The truth was I didn’t bother her while she was sketching because I didn’t want her to move, and I was perfectly content to just sit and stare at her all night. But then, she would cross and uncross her legs while biting her lip, and all I could think about was how I wanted to be the one to bite that lip. How wet I could make her between those legs.

I didn’t get up from my stool after Neil left because I was afraid she’d look up from her sketch and see my cock standing at attention through my jeans. If she were any other chick, I would draw her attention to it, but I didn’t want to send her running into the other room. I already felt her fighting off whatever attraction she had for me. The horrible truth of the matter is that I didn’t want to scare her away.

Because I actually liked having her around.

Somewhere, somehow, my anger towards her had turned to some sort of fucked-up affection.

Which I had to put a stop to right a fucking away, because any sort of feelings for her other than contention and lust would only get in the way of the plans I had for her.

She was afraid of me. That much was obvious, but there was a fire there, too, and the more she fought it, the more it turned me on.

The way her body reacted to me told me that there was only so long she could resist the inevitable. The inevitable being me fucking her until she couldn’t remember her own name.

It’s not like she knew it anyway.

But I did.

An unfamiliar nagging feeling tugged at my gut.

Guilt maybe?

I brushed it off. There wasn’t time to entertain any feelings of guilt. A better opportunity to get Max back was not going to just fall into my lap like this again. And in the meantime, I was going to spend my time with her as I pleased. In her case, that meant doing everything I had to make her warm, wet, and willing.

“Boss-man!” Preppy shouted, bounding into my studio with his pupils dilated, forgetting to blink like he’d just snorted blow by the fucking truck full.

“What’s up, Prep?” I asked, putting the finishing touches on the tattoo Pup had sketched for me. After I saw it, I needed it on my skin, immediately and permanently and for the life of me I didn’t know why. But after it was done, I felt like a weight was lifted.

“What the fuck is that?” Preppy asked, pointing to the back of my hand. I wiped off the excess ink and blood and held it up so he could see.

“It’s a tattoo, dumb-ass. Or did you forget what it is I do in this room?”

“I know it’s a tattoo, fucker. I just wanted to know why you were tattooing yourself right now.”

“You’ve seen me do it a hundred times so what’s the fucking big deal?” I barked, not liking Preppy’s third degree.

“What exactly is it?” he asked, leaning over my shoulder as I put a layer of plastic wrap over the top.

“It’s nothing. Pup drew it. What exactly is it you wanted?” I hated being short with him, but I wasn’t about to answer questions I myself didn’t exactly know the answers to.

“I came to tell you two things actually. One is that Bear called, and he overheard his dad talking. Isaac’s coming to town. He’s not sure when, just knows he’s coming. Got eyes on him though. He hasn’t left Dallas yet.” The MC had a long-standing relationship with our former primary source of weed.

“And?”

“AND I’m pretty sure he’s probably a little pissed the fuck off that we cut him out as our supplier.”

“I was locked up, and he didn’t want to deal with anyone but me. If he expected us to just do nothing until I got out, that was his mistake. We saw opportunity. We seized it. End of story.”

“Yeah man, that’s the way you and I see it. But Bear overheard his dad saying that Issac sees it more like a kick to his balls that he wants to pay back to us a thousand times over.”

“I’m not hiding from Isaac, or anyone else. If he wants to talk to me, he knows where the fuck I live. Now, what’s the other thing you wanted to tell me?” I snapped.

“Dude, you’re so fucking moody since you got out. You’re like a bitch on the rag twenty-four hours a day. The second thing I wanted to tell you is that I’m going to take Doe out on a date Saturday night.”

“You’re going to fucking WHAT?” I suddenly wished my tattoo gun was a real one because with that one sentence, Preppy was walking into dangerous fucking territory.

“She’s cool as shit, so I’m going to take her out. Maybe, a movie or something. The drive-in is playing some scary paranormal thing, and chicks fucking love that shit. Makes ’em all cuddly,” Preppy said, hugging himself with his arms.

“Like fuck you are.” Not only was he not taking her out, I got the impression that scary wasn’t exactly Doe’s favorite genre. The girl’s been scared enough in real life.

“Dude, I’m not going to fuck her. Unless that’s cool with you. In which case, I will most definitely fuck her.”

I stood from my stool. It rolled back and crashed against the wall. “Not. A Fucking. Chance.” The thought of his hands on her made my stomach twist.

“You don’t even like her,” he barked. “Besides, you don’t know anything about her. And that’s your fault because she may not know a lot about herself, but the little she does know you haven’t even bothered to ask her about.”

He had a point, but Preppy didn’t know that there was a reason for that, and I planned to keep that reason to myself for the time being.

“What exactly would you like for me to talk to her about? Because the where do you come from, what’s your name, thing doesn’t exactly apply in her case.”

Preppy huffed and linked his fingers together behind his neck. “I don’t know. You could ask her something simple, like maybe, how she likes her sandwiches or something.”

“Sandwiches. You want me to ask her about sandwiches?”

“Why the fuck not? Everyone likes a delicious sandwich, and talking about them is better than talking about the heavy shit you seem to be carrying around these days.”

This is why Preppy was my best friend. He saw right through me.

“I know Max is important. I know we need to get her back, but until then, you still have a life to live, man. And talking to the girl, who for all intents and purposes is living in our house, isn’t going to get in the way of that.”

That’s what you think.

“Have you even fucked her yet? I mean, the chick sleeps in your bed and shit. What the fuck is that all about?”

“That’s none of your fucking business,” I warned. He was crossing a line.

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll take that as a no. Maybe, that’s why you’ve been so fucking grumpy since you got out. Maybe you just need to get some ass. Get laid. Get all up in there before your dick shrivels up and falls the fuck off.”

“I’ve gotten laid since I’ve gotten out, so shut the fuck up about it. This isn’t about liking her or about fucking her. This is about me saying NO and you listening to me for once!”

“King, you’ve been my best friend since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, so listen to me when I tell you that you look at her like you want to fuck her brains out, but you treat her like she’s garbage under your shoe. It’s not cool, man. You’re the one who decided to keep her here, which wasn’t the brightest idea to begin with, so let me have a little fun with her for fuck’s sake.”

“This is about a debt that needs to be paid,” I said, unconvincingly.

“Oh come on! We both know she didn’t take anything. And since when is it up to you to dole out life lessons on who needs to pay for what? You some kind of life coach now? Besides, she’s not your property. She’s a person, not a fucking car.”

“That’s rich coming from you.” I’ve witnessed Preppy doing things that made even my skin crawl, but if he was going to throw my shit in my face, then I was going to throw his shit in his.

“Seriously, she isn’t yours. You can’t just take her.”