Page 29 of Enough Isn’t Everything (Everything Trilogy #1)

Chapter Twenty-One

SEX, LIES, AND DISCLOSURES

Max wanted Italian food for dinner, pasta specifically. “You’re not one of those girls that doesn’t eat carbs are you?” I shook my head, and he piled Italian sauce, and the ingredients for a meatball dish into the cart.

He wasn’t a very controlled shopper. We had more in the shopping cart than we could possibly eat and would have bought more if I hadn’t called a halt and headed for the checkout.

Stacking our food on the checkout conveyer belt, we then waited in line. Max was behind me, so when I was finished, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back into him. I felt him stir at the small of my back, and the bulge in his pants grew to full arousal as he wiggled himself into place.

The effect I was having on him, turned me on. I turned my head back to look up at him, raised my eyebrow, and gave him a half smile. Grinning mischievously, his eyes filled with lust. Max placed a hand flat across my belly, and pulled me closer to him.

Lips curled into a smile as he dipped his head toward me.

“You see what you do to me?” he whispered seductively into my ear, as he continued making small movements to create friction between the bulge in his jeans and my butt.

I could have moved away if I’d wanted to, wild horses wouldn’t have made me though.

As we stood waiting patiently, he bent to kiss my neck before he kissed the top of my head and left his mouth there to linger. I was pleased that I could have this effect on him fully clothed.

Melting into his firm body, I felt good having his strong arms envelope me that way. I kept reminding myself I was in a grocery store and fought the urge to turn and kiss him deeply.

Glancing back toward the checkout operator, my heart thudded, and I inhaled sharply as the smile on my face froze. Alfie was walking toward us, groceries under his arm. From the moment we saw each other, his eyes locked onto mine.

Suddenly, I felt as if I had betrayed Alfie, being there with Max. I thought that’s what it must feel like to have been caught cheating. It was a weird reaction to have, considering what we had been to each other.

Max felt me tense and held me tighter, whispering in my ear, “What’s wrong, babe?” Briefly, I was reassured by the fact that Alfie always ignored me in public. At most Alfie may nod as he walked past. Glancing around and up at Max, I managed a small smile.

“Sorry, almost lost my balance.” I was glad I was facing away from Max and could turn my head before I let slip that I wasn’t being honest.

When my eyes reconnected with Alfie’s I could tell that this wasn’t the usual cool guy that would ignore me in public. He was staring directly at me and headed toward us, a slight sneer on his face and his jaw twitching.

My heart was pumping so fast, and my mouth was dry. I started to panic. Max must have sensed something because his arms held me tighter.

“Hey, Lily baby, how’re you doing?” Alfie asked as he leaned in and placed a small kiss on my cheek. His touch was electric. Max’s arms tightened their grip again as I struggled to control my breathing and sound calm.

“Hi, Alfie,” I said as calmly as I could, but I swallowed hard.

He wasn’t perturbed at all by the fact I was in Max’s arms. Leaning in, Alfie had the audacity to brush my hair away from my face. I almost screamed out loud because I knew my body would react. Alfie’s touch buzzed through me, the sensation pooling at my core.

Fighting my body’s natural instincts to stiffen when Alfie’s lips touched my cheek was pointless. I hadn’t wanted it to betray me while I was in Max’s arms. “Alfie’s studying music as well, he’s partly the reason Will and I perform together,” I explained to Max.

I closed my eyes and swallowed for a brief second, and as they opened Alfie’s eyes penetrated mine again. I searched Alfie’s face, wanting to know why he would do this. I felt Max’s arms relax a little. He hadn’t noticed any reaction, and I was relieved.

“Is everyone in England this rude?” Alfie asked, deadpan. “I’m Alfie, a good… buddy of Lily’s,” he informed him briskly. He offered Max his hand. “And you are?” His eyes flicked between Max and me.

“Max,” he said, curtly. “I’m a very close friend of Lily’s,” he replied, declaring this like he was staking a bigger claim to me.

Max reached out to shake Alfie’s extended hand but held me firmly in place with his other arm. The tension between the two men made me feel uneasy. Fortunately, at that moment, it was our turn at the checkout. I was relieved to focus on something other than this awkward situation.

Moving toward the checkout, Max relaxed his grip on me, which allowed me to place the shopping on the belt. I was praying that Alfie would just leave, scared that he may say something to humiliate me. Instead of leaving he became more vocal.

