blue eyes waiting for mine.
I. Hate. Him.
One side of his mouth tips up as he watches me carefully. Daring me to tell him he can’t join us. He knows I won’t. But even now, two years later, it’s like he’s daring me to say something.“So what are we reading?”
My heart sinks.
“The new Theia DeLaurentiis book.”Kaleigh reaches inside her giant bag and pulls out the beautiful pink and gold book and drops it on the table. “A Crown of Stars and Ruin.”
ROME
Meet me at Crucible. I need to hit something.
—Text from Rome to Killian.
“What’s gotten into you, man?” Killian asks as we circle each other in the octagon. He’s been fighting less this past year than he had been, but he and I are still the best fighters representing Crucible. And if one of us calls, the other comes. Not many guys can spar at our level, and I didn’t feel like knocking the piss out of one of the younger guys today.
Frustration bleeds thick in my veins as I shake my arms out, muscle memory taking over. “You ever feel like you’re treading water, trying to get to the damn shore, but the sand never gets any closer?”
