Chapter 28

28

S teel

Jen giggles. She sways just a little in her chair, giving away how tipsy she is getting. “Yes, I would loooove another glass of bubbles. Bubbles are my new faaaaaaaavorite thing.” She claps her hands together; her eyes look glassy. A little too bright for my liking.

Jen may not realize it, but she’s had six glasses of champagne already. She isn’t a drinker. I know because she’s said it herself and more than once. I also know because I can see it with my own two eyes.

“We’ll order another bottle.” Roscoe winks at Jen, who giggles some more. This would be the third bottle of the night.

“Oh, and shots,” Jen says. “We have to have shots to celebrate.” She makes her eyes wide.

“To celebrate what exactly?” I ask her.

“Maverick won the fight, silly.” She giggles. “That calls for tequila. Also, it’s a lovely evening. I looooovvvvve The Pit.”

Roscoe chuckles. “That’s what I like to hear.”

We’ve only just finished dinner. Jen hardly ate anything. Certainly not enough to mop up the booze she’s been downing since we got here. Shifters have much higher metabolisms than humans. We don’t get drunk easily. Jen is trying to keep up and failing dismally.

“I agree,” Natalia says. “Let’s have some tequila.” She squeezes my thigh under the table; one whole side of her is plastered up against me. I remove her hand and give her a warning look. Natalia laughs.

I’m starting to feel claustrophobic. Every time I move away, she follows. She refuses to take a hint. It’s been over a year since we hooked up for five minutes, but you would never say it. It was nothing. I was clear about it at the time and have been clear about it since, but she doesn’t seem to get the message.

“Lola!” Roscoe shouts, and the server rushes in. “Bring us another bottle of bubbly as well as a round of tequila. You know what, bring the whole damned bottle.”

Crap!

Natalia keeps talking to me. I’m only listening with half an ear, making the odd noise where appropriate. I don’t want to be blatantly rude. Maybe Jen is rubbing off on me. I know she wouldn’t approve if I made a scene at a dinner party, but this whole thing is wearing on my last nerve.

Roscoe is telling Jen all about the next bout. All about the fighters who will feature in it. She seems to be hanging on his every word.

Jen gulps down half her champagne as soon as her glass is poured. That does it. I stand. “Thank you, Roscoe, it’s been great. Dinner was—”

“We can’t go!” Jen announces, pouting. “It’s still early.” She folds her arms.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” Roscoe says. “The party is only just getting started. The main fight of the evening hasn’t even started yet. I was just telling Jen all about it. She’s eager to watch. What about the tequila I just poured for the four of us?”

Sure enough, four full double shot glasses are lined up on the table. The bottle is there, too, ready to pour again.

“You can’t go just yet.” Natalia stands, putting her arm around me. She’s sure to press her tits into my side.

Jen picks up the double shot.

“That’s not a good idea.” I lean in and take it out of her hand. “You just went through an ordeal. You were injected with god knows what. You need to go to bed.”

“I’m fiiiiiine. A-okaaaay.” She’s getting worse by the second.

“I know you are.” I walk around the table. “But it’s time to get you home.” I pick her up, and she squeals. Then she laughs.

“You’re sooooo strong.” She puts her arms around me. “And big and hard, and I’m not talking about your muscles.” She giggles.

My mouth twitches. She’s adorable when she’s drunk.

“As I was saying. Thanks for the hospitality. Dinner was great, but someone needs to go to bed. The day has started to take its toll.”

Roscoe nods once. “Of course. Maybe we can do this again tomorrow when Jen is feeling better.”

“Maybe,” I say. It’s a hard no. Tonight was a fucking shitshow. I had to watch Roscoe try to work his charm on Jen whilst simultaneously trying to keep Natalia’s prying hands off of me.

I walk from the box and into the hallway. Natalia follows. Why? I’ve made myself clear about where we stand. That we’re just friends. That kiss caught me off guard. She laughed when I told her not to do it again. Fucking laughed like I’d said the most hilarious thing. It wasn’t funny. Still isn’t. I’m done with being cordial.

“Your human looks out of it,” Natalia says as she catches up.

