I growl at my thoughts, at the trapped feeling I’m getting. I don’t like inevitable. I don’t like anything I can’t control.
I’m partly relieved when I hear voices. On the one hand, they’re a welcome distraction. But on the other hand, I feel uneasy when I hear a man’s voice, one I don’t readily recognize.
I dress quickly and make my way out to the living room. I’m not at all pleased to see Cash’s friend Gavin sitting on the couch across from Marissa, relaxed and chatting away like he belongs there.
When I stop at the coffee table, arms crossed over my chest, Marissa glances up at me, causing Gavin to look up, too.
“Good morning, mate. Looks like Doc got you all squared away,” Gavin says. I couldn’t hear the hint of his accent from the bathroom, but now I can. It’s not thick, but it’s there.
His demeanor is friendly. But I still don’t like him.
I grunt in response. “What the hell are you doing here so early?”
“I was on my way to the club. Thought I’d stop by and check on Marissa.”
It aggravates the hell out of me that he’s not intimidated by me. He’s nearly as big as I am, so I wouldn’t expect my size to make an impression, but I’m a lot rougher than Cash, and I would think a guy like this might sense danger. And steer clear of it. He’s treading on thin ice right now. I’m not sure why his presence here irritates me, but it does and he ought to be smart enough to sense it and get his ass out of here.
“Well, you have. And as you can see, she’s fine. I’ve been with her. I’ll keep her safe. No reason for you to be concerned about her anymore.”
Gavin’s sharp blue eyes narrow on me. He makes no response, nor does he make any move to leave, which only further aggravates me.
Marissa clears her throat, drawing our attention to her. She smiles brightly. “Who wants breakfast?” she asks as she rises.
“We don’t want you to go to any trouble. I think I’ll just grab something later. I’ll follow Gavin over to the club. I need to talk to Cash, anyway.”
Gavin’s grin is playful, like he finds it amusing that I just cockblocked him. I don’t find it amusing at all.
Asshole.
Marissa just looks from me to Gavin and back again. No one says anything until Gavin gets up.
“You don’t have to leave, Gavin. And it’s no trouble to fix something, Nash,” Marissa says pleasantly.
“You don’t need any more trouble, Marissa. And I can tell you that this guy’s trouble. If he gives a damn about you, he’ll keep his distance.” I turn to Gavin, daring him to argue. “Right, Gavin?”
I’ve never been one to beat around the bush.
Gavin smiles again. “It’s funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.”
“I’m here to keep her safe, not to bring more shit into her life.”
“You’re saying that your mere presence doesn’t put her in more danger?”
“I’m saying I can keep her safe.”
If I’m being honest, I can’t say that I don’t bring danger to her door, because I probably do. But that’s different.
“I can, too. Probably even better than you can. Maybe we should just leave it up to Marissa.”
I grit my teeth. This guy needs his ass kicked. “That’s a good idea, especially for me. She’s already said she wants me to stay with her.”
Even though that’s not exactly what happened, I doubt Marissa will refute it.
Gavin looks to Marissa. “Is that true?”
“Yes, I told him he could stay here.”
Gavin laughs and nods in my direction. “Not quite how he made it sound, but I understand your predicament. A nice sheila like you will always do the polite thing. Just know that if you need anything at all, you’ve got my number. I’m only a phone call away.”
He already gave her his number? What the f—
He turns to me, all smug and arrogant. “I guess we’d better be on our way then, right, mate?”
He gives my shoulder a friendly slap as he passes. The thing is, it’s a little on the firm side. Makes me want to rip his arm off and beat the shit out of him with it.
I clench my jaw against the urge. Instead of acknowledging Gavin, however, I walk to Marissa. Looking down into her face, I raise my hands to cup her cheeks and bend toward her.
I didn’t intend for the kiss to be a chaste, standard good-bye kiss, but I didn’t intend for it to be so . . . stimulating, either. It’s like we’re combustible, like we have one default setting between us—fire.
Her lips are enough to make me ache in all the right places. The pain in the ass, however, is that I can’t do anything about it. Instead of carrying Marissa back to her bedroom and doing depraved things to her, I’ve gotta escort this ballsy bastard back to Dual.
When I lift my head, I’m surprised to see that Marissa looks angry rather than turned on like I am. Her eyes fume for a few seconds before she puts her hands on my shoulders and rises to her tiptoes to whisper in my ear. Her words leave me in no doubt as to why she’s mad.
“If you ever kiss me like that again just to make a point, I’ll slap the taste right out of your mouth. I don’t care who’s watching.”
When she leans away, she’s smiling politely, but her eyes are like sparkling firecrackers. If anything, I’m even more turned on.
I can’t help but grin.
I’ll be damned. She can be feisty.
“Fair enough,” I say before turning back to Gavin. I give him a broad, cold smile.
I hope that smug prick is squirming on the inside.
EIGHTEEN
Marissa
I’ve cleaned the kitchen, polished the floors, scrubbed my bathroom, had a shower, and given myself a pedicure. As I sit on the edge of my bed, surveying my bedroom, I realize there’s absolutely nothing I can do to keep my mind off Nash. I knew he would get under my skin; it happened almost immediately. There’s something about him that’s so familiar, beyond his being the twin of a guy I used to date. It pulls me in like a physical tie.
It helps that I was primed to latch onto someone like him. I wanted to get lost in something far from the normal, far from what’s expected in my life. I needed it, needed him. Still do. But I didn’t expect it to be this . . . intense.
Every few minutes, my mind will stray back to last night, to his hands and his lips, to his body and his words. I get all hot and bothered within seconds. And that’s aside from the sweat I broke while cleaning.