Page 33 of Ravage

His eyes locked on mine, and my knees faltered a bit. I’d spent so much time telling myself Ravage was off-limits that I’d apparently forgotten one important fact.

He was ridiculously attractive, especially when he was pissed.

That didn’t change the fact that he was an asshole, and that he had no business telling me what to do. And yet, that didn’t stop him from demanding, “Go back to your game of pool and leave it.”

“Excuse me?”

Thankfully, neither of us was yelling and hadn’t drawn too much attention from the others. Not that many people were left to notice. As soon as Ravage came over, Chrissy slipped off to talk to a couple of the guys and left me to fend for myself. Most of the other guys had either left for the night, or they’d gone to the back with whatever club girl they’d chosen to hook up with that night. Those who remained were either busy drinking or too involved in their pool games to care what Ravage and I were arguing about.

“You heard me.” He stepped closer and kept his voice low and menacing as he snapped, “You’re not hooking up with one of the brothers.”

I glared at him, and then I laughed. Right in his face.

Not because any of this was funny. Far from it. But I’d finally reached the point where the alcohol had burned through whatever was left of my filter, and there was nothing left to stop me from saying exactly what was on my mind. I lifted my finger and pointed it at the center of his chest. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“Emery.”

“No.” I poked his chest with my finger. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to decide what I do and don’t do. You’re not my boss.”

His face grew even redder. “You’ve been drinking.”

“Yes. We’ve covered that.”

“You can barely stand.”

“I’m standing right now.”

His eyes narrowed as he snarled, “Emery.”

There it was. A warning, low and quiet, and it was meant just for me. And I have to say, it was pretty effective. Just the sound of my name coming from his mouth sent a shiver down my spine. I took a step closer, and in barely a whisper, I asked, “Why do you care who I sleep with?”

He stopped, and for a second, neither of us said a word. The music and laughter seemed to fade into the background, and it was just him and me, glaring at one another.

“Seriously, Ravage. Why do you care?” I crossed my arms and huffed, “It’s not like you wouldn’t do the same thing with one of the club girls.”

“You don’t know what the fuck I’d do.”

“Really?” I let my eyes skirt over him. “Because from where I’m standing, you don’t seem the type to ask permission before getting into someone’s bed.”

“This isn’t about me.”

“You’re right. This is about me.”

Something inside me snapped. Maybe it was the alcohol or, maybe it was the humiliation. Or maybe it was the fact that the one man I wanted to see me as a woman seemed determined to see me as anything but. Whatever it was, I was done.

I turned and charged past him, passing Chrissy on the way. While she appeared to be deep in conversation with Lucky at the pool table, she looked up with surprise when Ravage called out to me. I kept moving, and Coop was the first person I spotted. He was standing at the bar, talking to someone, and they both seemed pretty absorbed in their conversation. At the time, I didn’t care. Coop was my best option.

He was hot, but unlike some of the other brothers, he didn’t seem to know it. At least, he didn’t act like he did. He had an easy smile, kind eyes, and while he had a little swagger, he wasn’t overly cocky. I figured that was a good thing.

If I was going to do this thing, I wanted it to be with someone who wouldn’t make me feel like an idiot for not knowing what I was doing. I wanted it to be with someone sweet and patient.

Coop seemed to hit every mark, and he even smiled when I walked up to him. “Hey, Em. How’s it going?”

“Hey, Coop… It’s going okay.”

“That’s good.” Realizing something was up, he asked, “You got something on your mind?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.” I stepped closer, making sure no one could hear as I eased up on my tiptoes and whispered, “We’re going to have sex.”