Page 14 of Outlaw

“Why’d you do it?” I ask.

“Do what?”

“Come for me,” I say. He pauses, a spoonful of ice cream at his lips. He looks at me like I’ve just asked the dumbest question in the world.

“I had to.”

“But…why?” I ask.

He smiles again and shakes his head. “I can’t say.”

9

Christian

“You can’t say?” Claire replies. “What do you mean you can’t say?”

I shrug and savor the ice cream, crunching the little slivers of chocolate chip between my teeth. I couldn’t believe it when she told me this was her favorite flavor; it just happens to be mine too.

“Oh, come on,” she whines, poking me in the leg with her foot. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean I can’t say,” I repeat, causing her brow to furrow and her lips to plump into a cute little pout. She really is unbelievably sexy. We’ve gone back and forth enough already tonight, how am I supposed to tell her that I knew she was the one when I first saw her back at Ta-Tas? Yeah, that ought to go over well; she’s already scared just to kiss me. I tell her that and she’s gonna wanna run the fuck out of here.

No, despite the fact that my hard-on came back instantly as soon as I sat down in front of her, I have to take things slow with Claire. She’s a virgin, and not only that, is naïve about the world. I don’t want to scare her away. I can’t.

“You really are an asshole, aren’t you?” she asks.

I also can’t make her hate me in the process.

“Not as much of an asshole as your friend there,” I reply, hoping to distract her from me by shifting the conversation. It works. She drops her jaw and smacks the floor with one hand.

“Don’t talk about my friend! You don’t know anything about her!”

“I know she was the one who encouraged you to go to the Lions’ den tonight,” I reply with a shrug. “And any girl that would suggest that is not a good friend.”

“Look…” she says, exasperated. Is she really going to defend this girl to me? I’m starting to get annoyed. I wish Violet was here so I could cuss her ass out. “She means well, okay? Violet’s a little more…”

“Loose than you?” I suggest. Her eyes flash, but she doesn’t deny it.

“Free,” she corrects me.

“Free like you wanna be?” I ask. I already know the answer, and so does she. So instead of answering, she just gives me a dirty look and takes another spoonful of ice cream.

“How about you, Mr. Perfect? Mr. I-Like-To-Judge-People? What are you? Some kind of saint?”

I chuckle. “Far from it.”

“I mean – you were one of them. The Red Lions. What if I went and told everyone I know that you were just a scumbag or whatever? How would you feel?”

“Hey, I’m just looking out for you,” I snap. “If you wanna hang around with girls that give you advice that could put you in danger, then that’s up to you, but don’t expect me to just sit back and let you get yourself in trouble. Okay?”

Christ, this girl is infuriating. I can’t tell if she actually isn’t upset with her friend or whether she’s just arguing to argue, but either way, I need to take a breath. I jab my spoon in the ice cream and go to the bathroom and splash some water in my face. If Claire was any other girl, I wouldn’t be wasting my time.

When I go back into the main room, Claire’s washing the spoons and putting the ice cream in the freezer. It occurs to me that I didn’t even think about her taking the opportunity to run off.

“You didn’t run,” I say simply. She turns and shrugs.

“Not like I’d get far.”

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