Fall Back Skyward (Fall Back #1)(93)

I shoot him a scowl. “Take your arm off me before I rip it from your body.”

He grins, undeterred by my threat then drops his hand. “Talk to me, man. One minute you and the girls are heading here in your truck looking all sad and shit and the next you look like someone took your favorite toy or something. Talk, bro.”

I down another shot and slam the glass down on the marble counter.

“I have to leave,” I sign, brushing past him and heading toward the door then stopping abruptly when I see Nor, standing a few feet away from us, talking to an old couple I have never seen before. Her cheeks are still flushed and her eyes look brighter than they have been since I arrived in town a few weeks ago.

As if sensing me, Nor stops talking, scans the room until she finds me. Her mouth tightens in obvious irritation before looking away. Simon appears in my line of sight and stares at me incredulously.

“You f*cked her,” he signs. It’s not a question, more of an observation.

My gaze flickers to Nor and I watch as the couple leaves, and my cousin Abe saunters towards her, then back to my best friend, but I don’t answer him.

“What’s wrong with you? Couldn’t you have waited until, say, tomorrow? Or at least until the guests left? This is some twisted shit, bro.”

“Fuck off, Simon.” I don’t bother to correct his assumption and head for the door, but catch something at the corner of my eyes. I whip around to see Abe leaning down, that dirty mouth of his edging toward Nor’s cheek. That same mouth that kisses anything in a skirt. Forgetting I need some fresh air, I stalk toward them. She sees me bearing down on her and takes a step back, her eyes wide.

“Abe,” I grit out his name, at the same time my hands circles Nor’s upper arm and I focus on her. “Can we talk? Please.”

She gives me an exasperated look then shakes her head. “Later.”

“Now.” I don’t give her a choice. I mumble “excuse us” and herd her to the kitchen. Most of the guests are outside, chatting with my parents or catching up anyway. The chances of making a fool of myself are minimal. I drag her inside the little alcove that serves as the pantry, and finally drop my hand.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she signs, her eyes greener and angrier.

My heart is racing fast as I sign, “I want to apologize.”

“Did you have to drag me all the way here to do that?”

I shift on my feet. Yeah, that was a stupid move.

“All right. Apology accepted.” She skirts around me but I grasp her hand, pulling her back.

“Cole. Stop it.”

I stare down at her. “Stay away from Abe. He is a womanizer.”

She stares at me, frustrated. “Jesus, Cole. He was not doing anything. We were just talking.”

“I don’t trust him.”

She blinks. “He is your cousin.” I grit my teeth. She rolls her eyes and smirks. “You do not trust anyone. You’ve been staring daggers at any man who stopped to talk to me or the girls.”

“I don’t like the way he’s looking at you.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Are you jealous? Oh my God. You are jealous.”

Yes, I am. But that’s not it. Abe practically sniffing around her has me seeing red. I can’t believe she can’t see it. My cousin is shameless. He has always been a shameless manwhore and broke every girl’s heart within a two hundred mile radius when he was sixteen. He looks like he wants to eat Nor alive and he’s just waiting for the perfect opportunity to do it.

I glare her down. I’m not even sure what point I’m trying to prove or get across. I don’t even know why I’m doing this. She is a grown-ass woman. She can handle anything.

She wrinkles her nose and I f*cking want to kiss the freckles there. Each and every one of them. “Move and stop manhandling me.”

I smirk. “I haven’t even started to manhandle you, Snowflake. I promise you if I do, you’ll be begging me to do it over and over again.”

Her cheeks flush pink as she opens her mouth and closes it, and then huffs and says, “You are impossible. . .ugh. . .what the hell!”

She grabs my face without warning, yanks me to her and kisses me.

Holy f*cking shit. I wasn’t expecting that.

I lift my hands, and slide my fingers to the nape of her neck, grabbing a fistful of red hair in my hand. I hold her to me as she assaults my mouth with hers. Then her tongue parts my lips, f*cking my mouth. She slides her hand between us and grips my cock through my pants. I jerk my hips, groan, walk her backwards until her back is pressed to a wall but she pushes me back, somehow flipping me around on my back and I let her. I let her because I know she needs this. I need this too, and for once, I see the little firecracker I left behind all those years ago. She’s still fierce and I love it. Then she pulls back, her cheeks flushed, lips swollen and eyes bright, breathing hard.

Shit. That was f*cking amazing. I grab her hips to pull her back, eager to let her consume me as I want to consume her, but she pushes against my chest with trembling hands, her chest heaving up and down fast.

“You think you’re the only one who lost something? I lost you. I lost my world. You were my world but I couldn’t let anyone destroy my everything. Not even my father. You, Cole, were my everything.” She steps forward, her eyes narrowed at me. “Stay away from me, Cole. If you’re ready to talk, come and see me, and I hope to hell your Batman won’t be doing the thinking next time. Pull your head out of your ass for more than three seconds and listen.”