Avoiding Intimacy (13 page)

“Fuck, me, too,” Trey said, elbowing Darius to get out of the booth.

“I have to work, too,” Darius said, sloppily standing and reaching for something to steady himself.

“You guys should take a cab,” Adam told them. He was hardly even tipsy.

How had she not noticed that he wasn’t drinking that much? Or was he was just holding his liquor better than everyone else at the table? She was tipsy, but she didn’t think she was over the edge.

She had yet to stand up though.

Nitya stood, wavered, and then crumpled back onto the edge of the booth.

She started giggling uncontrollably. “I can’t stand up. Oh my God!”

“Do you need help?” John asked, standing and then immediately sitting back down.

“Yes!” she muttered, her head flopping backward. “I can’t feel my lips.”

Adam shook his head as if he knew that this would happen all along. “Come on. I’ll help you guys to the cab,” he said, scooting around John to help Nitya up.

“Chyna, are we taking your town car?”

She nodded, her eyes heavy. It had been a long night, and she couldn’t wait to get back to her apartment, even if she did have to talk to Adam.

“Great. Can you manage here until I get them in the cab?” he asked desperately.

Chyna bit her lip, debating with herself. She really shouldn’t be alone with John at the moment. Probably not a good idea
.
But, she wasn’t that drunk, so she could handle herself. She nodded again, hoping she appeared confident.

“Great. Hopefully, this won’t take long.”

Adam put an arm around Nitya’s waist and helped her to her feet. Trey and Darius leaned on each other, putting a hand on Adam’s shoulder to get through the darkened hookah lounge. As they exited the enclave, Trey laughed and closed the burgundy curtain to their area.

The only light now came from a single covered bulb in the ceiling.

“Chyna,” John whispered into the darkness.

She tensed and tried not to look at him.

She knew she should have gone with Adam.

“Chyna,” he whispered again.

She swallowed hard, wishing she had a drink so she had something to do with her hands.

He said her name one more time in the most seductive voice.

She couldn’t help but turn to face him.

“Yes?” she murmured.

“Why did you leave last night?”

“You know why I left,” she replied, resting her head backward.

She heard him move closer to her and could feel the heat coming off of him.

“Tell me why you left.”

“No,” she said softly, barely audible.

“You know why.”

“Chyna,” he said, pushing her dark hair out of her face. “Why did you leave last night?”

She sighed. The feel of his hand touching her face ignited a fire in her.

“John, please.”

“Please, what?”

“Don’t make me answer. You know why I left. It was time to go. Simple enough,” she whispered.

“It’s a simple question, and I don’t think that’s the answer.”

She could hear her breath coming out unevenly as she debated on how to answer him. “What do your tattoos say?”

“What?” he asked, clearly surprised by the question.

“You answer, and I will.”

He didn’t even think about it. “Deal,”

he said, standing and untucking his shirt.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, glancing anxiously at the curtain.

“Answering

your

question.”

He

unbuttoned the top two buttons and pulled his shirt clean over his head.

Chyna just stared. Holy fuck! That body literally killed her. If she had thought she was on fire before, she had been all sorts of wrong.

“This one,” he said, sitting very close to her and pulling up his left bicep, “says ‘to define is to limit.’”

Her hand came up and lightly traced the words on the inside of his arm with her fingertips. “You’ve said that to me before,” she told him.

“You remembered,” he said with a smirk.

“And the other one?” she demanded, ignoring her manners.

He turned and showed her the inscription on his right ribs. “This one says ‘What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?’”

“Wow. That’s deep,” she said, resting her hand on his leg. She reached across his body and traced the other tattoo as well.

His breathing hitched as she pressed herself up against him while her fingers trailed across the sensitive skin.

“They’re Oscar Wilde quotes. Just a personal reminder,” he said, lifting his hand and running it through her dark hair.

She moaned softly, her eyes closing as his hand pulled through the long strands.

She felt him stiffen beneath her hand that still held on to his leg.

“That feels good,” she mused.

“Your turn,” he told her. With both hands, he pulled back her black hair, making her face him.

Her eyes fluttered open, staring into those gorgeous hazel eyes that were mere inches away from her.

“My turn for what?” she asked, her feeling his body heat at his nearness.

“Why did you leave last night?” he reminded her.

Looking down at his lips, she finally told him, “I thought you were going to kiss me.”

He beamed that gorgeous smile and leaned forward, bridging the distance, and he pressed his lips to hers.

It was like the floodgates were opened. The sexual tension that riddled both of them cracked and then crashed apart. John pushed her backward, his mouth hot and demanding on hers. His body forced her back into the soft-cushioned chaise, covering her. His hands ran down her body.

Chyna gasped against his mouth. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to dig her hands into his dark hair and have him fuck her, but all sorts of warning signs were blasting through her conscious. This was so fucking wrong
.
So, so, so fucking wrong.

“Stop,” she said, breaking their lip lock and rolling away from him. Her chest was heaving up and down as she wiped the back of her hand against her mouth.

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

John didn’t look much better, except he was still distractingly shirtless. “What do you mean what was I thinking?”

“You kissed me!”

“You told me to!” he yelled back.

“Fuck that! I said I left last night because I thought you were going to kiss me,” she told him.

“Chyna, I don’t fucking get you.”

“What is there to get? I’m dating your brother, and you have your hands all over me!”

“You don’t even love him.”

