Page 85 of Use Me

Ashtyn smirked. “I think we’re supposed to have sex right now.”

I nodded my understanding. “While I would love to bring you down to the bathroom where we fucked before, I think we’ve passed that stage. Don’t you?”

“You’re right. My future is you.”

“And my future is you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I’ll see you in a few.” She went to turn, but I stopped her again by grabbing ahold of her wrist.

“Talk to Abby about Kenny.”

“What about him?”

I grinned. “He wants us to hook them up.”

Ashtyn’s eyes widened. “He likes her?”

“I think he thinks she’s cute. Not sure they’ve even spoken more than a few words to each other.”

“This makes me excited. I’ve wanted to hook her up with someone.”

“Good. Go talk to her, and I’m going to get a drink.”

I kissed her again and then she left while I turned back in the direction of the bar. By the time I got there, I was already relaxed, but I still needed to process that the love of my life used to date the guy who beat me up in high school.

Ihad no idea why Rhys was acting as though he wanted to kill Corey. Sure I wasn’t all that happy the few times we’d run into his ex, but I never wanted to harm her. Well, okay, maybe I wanted to slap her, but I would never act on it. But Rhys had been in Corey’s face, and I knew in my gut that if they were the only ones in the room, fists would have been thrown. Rhys told me that Corey was a part of his past too. How? What could Corey have done that would cause this sort of reaction from Rhys? From what I knew about Rhys since we’d been dating, he was sweet, kind, and didn’t have a mean bone in his body.

I walked back into the room where the poker game had resumed. The table was full except Rhys’s seat, and Kenny looked at me as I made my way to where Abby and Clark were.

“What the hell was that?” Kenny asked me.

I shrugged. “He won’t tell me.”

The hands of cards kept being dealt as we all spoke.

“I’ll tell you,” Corey stated, stopping me in my tracks. “Bitch always runs because he’s scared of me.”

My gaze cut to Corey. “Scared of you? How do you even know him?”

“Yeah, man. Enlighten us,” Jett chimed in, acid lacing his words. “Tell us how you get one of the nicest guys I know all riled up.”

Corey threw some chips into the center of the table. “Your boy’s a pussy. Has been since high school.”

High school? They’ve known each other since high school?

Kenny stood, causing the chair to scoot back against the wood floor and tip over. “Fuck you, man!” He pointed at Corey. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Oooo, Kenny getting all feisty is kinda hot,” Abby whisper-hissed next to me.

With each word that Corey was saying, the more I wanted to be the one to get in his face. But, I was in the public eye, and I didn’t want to get fired if something were to end up on the internet, so I had to keep my cool even though I wasn’t.

“Gentlemen,” the dealer warned, “if this continues, I’m going to have to ask you all to leave the table.”

“He should be the one to leave,” Kenny spat, throwing his arm in Corey’s direction.

“Let’s just all calm down,” Clark stated to them. “Get the game over with, and when we dock, we can all leave.”