Leyton understood what Max was offering him. He’d never had anyone stand up for him before, and he knew if it weren’t for Max, he would probably be dead already—whether it was by his own hand or his father’s. For that, he was grateful.

And that was the reason he felt no remorse whatsoever when he told Max, “Kill him.”

One shot.

That was all it took.

Ashlynn was lying on her bed, playing on her laptop when she heard Max come in. Her bedroom door was open, so she stared out into the hall, waiting to see him pass by her room on the way to his. Something had happened, she’d realized that earlier when the phone had rung and her father had gone apeshit, yelling at Max. Eventually, he’d calmed down and told Max that he’d get it taken care of.

She didn’t know what it was, but she was glad to see Max had come back in one piece.

Closing her laptop, Ashlynn was about to run to him, ask if he was okay when she saw Leyton. He briefly turned to look at her, and her breath lodged in her chest.

His face…

God. It was…

“Are you okay?” she whispered, unable to keep from getting to her feet and walking toward him.

As usual, Leyton shook his head and then started down the hall. Ashlynn followed.

When he went into the guestroom he’d used on occasion, she followed him inside and shut the door behind her.

“What happened? Do you need a doctor?”

“No,” he snapped, his eyes sliding back to the door as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m fine, Ash. You need to go back to your room.”

Ashlynn knew that her father would go crazy if he caught her in there with Leyton, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. So, rather than leave the way Leyton wanted her to, she closed the distance between them. She came to stand directly in front of him, her hands coming up to his face, her fingers lightly grazing the bruised and swollen skin.

He hissed lightly, his eyes locked with hers.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t,” he replied, his voice low.

With that knowledge, she gently cupped his jaw and turned his head so she could inspect his face more closely. “Looks like your nose is broken.”

“I know.”

“You should see a doctor.”

Another head shake was all she got in response.

When he turned back to look at her, Ashlynn felt something strange deep inside herself. She’d known for a long time that she liked Leyton, that he was cute and she’d started wanting him to talk to her. She had tried to make sure she was around when he came over, but lately, he’d hadn’t been there. When she asked Max where he was, her brother told her not to worry about it.

But she was worried.

She liked Leyton. A lot.

Her friend Amanda had told her she had a crush on him. Ashlynn knew what that meant because her best friend had a crush on a boy and they’d started “going together.” That part was a little more confusing to Ashlynn because they never seemed to go anywhere together, but they said they liked each other.

“Ash,” Leyton whispered, drawing her attention once again. “You need to go back to your room.”

She had the sudden urge to kiss him, and she couldn’t seem to resist it. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his softly. He hissed again but didn’t pull away until she did.

With her lips tingling and something strange stirring deep in her belly, Ashlynn met his gaze.

“Go,” he commanded, his tone harder, his eyes narrowed on her. “You can’t be in here.”

“Why not?” Ashlynn didn’t understand. If she wasn’t mistaken, he had kissed her back. His lips had moved against hers, hadn’t they?

“Because I don’t want your brother to kill me,” he stated somberly.

Ashlynn frowned. Why would Max kill Leyton? They were best friends.

“Please,” he pleaded. “Just go. I’ll be fine.”

With her heart feeling as though it were going to break in two, Ashlynn nodded, then backed out of the room, never taking her eyes off him until the door closed between them.

“He okay?” Max asked, surprising Ashlynn when he appeared suddenly holding a bag of ice.

“I … uh…” Ashlynn looked at the door once more. “I think he needs to see a doctor.”

“Yeah,” Max said. “I know. He’s on his way now.”

Ashlynn nodded.

“Don’t worry, Ash. He’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

Touching her lips with her fingers, she nodded again and then turned and fled to her room. It was then that she knew for sure she had a crush on Leyton Matheson, and she was pretty sure he liked her, too, but it would be years before she even knew what she was supposed to do with that information.

Chapter Eleven

She was real, right?

Present day

Thursday, November 5 th

Rock was standing by the bar on the main floor, keeping his eye on the stairs to the VIP section, waiting for Ashlynn to come down. He knew the girl would eventually give in and go see Leyton; he just didn’t know when. She was a stubborn one, no doubt.

Hell, they were all stubborn. Every last Adorite had their own way of doing things, and the only thing they had in common was that they did it whenever they felt like it. And for whatever reason, Rock liked that about them. They were a different breed, made their own path in the world, and he considered himself damn lucky to be part of it.

Standing up straight, Rock peered over when someone tapped him on the arm. He glanced down into the face of a twenty-something chick with too much eyeliner and more than enough red lipstick on her face.

“Care to buy me a drink?”

He bit back the smile. Some of the chicks in this place made him want to laugh. Some tried too hard; others thought that the guys owed them something. He was still waiting for that one woman who would catch his eye but make him chase her. It hadn’t happened yet, and he’d been working at Devil’s Playground for six years.

“Sorry, ma’am,” he replied. “I’m workin’.”

“I didn’t say you had to drink,” she snapped, rolling her eyes and spinning on her heel so fast Rock expected her to face-plant. Luckily, for her sake, she didn’t.

With his hands behind his back, he continued to scan the room, checking out the patrons, watching the stairs for Ashlynn and Jase to come down so he could take them to Leyton.

That was when he saw her.

What felt like a punch to the solar plexus threatened to steal the air from his lungs as he stared across the dance floor, eyes pinned on the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. And he’d seen some damn fine women in this place. But her… No, he’d never seen someone like her before.

When her gaze slid over to him, Rock swallowed hard, holding her stare momentarily while his heart rate kicked into overdrive.

She was wearing a white, formfitting dress that emphasized every single one of her delicious curves and accentuated her caramel skin. The back… Fuck all. The back of that dress should’ve been illegal. The six crisscross spaghetti straps ran from the curve of her amazing ass up to her shoulders, baring an obscene amount of flesh and making his dick jump to attention.

Her pink, pouty lips glistened in the strobe lights overhead, and Rock suddenly wished that every damn one of these people would go home so he could take that dress off of her. With his teeth.