Page 70 of The Ruthless Note

Maybe a different position will…

The boat rocks. She’s grunting and breathing hard, but my mind is with someone else and it’s not coming back.

Damn, this is some freaking B.S.

My body’s awake, but the rest of me might as well be sinking deep into the inky black water.

I’m tempted to throw this chick off me, but I’m not a selfish lay. I wait until she’s finished before I push her off and discard the condom.

She looks hurt when I grab my T-shirt, like maybe she wanted to cuddle or something. Ridiculous. I’ve never in mylifecuddled after sex.

I zip up my pants and the sound of metal teeth snapping into place is loud on the water. Moonlight drenches my head and the stars are close enough to touch. It’s a beautiful night and yet I feel empty and miserable.

The chick gets up. The boat we’re on wobbles as she moves toward me. She flails a bit, but she keeps her balance.

My eyes slide over her. She’s totally naked, her tits bouncing and her body looking soft and inviting in the moonlight. She’s all natural, which she made sure to tell me when I first started undressing her and repeated again as if she wanted to hammer me over the head with it.

Her fingers brush against my shoulder and curl around my arm. I jerk back and her hand falls limply. She’s hurt. I don’t have to look at her this time to know that. I can tell by the way she folds her arms over her torso as if she’s trying to cover herself.

“Dutch, I didn’t expect this to mean we’re dating or anything.” Her Barbie pink lips wobble. “You don’t have to act like I’m going to cling to you now.”

“Never said you were.” I march to the wheel and start the boat.

Damn.

I should have never agreed to do this in the middle of the lake. Now I have to stick around and have a conversation.

The chick gets dressed while I focus on the water. When she comes closer, I see she’s wearing that ridiculous shimmery dress from earlier. The thing is wrapped so tightly around her legs she can’t even walk.

She does a weird little hop to me. “I’m sorry about Christa crashing the party. I never invited her.”

The boat roars. Water sprays from the motor, slicing the waves as it propels us toward land.

“But you didn’t have to step in,” the chick continues. She must really like hearing the sound of her own voice.

My eyes remain steady on the pier at the back of her property. Just a couple more minutes…

“Are you dating her?” The chick moves closer.

I grit my teeth

“Cadence.” Her tongue slides over her bottom lip. “Are you…”

“Say another word and you’re gonna have to swim back to the dock,” I growl.

She clamps her mouth shut.

I tighten my grip on the steering wheel as a vein bulges in my neck. Yeah, I’m a bastard. But I’m not going to sit around and let her bring up the very girl I spent the past hour trying to screw out of my system.

When I get to the pier, I hop off the boat, tie it up so it doesn’t float away and stalk off. The chick is still on the boat, but she has two legs. She’ll figure it out.

My car is the only one still parked outside the house. I get in and slam the door shut, releasing a deep breath through my mouth.

Well, that was a freaking bust.

Scratching that itch only confirmed what I’d dreaded—I’m more messed up in the head than I thought.

I was hoping for a different outcome when I called an Uber to take me from Cadence’s neighborhood to this one. I thought that if I could find someone to vent my frustrations in, maybe the hold Brahms seemed to have on me would disappear.