Chyna came up short, her mouth hanging open. Who was he to tell her what she felt? How would he even know if it was true? He didn’t know her!

“If you didn’t notice, you’ve been a fucking cock tease all weekend. How many times have you thrown yourself at me since we’ve been around each other?

How many times have you eye-fucked me?

How many times have you leaned forward, licking your fucking lips and pressing your fucking boobs in my face?

Huh?” he asked, grabbing his dress shirt and throwing it back on over his head.

“Don’t have an answer? Yeah, let’s not even bring up you fucking kissing Nitya and looking at me like you wanted to have me for dessert. Do you want me to keep going?”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!” she cried, wishing he was wrong. “I’m dating your brother, and you don’t even care about that. Who does that?”

“Tell me that you don’t want to fuck me.”

“I don’t want to fuck you,” she said, placing her hand on her hip.

“Liar.”

“What part of ‘I’m dating your brother’

don’t you understand?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

“The part where you got all wet at my pool. The part where you pressed your ass against my dick when we were dancing.

The part where you kissed me back.”

“Shut the fuck up! Gah! Just shut up!”

she yelled at him.

“Cock. Tease.”

“Fuck off.”

“That’s all you want to do with me anyway,” he said.

“Don’t flatter yourself, asshole.”

John laughed and shook his head. “I hope you make Adam very happy,” he said, walking over to the curtain and pushing it open.

“You’ll make no one happy but yourself…if
you
are even happy,” she said, glaring at him.

He smiled. “I’ll let you think on that one,” he said before turning and leaving.

Chyna watched him walk out of the room, and as soon as he was gone, she crumbled on to the cushion. She shook desperately, unable to believe the argument they had just gotten into and everything that had just happened. She couldn’t get his words or his hands or his mouth out of her head. What had she done?

All she knew was that she needed to get it together before Adam got back. He would know something was up if she was shaking and near tears. He would want to know what had happened, and she couldn’t tell him yet, not like this. It wasn’t fair to him. Nothing she had done was fair to him.

She took a few deep, healing breaths, trying to calm her pounding heart, as she pushed back the oncoming tears. This was ridiculous. This was why she didn’t date people. She liked to fuck around, and it had always been okay in the past because she hadn’t been attached.

No matter what happened tonight, all she knew was that she didn’t deserve Adam, not by a long shot.

She was composed by the time Adam walked back into the room.

“Hey, John already left. He hopped in the cab with Nitya. It took forever because there were so many other people. He was blessed with perfect timing. You ready to leave?”

Chyna was amazed that her facial expression didn’t even flicker when he told her that John went with Nitya. Of course, he would go somewhere to get laid. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

“I think Carl is waiting outside,” he said with a smile, putting his arm around her waist as they walked out.

“Great,” she said, hating what she knew lay ahead.

Carl drove them back across town, and soon, they were parked out front of her building. Chyna slid out of the car, and Adam followed. Her doorman, Bernard, opened the door, greeting them warmly despite the late hour.

“Man, I’m beat,” Adam said when the elevator deposited them on the top floor.

“Working last night really wiped me out.”

“I’m a little tipsy,” she murmured in response, pulling her gold key out of her purse as she walked down the hallway.

“Yes, you are. Maybe a little more than tipsy,” he said with a smile, deftly extracting the key out of her hand and opening the door. “You should try to sleep it off.”

She walked through the foyer and kicked off her heels before padding across the clean white carpet. Chyna sighed, looking at the floor, and then she glanced back up at Adam. Here goes nothing.

“Adam.”

He followed her, yawning wide when he made it to the end of the foyer. “Yeah, sweetheart?”

God, she did not want to do this, but she couldn’t lie. He was too good for her, and she knew it. He might as well be clued in.

“John kissed me.”

The silence was excruciating. It was like the anticipation of the roller coaster ticking slowly up to the top of the hill before plummeting down the other side.

She didn’t know if she should speak and try to explain. Instead, all she did was stand there, staring at him.

“Come on, Chyna,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s too late for this.”

Of all the reactions, that had not been the one she was expecting. “What?”

“John didn’t kiss you.”

“Yes, he did,” she insisted. “When you took the others to the cab, he kissed me!

He tried to take advantage of me.”

Adam sighed heavily. “Do you really expect me to believe that?” he asked, glancing up at her finally.

“I do,” she murmured.

“This is my brother we’re talking about.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” she asked, flabbergasted by his refusal to believe her. She thought he deserved the truth, and he wouldn’t even listen to it.

“No, you’re not thinking, and you clearly don’t know anything. Nothing,” he said, enunciating the word very clearly.

“John is my brother. He would never do that. In fact, I can’t even believe I have to justify his behavior. I know him. I’ve known him my entire life, and he would
never
in a million years do this. Not to me.”

“So, what? I’m a liar?” she asked, her anger rising quickly. “I’m just your lying girlfriend?”

“I take a lot of shit from you, Chyna.

You get away with a lot of shit, alright?”

he said, a bite cutting through his voice that she had never heard. “But, I would be the liar if I didn’t say that you’re making this a bigger deal than it really is. You blow
everything
out of proportion. I don’t get it, but I’ve endured it because I care about you. You can’t bring this shit up when you’re drunk this late and expect me to take you seriously.”

“I’m not drunk!” she cried back, infuriated. She was tipsy. She’d had a few drinks, but that was it. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and Adam wouldn’t even believe her.

“Please, Chyna, I know when you’re drunk. Stop being a drama queen.”