Page 117

“Do we need to have itnow?” He sounded frustrated and I’d be lying if I said that didn’t give me a tiny bit of pleasure. He had no problem using sex to torture me, so why shouldn’t I try it too?
“Yes, we do.” I tried to push myself up. Having a conversation in this position felt a little ridiculous but he pushed me back down again and I hit the mattress with a huff.
“Lola, you’re killing me here.” He nodded down at himself to where his erection lay between us, throbbing and in desperate need of attention.
He shifted his hips slightly until suddenly his erection was poised at my entrance. I tried to close my legs, but with him firmly between them it was impossible, so I clamped a hand over myself instead, blocking his entry. Alfie’s eyes widened in a mixture of shocked surprise and childish outrage.
“I told you once that if you ever blocked yourself from me again you’d better be sure you meant it.”
“I mean it.”
He sighed and reared off me to sit back on his heels. His erection looked almost as angry as the man it belonged to. I shuffled up out of my missionary position and leaned back against the headboard, my knees pulled up to my chest.
“Fine,” he snapped, clearly wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. “I can’t stay here and long distance would never work for us. I don’t understand the problem. You don’t exactly have anything keeping you here, do you?”
“I have my family.” Even to my own ears that sounded like a weak argument.
“You can visit. Why are we talking about this? You already agreed to it.”
“No I didn’t, Alfie. You fucked a half-screamed acquiescence out of me and took it as a yes. That isn’t the same as me agreeing to it.”
“In your opinion.”
“Don’t be childish, Alfie. An agreement gotten over a barrel isn’t worth anything. You’re a businessman, you should know that. This is a huge decision. You don’t think we should have at least a little conversation about it?”
He merely shrugged as if he was annoyed by the subject. “You said you wanted to travel.”
“I do.”
“And I’m giving you that opportunity, so what’s the problem?” His grey gaze whipped up to me, dissecting my expression, searching for signs and clues that might help him.
“I’m not sure.”
“You’re not sure?”
“I just need a few days to think. Can we at least agree to keep it between us until I decide? If everyone knows then there’ll be pressure to go through with it and I just can’t deal with that right now.”
“Fine,” he snapped, and without wasting another second he grabbed my ankles and yanked me down the bed, burying himself inside me before I had a chance to argue any further. “But that little stunt is going to cost you.”
By the time we arrived at the pub, Keira was already several vodkas down. She squealed when she saw us, bursting free of a gaggle of girlfriends. Her arms reached out for me and I dove into them. I’d be losing her soon and, if Alfie had his way, it would probably be a long time before I saw her again.
Her too-tight dress was bright red and covered with polka dots. It was ugly as hell but somehow it suited her. My gorgeous friend had a knack for making ugly things beautiful.
“You came!”
I was about to say, ‘Well, of course I did,’until I realised she wasn’t talking to me but to the brooding man behind me. She shoved me aside so that she could be air kissed and congratulated. I imagined a sober Keira would have given Alfie an appraising eye. She still hadn’t forgotten about the trackers he had on me, but a drunk Keira was a friend to everyone.
“Drinks!” she declared to the raucous applause of our friends.
“I’ll get them,” Alfie said grimly and they cheered again. He made his way to the bar and the girls turned their beady eyes on me. I smiled and entered the inquisition.
I knew most of the girls there, and each and every one of them eyed Alfie with the shrewd gaze of a Russian spy. They were my friends, but at that moment, with each of them gazing at him like he was a lake in a desert, I didn’t trust any of them as far as I could throw them. Except for Keira. So far, Keira had made out with the bartender, two men playing snooker, as well as planting a big one on our friend Lucy who looked like she was on the cusp of a sexual awakening.
After having our drinks delivered to us by a barmaid for a healthy tip, Alfie chose a bar stool and took up residence there, close enough to watch me but far enough that he didn’t have to talk to anyone. He looked out of place of course, as he always did in my world. The other men at the bar eyed him with distrustful resentment. Alfie couldn’t care less. His eyes remained on me at all times, putting me in a constant state of awareness. I couldn’t stand still. I fussed with my hair, tugged on the dark green dress I wore, fiddled with the thin straps.
I was half-listening to Lucy, a sweet girl with a meek bob, talk about her trip to Spain, when she stopped half-way through ‘poolside cocktail’ to gape behind me. I turned, following her gaze to the main door, and found a lost-looking Riley standing there, scanning the crowd. I was about to raise a hand to wave at him when Keira’s head suddenly appeared over the crowd. She was standing on a table, champagne bottle in hand. I managed to duck just in time before it sprayed over the cheering crowd. I laughed helplessly as Riley made his way over to me. He kissed my cheek and I pointed him in Alfie’s direction.
“You’ll have to tell me sometime about how you managed to drag him here with you,” Riley shouted in my ear. I struggled to hear him over the cacophony.