Page 88 of Enemies with Benefits

Well, I guess I’d done that for a time, but sheesh, it had to be exhausting after a while. Well, then again, he had blocked it so hard in his head that he hadn't even been aware of his love of dick, so I guess I had to take that into account. Damn him for making me want to be nicer.

"Quit," he muttered, cheeks coloring as he ducked his head.

"Fine, fine," I said, waving him off. "I'll behave. Just don't act like that in the club, because literally not one person in that building could give a flaming fuck."

"I'll try. Just say the outfit looks nice."

"Here, I'll text it to you, along with a reaction."

"A reaction?"

"Yeah." I tapped away. "Here."

He eyed me warily as he pulled out his phone and opened my message. As expected, I watched his eyes widen, and he jerked back, pulling his phone closer to his chest and making a soft noise I could only imagine must be indignation. And yet he didn't lock the phone right away, glancing around a bit, and once he was sure no one had come running up to peer around him at his phone, he looked at his screen again.

"Yeah?" I asked with a soft laugh. "I guess that's a winner."

He cleared his throat, tapped away for a moment, and tucked the phone away. “Shut up."

"Deleted it, didn't you?"

"Look, am I supposed to be thrilled you sent me something you've probably sent to a dozen other people?"

I frowned. “I took that this morning. While thinking of...someone."

He was dense, but not so dense that he didn't realize I was talking about him. "Really?"

"Really. Thanks for assuming the worst, though."

"Well...I guess it's a good thing I saved it in a private folder no one can access before I deleted it."

"Mmm, if that's the case, maybe I should make you a video or three."

He eyed me. “You really just...roll with the punches, don't you?"

"What'd I do now?"

"You...it sounded like you were offended, and then magically you let it go."

"Iwasoffended. But it wasn't magic that fixed it," I said, stepping closer but careful not to get so close he’d beuncomfortable with the sidewalk still teeming with people. "But thenyoudecided to throw in that little comment about saving it, and I realized I’d jumped to conclusions and hurt my own feelings for a second there."

"Should I point out that I'm still amazed you have feelings to hurt?"

"Be more amazed that out of all the people who’ve tried to hurt my feelings, you actually managed it without trying...and then fixed it in seconds flat."

The words left my mouth before I could think about them, and I was hard pressed to figure out who was more surprised. Jace, as always, wore his thoughts on his face, and his surprise was obvious by the discomfort that followed, before it disappeared under his customary frown. There wasn't much I could say because, without thinking, I'd spoken the truth.

Somewhere along the way, he had become someone who could get well and truly under my skin. Well...he'd always found ways to get under my skin, but the difference was as vast as it was hard to explain, even to myself. There had been something about the way he was, who he was, that had...changed things in me. As much as he still got on my nerves with his overreactions and constantly seeing the worst in me, I had seen too much of the other parts of him. The parts that showed a man who cared about justice and doing the right thing, a man who was trying his best to break away from the legacy of his parents’ mistreatment and abuse. A man who was trying his best to find a place in a family that he didn't understand after being on his own for so long, and a man who I suspected, deep down, just wanted to belong...and be seen.

Huffing, he shoved his hands into his pockets and eyed me. “So...why did you have me come to your place instead of the club?"

"Well, pretty much figured we'd end up back here unless you plan on driving back to Cresson Point in the middle of the night," I said with a shrug. "I can get us to the club, no problem."

"Oh," he said, looking around. "Where are you parked?"

"Around the corner," I said, smirking because I knew what was about to happen. "But you're going to need something before we go."

"This had better not be a sex joke waiting to happen," he warned, making me laugh.