I cleared my throat and forced out the words that were the antithesis of what I wanted. If I was too much too soon, I’d only scare her, and that wasn’t my intention. I wanted her willingly, wanted her to feel the inevitability of this as much as I did.

“Look, I want to see you again. I want to talk to you. I want to know what makes your eyes so sad.” I took her hand and stroked the knuckles to serve as a reminder of what I could do to her body. “But, take all the time you need. You call me when you’re ready. I know you have my number.” That sounded cool and relaxed right? But really my brain was trying to think of all the ways I could make a call happen.

She nodded slowly. “Okay. I can do that.”

Those words were enough to make my heart do flips. “And, Abbie?”

She shifted her head to glance at me. “Yes, Alexi?”

“I had fun today. I’ll be tasting you on my lips until I go to sleep.” Yeah, way to be subtle.

Fuck subtle. She was going to be mine.

Lex…

“Do you want to tell me why the fuck you’re butting into my business you wanker?” I asked my brother through clenched teeth as I stalked into his office.

“Hello to you too, little brother. How’s the post birthday hangover?”

“Cut the shit, Xander. You want to tell me where you get off telling girls to stay away from me?” Not that I expected a straight answer. I’d learned years ago that Xander wouldn’t tell me anything, but I wasn’t in the mood to beat around the bush. Direct questions were always the fastest.

Xander leaned back in his chair and watched me warily between narrowly slit eyes. “It’s funny, she didn’t seem like a rebel to me, but I guess she is if you’re in here shouting at me.”

Tension and anger swirled around us, sparking like a charged electrical storm. Growing up, we’d both learned to fight, to defend ourselves to the death if need be. We’d both been taught to never feel helpless again. A fight would, at the very least, leave us both hurt if not worse. But I’d be damned if I was backing down. “Answer the question, Xander. Why would you tell her that?”

“The better question is why do you care? You can have any girl you want. Like Gemma. Stop messing with my students.”

I ignored him. “It’s none of your business.”

“Hate to break it to you, mate, but it is starting to be my business. You forget my fate is tied inexorably with yours. You start making new friends, and that starts getting very ugly for the brothers Chase.”