Needing Her (From Ashes #1.5)(38)

I pulled on his hair, until he released my breast, and brought my mouth to his for a few seconds. “We have to get out of here. My brothers are going to realize I’m not with Amber and go looking for me.”

“I know, I know. Just . . . f*ck. I can’t sit there next to them while you’re walking around looking like this.”

Looking at him from under my eyelashes, I rubbed my hand over his hard-on and bit down on my lip, loving when his eyes rolled back. “Then what are you going to do?”

“Give me a few minutes, I’ll check my phone and tell them I’m going to meet up with a girl. Ten minutes after I leave . . . no, f*ck that. Five. Five minutes after I leave, you and Amber leave. If they ask where you’re going, tell them to another bar—and apologize to Amber for me for cutting your night short.”

“Her boyfriend is waiting for her at his place, she’ll be fine.”

With another hard kiss, Connor pushed away from me and moved my shirt back into place. “Five minutes after I leave, sweetheart. I’ll be waiting in your apartment.”

“See you soon.”

His eyes raked down my body one last time, and he harshly whispered, “Fuck!” before unlocking the door and walking out.

When I didn’t hear yelling from my brothers immediately after, I followed him out into the hall and smiled when he turned to wink at me before leaving the hall. I was so focused on him, I didn’t even notice the girl walking down the hall toward me until she was talking to me.

“Don’t fall for it, honey.”

I jerked back and looked up at the busty brunette. “Excuse me?”

She pursed her lips and looked back over her shoulder. “Connor Green.” She said his name like he was a legend or something. “I get it, I swear I do . . . but don’t fall for it.”

“Fall for what, exactly?”

“You think I don’t know you two were just in the bathroom together? This is just the start for him. He’ll call you ‘sweetheart’ and say all the right things to get in your pants.”

I stopped breathing at “sweetheart.”

“He’ll make you feel special for a little while, but then he’ll leave you . . . and he’ll do it without a second thought. Then he’ll move on to the next one. It’s what he does; I’m just warning you so you don’t get hurt.”

Tears burned the backs of my eyes, and I forced myself to smile at the bitch. “Thank you. So, so much. I’m glad you warned me before anything else happened.”

She gave me a sympathetic smile that was as fake as her breasts, and patted me on the shoulder. Walking quickly back into the bar, I found Amber, grabbed her hand, and began towing her toward the front door.

“Mini, where are you going in such a hurry?”

When I looked up, I noticed Connor was still there with my brothers, and he looked confused. “Go to hell.”

“Hey!” Dylan and Dakota said at the same time, but I didn’t stop.

“Oh my God, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Amber asked when we were finally outside and making our way to my car.

“Fine.”

“Maci!”

I choked back a sob and walked faster.

Once we were in my car and I was reversing out of my spot, Amber spoke again. “Okay, I saw him follow you, what happened? What did that f*cker say? I’ll go shank him!”

“He didn’t . . . didn’t. Son of a bitch!” I yelled and blinked back the tears. I couldn’t figure out if I was more upset or angry. “Gah, he didn’t say anything bad. He . . . we made out, it was actually really hot. This girl approached me after; obviously it was someone he’s been with, because she knows that he calls me ‘sweetheart.’ She was warning me, she said how he’d treat me and then how he’d leave me.”

“Well, Maci, you knew he’d f*cked random girls before. This isn’t news, and he said you weren’t one of them, didn’t he?”

“That’s what he said, but he called them all sweetheart. That’s what he calls me.”

Amber was silent, but kept watching me, until we made it to Aaron’s apartment complex. When I pulled to a stop in front of his building, her voice was careful. “Maybe he just—”

“Amber, I know for a fact that he called his random hookups that, because he didn’t want to bother remembering their names. I just don’t know why I’d forgotten that until tonight.”

“But he knows your name.”

“He’s also known me for years. Those girls he’d just picked up at bars.”

After a few silent minutes, she squeezed my hand and opened the door. “Call me tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Almost immediately after I’d gotten home and started undressing, my front door flew open, and I could hear Connor charging through my apartment.

“Maci!”

I’d only taken my shoes off, and I really wanted to throw them at him.

“What the hell was that?”

I turned on him and threw my arms out. “ ‘Sweetheart’? Really?”

Connor’s head jerked back. “Wait, what?”

“You call me ‘sweetheart.’ ”

“Yeah . . . and? Maci, you’re really f*cking confusing me right now.”