Page 49 of All Bets Are Off

“Thank you,” I force out with a certain degree of reluctance, because I don’t want to give Jameson the satisfaction of knowing I’m grateful for his help. I’m supposed to be tortured by his presence right now, rolling my eyes and telling him to leave me alone, stomping my feet and folding my arms.

Jameson takes a step closer to me, lowering his head to bring us eye-level. “You can think of a better way to thank me than that, can’t you?”

I raise an incredulous eyebrow at him. “In your dreams.”

“You’re scared,” he says.

“Scared? Scared of what?”

“Kissing me with your sister right over there,” Jameson says, nodding over my shoulder to wherever the hell Addy is in the crowd. “She’d kill you, wouldn’t she? Kissing the guy who’s too old for you.”

I swallow the nervous lump that rises in my throat and keep my eyes locked on Jameson’s, his gaze as challenging as my own. “I can do whatever the hell I want.”

He pushes his sunglasses up into his thick, black hair and edges in closer. The green of his irises is so breathtaking and the daring smirk that toys at the corner of his mouth is all it takes to weaken me at my knees. “Then do it,” he whispers. “Kiss me, Evie. Right here, right now.”

My eyes dip to his mouth, his lips softly parted, waiting for me to take them in my own. I return to his eyes, his gaze confident and commanding, because he knows he has me right in the palm of his hand. I’d have shoved him away by now if I wasn’t interested. Instead, I’m frozen in the face of his formidable presence, fighting all the demons in my head that beg me to close the gap between our mouths, to tear at his hair, to collapse onto the couch with him, bodies entwined. I so desperately want to kiss him again. The sexual tension in the air around us is so intense, so heightened, I feel suffocated by it.

“No,” I force out, and Jameson’s gaze softens with disappointment. “No,” I say again, slipping my hand into his, “not here.”

Tightening my fingers around his, I pull him with me. I’m running on pure adrenaline as I navigate my way through Encore Beach Club, Jameson close behind me, weaving through bodies. I’m not sure what I’m searching for until I spot it—a secluded corner that leads to a fire exit. Perfect.

I tug Jameson around the corner, spin around, then crash my lips explosively against his.

Fuck the tender way we kissed last night. This time it’s wild and desperate. My body slams into his and both my hands are in his hair, pulling hard on the ends. He takes my lower lip between his teeth, biting with just enough pressure to tease me, before his tongue finds mine again. He tastes like too much vodka and bad decisions. Grabbing my face with both hands, he twists us around and pushes me up against the wall, trapping me in place. It’s so hot, kissing this drop-dead gorgeous man under the sizzling Vegas heat in this private little corner of a bustling pool party.

Except it’s not as private as I thought.

“Evie!” a voice snaps, and my eyes ping open as I’m brought back to reality with a bang.

Peeking over Jameson’s shoulder, slightly breathless, I find Addy staring at me in disgust with her hands thrown up like giant question marks.

I retract my own hands from Jameson’s hair. Step out from in front of him. Bow my head in embarrassment at being caught. It’s like when my friends caught me making out with that guy I told them not to worry about in some random bedroom at a frat party, except this time it’s much worse, because it’s my sister, and that guy I’m kissing? He’s ten years too old for me.

“What are you doing?” she asks, but isn’t it obvious? I’m trying to do the hot guy who is the most insane kisser I’ve ever met.

“Having fun . . .” I answer.

Addy doesn’t appreciate my smart-mouthed response. Her perfect brows narrow into a sharp V. “I wondered where you were going, and it’s a good thing I showed up or you’d have had your hand down his shorts in the next two seconds.”

Jameson retreats from me, creating a safe distance between us, awkwardly scratching a hand over his stubble. I’m sure he doesn’t need Addy giving him any grief, but he can’t exactly get involved. This is between her and me.

“Oh, c’mon, Addy. Don’t be so dramatic. I’m an adult. I can do adult things. I don’t need you parenting me, okay?”

“I’m not parenting you,” she objects. “I’m looking out for you. This guy—no offense, Jameson—is way too old for you. There’s a gazillion twenty-one-year-old guys around this pool right now that you can go and flirt with if you want to meet guys this weekend.”

“Your fiancé just flew off the handle at you. You’re in no place to give me lectures about guys,” I bite back, and when Addy’s shoulders visibly sink, I realize that was perhaps a little mean.

“Evie,” she says, my name laced with hurt.

“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s true.” I shrug and take a step closer to Jameson, because right now, I’m picking the side of the hot guy over my overbearing, controlling sister. “I’m going to make my own decisions, so deal with it.”

“I’m not that old,” Jameson remarks, and Addy snaps her blue eyes toward him with a threatening look.

“Don’t even,” she warns. She looks back to me as she runs her hands through her hair in exasperation. “And where the hell is Theo? I can’t keep track of the two of you.”

“He snuck out of here with Hailey a while ago,” I tell her, “yet you’ll still say there’s nothing going on between them.”

“I can’t deal with all of this,” Addy says, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head fast, like that’s enough to erase all of her worries. The music pulses loudly around us. “You entering your rebellious era. Theo seducing my best friend. And if Liam takes one more goddamn tequila shot . . .”