“I’m glad I ran into you actually, there’s an event that I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to know if you’d be interested in performing a couple of numbers with my band next month.” My jaw dropped, and he gave me his seductively sexy dimpled smile.

Alfie’s focus was completely on me now. Max was forgotten in the exchange between us. His sensual stare was so irresistible. “Some of our other friends are coming over for drinks tonight. Do you guys want to come, and we’ll talk about it then?”

I was still stuck on his use of the term ‘our friends’, when Max looked at me before mumbling, “Sorry, buddy, thanks for the offer, but we’re going to have a more intimate party of our own tonight.”

Firstly, I was annoyed with Max almost staking a claim on me in front of Alfie in that way. Secondly, I was also confused to see a fleeting look of anger and something–I couldn’t place what–in Alfie’s eyes. I saw his jaw twitch, so I knew what Max had said had gotten to him.

Max seemed to have missed this as he had turned to pick up the bags. Alfie reached out and his fingers brushed up my thigh, stealing my breath briefly. He grinned wickedly, his eyes widening, as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip and bit it slowly, his eyes now raking over my body.

Alfie had the same look in his eyes that he had whenever he had been undressing me. Excitement coursed through my body at seeing him act this way, and I struggled to keep my breath even. He could feel my heat, and I blushed. Alfie’s face was instantly passive as Max turned around to face us again.

I fought hard with the feelings that were coursing through my veins, as my thigh tingled and burned from where Alfie’s fingers had traced moments before.

My panties were wet, and I ached for him to touch me again. My thinking voice was screaming for him, but my face was a blank canvas. No way could I show him that I still wanted him. Besides, it was crazy, I was here with Max.

Max took the bags in one arm and pulled me close to him with the other.

“Okay, we’re done, we got to get going.” He excused us and led me toward the exit.

I couldn’t help thinking that Max kissing the top of my head, then nuzzling my neck on the way out was his way of marking his territory a little for Alfie’s benefit.

Alfie didn’t follow us, rooted to the spot as he continued to watch us make our way out.

Walking to the car, I was engrossed in what was in the trolley, but thinking of Alfie.

When I looked up, Alfie was leaning against his car door parked in the opposite row to ours, his gaze fixed on me as he spoke on the phone.

I noticed his fists were clenched as I got into the car.

Max stared him out and looked pissed when he got into the car, banging the door. His weight made the car seat huff as he landed heavily on it. His head whipped around to face me. “You need to watch that guy, babe.” He looked cross.

Sliding into the car, I didn’t comment. “Christ!” he spat out. “Does he always look at you like that?”

Pretending not to know what he meant, I lied, “Like what? I don’t know what you mean.”

Max growled, his voice cracking. “Like he wants to fuck you hard, Lily, like that look!”

I shook my head in denial. “That’s garbage!” I argued, trying to sound casual about him.

“Seriously, you don’t see that, Lily?” Max’s voice was so low with emotion he was almost growling at me. It was strange watching his reaction, and I tried to make light of it.

“He’s just an intense guy,” I quipped, trying to laugh it off.

Max became annoyed with my reaction. “It’s not funny, Lily. You are going to have to tread carefully around that guy. He’d fuck you senseless if you look at him the wrong way.” He shifted in his seat and hit over at the wheel. “Damn!”

Max’s words put me off balance. Alfie was only after sex, as I had been. The thing that was different about this was that he had engaged with me outside of the bedroom, and Max had seen his lust.

I thought Alfie’s reaction was due to not taking rejection well. I imagined his looks, bad-boy image, and charm made him irresistible to most women, and I had just dented that image. Watching Max’s reaction though, helped me understand why Alfie had ignored me in public.

Strange that Max reacted like that, and I wondered if his reaction was just that he’d recognized Alfie’s behavior because he had been thinking the same thing about me. They both wanted to have sex with me.

Reaching out, I touched Max’s arm in reassurance. “Don’t worry about me, Max, I’m a big girl, and right now, I want to spend time with you. Please let’s not argue about anything, least of all Alfie, he doesn’t figure. The guy barely knows me. Let it go, Max, especially today.”

Max came closer and kissed me softly, before cupping his hand behind my head, pulling me in to deepen the kiss. I smiled at him when we broke free, but I hated knowing that Alfie was watching while Max had been kissing me.

Trying to avoid Alfie’s stare, I focused ahead as I started the engine. It made me feel sick to do this in front of him.