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“What?” I growled.

My dismissive tone made her nostrils flare and her eyes narrow, and dammit if I couldn’t stop staring at her pretty pink lips pressed into a tight line.

“What the hell was that all about?” she snapped, mimicking my stance with her arms crossed and looking me dead in the eye.

I dragged my eyes away from her and dropped my arms as I walked past her, needing desperately to get out from under her penetrating blue gaze. “What are you talking about?”

She jutted her hips to one side and let out a growl that was entirely too cute.

“With Kendall! With all this hot and cold bullshit!” she shouted, and I noticed that the rest of the room had cleared out, too. I was alone to suffer her wrath. “First, you’re angry at the way he helped me in Defense… Like it’s any of your business.”

I gave a derisive laugh and shrugged. “I just don’t think Kendall is the right person to be teaching anyone defense.”

My blood began to simmer at the memory of it. Kendall’s hands on her hips, her body pressed up against his.

Anger escaped me in the form of bitter words before I could shut it down. “But then again, I don’t think that’s the reason you were letting him put his hands all over you.”

Her blue eyes widened with rage, and she stepped closer, getting into my personal space. For some inexplicable reason, my heart was racing with actual fear, but I refused to so much as flinch.

“Why the hell is it any of your business whose hands are on me?” she demanded. “You treat me like I’m the last person you would piss on if the world was on fire.”

I snickered at her colorful analogy, but inside, I was arguing with myself over the same thing. Why did I care if Kendall used the excuse of teaching her a defense maneuver to rub his dick up against her? Why did the thought of him rubbing it anywhere near her make me want to rip him apart with my bare hands?

I didn’twantto want her. I hated that the way she was glaring up at me made me want to bend her over this pool table and make her forget all about fish boy. If I were smart, I’d just let him have her. If I were smart, I’d just walk away.

But I couldn’t do that either.

“You think that’s funny?” she snapped.

“I just didn’t know you were into golden showers,” I teased with a shrug. “I bet Ken Doll is into that, too.”

She shifted her weight onto her other hip, biting her lip in frustration as she shook her head. “If you care so little about it, then why did you barge in on me and Kendall outside?”

Her question threw me off guard, especially as her teeth scraping across her lower lip made me wonder if it was as soft as it looked.

My eyes snapped back to hers, my tone cooling. “You were crying. I thought he hurt you. Any guy would care if his female friend was crying. I’m not a complete asshole.”

“I beg to differ,” she mumbled. “So, I’m your friend now, am I?”

“Yes?” I answered, my tone turning questioning because I didn’t know if that was what she wanted to hear or not. “Why do you think I invited you to this party?”

Her cheeks reddened, and she looked down, her brow pinching, and my gut twisted with guilt that I tried like hell to banish.

“Look, whatever,” she said, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. “The point is, I can take care of myself,friend.”

Ouch, that word stung.

“I don’t need you to come to my rescue, or tell me who to spend my time with,” she continued, so close to me now that I could feel her sweet, cool breath on my face. “So next time you want to look like a big man and defend someone, find a different damsel to distress.”

We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, neither of us able to break the glare our eyes were locked in. The tension between us was so tight, like a spring whose stretch had reached its limit, its recoil imminent.

Before I knew what I was doing, I gripped her hips and vanquished the space between us with one firm tug. I crushed my lips against hers, her scent, her heat, filling every one of my senses and making the rest of the world fall away.

Her small hands pushed against my chest for the briefest moment until, finally, she melted against me, surrendering to the blazing inferno that threatened to swallow us both. Her lips parted with a soft whimper, inviting me in, and I greedily seized the opportunity to taste her in every way I could. I sunk my tongue into her delicious mouth, conquering hers with every ounce of passion I could no longer restrain.

She kissed me back with just as much force, her lips pressing, her teeth grazing, her tongue savoring in long, languid strokes. And when her hands slid down my chest and raked at my waist to press me even harder against her,fuckif I didn’t lose all sense of self-control.

“Tobias,” she whispered, a plea, a prayer.