Craving The Player (Amateurs In Love Book 1)(30)
Chapter Thirteen
Sierra
Fuck Braden and his ability to yank me around by a set of puppet strings.
Every single ounce of my self-control is yanked from my grasp the minute he opens his mouth, leaving me with nothing more than crushed dignity and wet panties. It’s embarrassing—down right scarring for my self esteem.
He’s dangerous. An all too tempting distraction that I can’t afford right now. Or ever. The air between us becomes so charged with sexual want and attraction that I can’t manage to keep any sort of boundary up. When I try he just kicks it over, smiling that arrogant grin the entire time.
When I was with Logan, there was always an attraction there. But it never sizzled in the air, danced on my skin, or expanded in my chest until I couldn’t damn well breathe. We were together for what feels like forever, having met when I was only eighteen and he was twenty-one. It was a few years before we moved from friends to being in a romantic relationship, but it was a sudden change. I always assumed that we had a strong sexual connection, a shared lust for one another, but now, I’m positive that we never did. What we had was comfort and trust—a shared responsibility to take care of each other’s sexual needs and wants. How utterly disappointing.
I can feel Braden’s heated gaze on my back as I walk back to my table. My bottom lip slips between my teeth as I sway my hips more dramatically, knowing full well that he was already rock hard when I left him standing there. He deserves to be teased. After all, he did accuse me of being a prostitute.
Lauren is the first one to notice me when I reach the table.
“Oh, Cole. Sienna came back,” she cheers sarcastically, toying with the lipstick coated straw between her long fingernails.
Cole’s eyes meet mine when he spins around. “We were just about to send a search party after you.” He laughs. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just a long line.” A very, very long one.
I cock a brow at the two girls when they don’t move to make room for me and mumble under their breath instead. The snickers they both make in response to my growing anger only results in the snapping of my last strand of patience as I shake my head.
“Okay. What the hell is you—”
“Baby? What are you doing here?”
I bite my tongue and whip around to stare at Braden as he walks up beside me and confidently slides his hand around my waist, pulling me flush up against his side. He’s so tall that I have to tilt my head to meet his stare as he settles beside me, palming my hip with splayed fingers. There’s amusement in his eyes, like this is all pure comedy to him, and it has my shoulders relaxing. His lips stretch in a boyish grin that makes my body move closer to his and my arm hook around his torso, squeezing him once in an effort to say thank you.
When someone clears their throat, I blink twice before following the noise. Cole doesn’t look away from the large hand splayed across my hip, but doesn’t seem to buy into the touch either. I find myself leaning slightly into Braden—beginning to feel uncomfortable under Cole’s intense, almost scrutinizing gaze.
“Is this the boss that you were telling me about? It’s so great to meet you, Colt,” Braden speaks up again, covering for my mute ass. He must have heard Lauren use Cole’s name earlier.
“It’s Cole,” Cole corrects him when he finally tears his eyes from my body and dares to take his chances eyeing up Braden. “And who are you? I don’t think Sierra has ever mentioned you.”
The arrogance in his tone rubs my skin like a fresh sheet of sandpaper.
“I’m the boyfriend.” The words are spoken with enough confidence to make a fierce wave of unrelenting butterflies bounce around my stomach. I melt into his side and drop my eyes to the floor.
“You’re her boyfriend? For real?” I hear Tiffany mock, the humour in her tone punching at my bruised ego, leaving behind a dull ache.
“Yeah? What about it?” Braden asks in a low, threatening voice, not missing the obvious insult. I want nothing more than to jump over the restricting mental ropes holding me back from tearing this bitch a new asshole. But these are my coworkers. I can’t do anything that could ultimately hurt my career. I’ve worked too hard to throw it all away over a few rude comments.
The taste of blood rings in my mouth before I notice that I’ve been biting down on my tongue. I need to get out of here. With a shaking hand, I tug on Braden’s belt loop. His breath fans across the top of my head as I peek up at him and meet his concerned stare with a pleading one. Please take the hint.
The top of my head is cold again as Braden looks away, clearing his throat. “You guys wouldn’t mind if I took Sierra home, would you? My mom’s actually expecting us for dinner.”
I send a forced, yet gentle smile to the group and fiddle with the strap of my purse. Catching the glare Tiffany’s shooting at me from across the table, I let my teeth latch back onto my tongue.
“Yeah, no problem,” Cole clears his throat. “See you tomorrow.” The last words are spit through a clenched jaw as he watches Braden plant a kiss on my head.
“Yeah. See you all tomorrow.” I lift my lips higher, raising my hand in a subtle wave.
I feel Braden’s hand slide into mine, our fingers interlocking as he looks down at me curiously, a softness in his eyes that I haven’t seen before. It looks a lot like pity, but it feels the opposite. “So nice to meet you, Colt. Have a good one.”