Page 13 of Finding Us
That movement has her red hoodie sliding back off her head slightly, revealing some of her blonde hair. Fuck, she’s stunning and exactly my type. I immediately rein in that thought, my sole focus right now is my son. Once upon a time I would’ve been all over this, but I’m not that man anymore.
“Here,” I say, holding out her belongings.
“Thanks,” she snaps, snatching them out of my hand. If it was anyone else, I’d consider that movement rude, but for some reason, her attitude turns me on. She looks down at her hand, and I find my eyes gravitating there as well. I inwardly cringe when I see her phone. “Great, you cracked my screen you … you—” Her gaze briefly moves down the length of my body. “—big baboon.”
I bark out a laugh. I’m not sure why, but that insult amuses me to no end. “Wow, you sure are a little spitfire … and for the record, your cracked screen is in no way my fault.”
“You ran into me!” she screeches.
“I’m pretty sure it was the other way around, sweetheart.”
My amusement grows when her hands go straight to her hips and those plump lips of hers pucker. It’s a mouth that’s made for trouble. “Don’t call me sweetheart, you condescending jerk.”
“Condescending?” I ignore the part where she called me a jerk. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’tsweethearta term of endearment?”
“Not when you say it all thug like.”
“Thug like?”
“Yes, with all your tattoos and smug good looks,” she says, motioning her hand up and down in front of me. “It screams thug.”
“Now who’s being condescending … and may I add judgemental? If anyone is the bad guy in this situation, I’m pretty sure it’s you, Red.”
“Red?”
“Since you have failed to tell me you name—”
“Which I have no intention of doing,” she says, cutting me off.
I arch an eyebrow before continuing. “Like I was saying, since I don’t know your name, and I can’t call you sweetheart, I’m going with red.” I reach for the drawstring of her hoodie, and she flinches slightly when I do. Although it concerns me, because I’ve witnessed Blake do the same thing, it doesn’t seem to perturb me. “You remind me of Little Red Riding Hood in this,” I say, tugging on the string.
“That would make you the Big Bad Wolf then … which seems fitting I might add.”
I smirk at her smug smile because she just walked right into that one. “Does that mean I get to eat you then?” I lick my lips as I take a step towards her.
When she gasps, I bark out a laugh. My laughter only grows when she stomps on my foot and growls, “You can eat a bag of dicks,” before storming away.
I feel instantly disappointed, I was enjoying the back-and-forth we had going on.
Turning my head, my eyes take her in from behind as she heads towards the gym. Interesting, I’ve never seen her in there before, and she has the kind of face you don’t forget in a hurry. Her tight little body is rocking those body-hugging jeans despite the round wet patch now covering her arse—it has my traitorous cock twitching in my pants. Damn this celibacy crusade I’m on.
“It was lovely meeting you, Red,” I call out as she pushes through the gym door.The highlight of my day actually.When she flips me the bird over her shoulder, the smile on my face grows.
If I didn’t have to go pick up my son, I’d most definitely follow her back in there for round two.
Chapter5
Jacinta
Ugh. Could that guy have been any more annoying? The hide of him … I know exactly where he was going with that‘eat me’comment, and he didn’t mean with a knife and fork. I’m choosing to ignore the little flutter I got in my stomach when he said that though. I’m not interested in anything more from him, or any man for that matter. I’m quite happy living my drama-free,safe, single life.
The sheer size of that tattooed man mountain should’ve been enough to scare me off, but for some reason, I wasn’t intimidated by him, or his appearance. I usually avoid confrontation, but that didn’t deter me from taking him on head-to-head. Not only was that uncharacteristic of me, it was a foolish move on my part. He could’ve been a roid-rager for all I knew. He was pretty buffed and clearly just came from the gym.
The adrenaline coursing through my body has my hands shaking as I look down at my poor cracked screen and feel tears burn the back of my eyes. I only got this phone for Christmas a few weeks ago. As irritated as I am, a part of me feels ashamed for how I just acted. I’m not a mean person by nature, but I was anything but cordial just now. I’m against violence in any form, yet that didn’t stop me from stomping on his foot like some kind of deranged lunatic.
He was right when he said it was my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going. There was no way I was going to admit that to him though. I don’t know why hot-looking guys bring out the worst in me, but they always have. My therapist thinks my bitchy side is a defence mechanism … a way of pushing the opposite sex away before any kind of attraction can be formed. It makes sense, I guess. If I can turn them off with my bad attitude, it won’t matter how visually appealingImay find them. Nobody wants to date someone who appears to be unhinged.
Sliding my phone in the front pocket of my hoodie, my gaze darts around the gym in search of my brother. I roll my eyes when I spot him across the room eyeing himself in the mirror as he does some very impressive bicep curls. Connor is gorgeous and he totally knows it.
