Page 120 of Forgotten Prejudice

Placing my hand on his, I softly removed it. “What we did was a mistake, and you know it, Eiv.”

“You know, calling it a mistake after so many times is kinda pathetic.” He snorted, then ran his fingers through his bleached hair. While doing so, the white T-shirt he wore rose just enough to reveal a strip of his toned lower stomach. Remembering how fun dragging my tongue along those fine abs was almost made me agree to his offer. Almost.

“We can’t get distracted, Eiv. Not until this case is over.”

He pouted his lips, his finger circling the rim of his glass. “Is it because of him?”

His question annoyed me, and I looked down at my wrist, my eyes focusing on my wristwatch, slowly counting the numbers.

One, two, three, four, five—

“You know I don’t mind when you think of him while we do it,” he purred, leaning closer so his breath was in my ear.

I found it to be extremely annoying, so much so that it was hard to focus on his lewd words, and not even counting helped.

“You can even call his name when you come—”

“Enough,” I cut him off, my voice coming out rougher than I planned.

Disappointment flashed for a split second in his bright doe eyes before he went back to being normal. “Your loss,” he tsked while pretending to look around the busy restaurant.

“It is my loss.” I tried to offer him slight comfort.

Eiv was a wonderful, sexy, smart guy. Yet, he wasn’t for me. And while getting down and dirty with him used to be fun, lately, I noticed he was getting too attached, meaning it was time to stop. Resisting him wasn’t easy, not because I wanted him but because he so easily offered me the comfort I lacked. He didn’t judge me the first time Ashton’s name slipped through my lips, nor the tenth time. He even encouraged it, which was just another sign that this thing between us wasn’t healthy. Not that I was one to speak about healthy relationships. For years, I’d treated Ashton like a bird in a cage. My little Sparrow. And while he willingly stayed inside the cage, even when I kept it unlocked, it wasn’t healthy and clearly affected us both.

The atmosphere at the table got awkward, with Eiv still refusing to make eye contact. Ready to call it a night, Eiv stopped me by cocking his head in the direction of another table.

“He’s hot.” He darted his tongue out to wet his lips. “A complete one-eighty from you, but that would do me good. Don’t you think?” he said while I turned to see who he was referring to.

Eiv’s voice turned into white noise the moment my eyes locked on Kai, who was sitting with his arm wrapped around an almost naked girl, his lips on her neck. What the hell?

I was out of my seat before Eiv could even attempt to stop me, already making my way to that cheater’s table. I had no idea what I’d say once I reached them, but that was a thought for later because right then, I saw red.

“Excuse me.” Apparently, that was the only thing I came up with. I loved that now, of all times, was the time for me to be awkward with my words.

Kai removed his lips from the woman’s collarbone, or breast, to be more accurate, then slowly moved his eyes to me, a deep frown glued on his idiotic face.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snarled, his hands still wrapped around that whore’s waist.

“Me? What on earth are you doing?” I hissed, my rage splitting between him and that lady, who I was sure made some poor choices in her life. “How dare you toss yourself all over this cheap whore—”

“Hey!” she barged in, but I completely ignored her and went on.

“What about Ashton?”

His brows pulled close as he finally moved from beside her and stood up. “What about him, you dumb fuck?”

Shocked, I jerked back. “I beg your pardon?” My jaw twitched. “Who are you to call me dumb?” I crossed my arms over my chest, rage boiling in the pit of my stomach. “Is one bastard child not enough? You want another—”

The collar of my shirt was in his fist before I completed the sentence, and if it weren’t for Eiv, who came to stand between us, I would have already gotten punched. Not that I cared if it was Ashton’s honor at stake.

“How about we all calm down, okay?” Eiv smiled, forcing Kai to drop his hand from around me.

“I’m going to tell Ashton he’s wasting his time on a cheater,” I spat out, wishing this jerk would fucking vanish.

He laughed, but it lacked humor. “Ash knows I’m here, you OCD freak.” He spat out that word, freak, and as much as I would like to pretend it didn’t hurt, it did. But since what he said right before was more important than my pride, I pushed away my feelings and focused.

“What was that?” I hissed, unsure I heard correctly.