“Jen is fine. We are just fine.”

“Oh, it’s you…Nat…Nata…Natalia,” Jen says, lifting her head. She has a goofy smile on her face. Her eyes are not focusing quite as well as they should. “It’s the pretty lady. You…you are sooooooo beautiful.” She points at Natalia. “Gorgeous! Don’t you think, Steel?” Her head flops back against my chest. “Don’t you think?” she asks again.

I make a noise of agreement.

“You have such great muscles.” She runs her hands down my bicep, squeezing my shoulder. “Ohhhhhh…beeeeeg.”

We reach the door to the apartment. “This is where we say goodbye,” I tell Natalia.

“I could help you get her to bed. And then I could help with other things.” She licks her lips.

“You two…you…you…” Jen says, trying to point but not doing so great. She’s stabbing the air with her finger. “You make a great couple. Great. Sooooo gorgeous, both of you.” Then she cuddles up into my chest and gives a soft snore as she falls asleep.

Natalia smiles. “Your human is clever. You should listen to her. We would make a great couple, Steel. We…” Her shoulders slump, and she gives me a look. “You have feelings for her, don’t you?” She looks at Jen. Then she rolls her eyes. “You’re making trouble for yourself, Steel. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You know where to find me if you need me. You really should take her to the palace and be done with it…but you’re not going to, are you?” She sighs. “I never thought I would see the day that you fell for someone. Never expected it to be a human. We could have been so good together, Steel.” She sighs again.

“Take care, Natalia.” I go inside and close the door.

The sound wakes Jen. “Where are we? Where’s my tequila?” Then she launches into a song about tequila. It’s awful. Jen can’t sing to save her life.

I smile as I put her down on the edge of the bed. Then I take her heels off. The top might be scratchy to sleep in. “Let’s get you out of this.” I touch the edge of the silver sequin garment.

“You’re undressing me. Ohhhhhhhhh, goodie…are we going to have sex now?” She tries to pull her top off, but it gets stuck over her face. She moans and tries to wrestle out of it.

I chuckle, helping her out of the thing. Her hair is mussed, and her eye makeup is a little smudged, but she’s still fucking beautiful.

“Where are you, big fella?” She grabs my dick through my jeans and squeezes. “Ohhh, there you are.” She giggles.

I yelp. She’s not being too gentle, but my cock doesn’t mind at all. He gets hard in an instant. “Holy fuck!” I grunt when she squeezes me again. I grab her hand, pulling it away. “We’re not having sex.”

“Why not?” She pouts. “I want to. I want you to spank me some more – harder this time.”

“Jesus.” I laugh. “I’m not spanking you or having sex with you. Just to be clear: I want to do both of those things.” Boy, do I fucking ever. “But I can’t.” I take both her hands in mine when she keeps trying to touch me.

“Why not? It needs to be a very good reason, or I’m jumping you.”

“You’ve had too much to drink. I’d be taking advantage of you.”

“Yes!” she yells. “Do that! Take advantage of me.”

I choke out another laugh. “You’re funny when you’re drunk.”

“Take advantage, Steel. I want you to come inside me, please.”

My balls pull so tight I doubt I’d be able to talk right now.

I clear my throat. “I’d like nothing more than to…” Fuck! I can’t even say it.

“Come inside me,” she finishes for me, smiling like a loon.

“Yes, um…that.” My pants are too fucking tight.

“Do it then.” She undoes her pants and starts to pull them down, shimmying her hips.

“No. Not happening, Jen. I’m going to help you out of your clothes and into your pajamas.”

I’m a fucking saint. I deserve knighthood after this.

“You’re no fun.” She flops back on the bed. “Noooo, fuuuuun.” Then she starts singing the tequila song again. It sounds worse than before, which makes me smile harder.

I grab a set of pajamas out of the closet. They’re shorts and a T-shirt. I quickly pull off her pants, trying hard not to gawp at her. She’s so fucking sexy. Then I pull on the pajamas.

“Ohhhhhhhh, look, Steel.” She points at the shirt. “It’s a duck.” She bobs her brows, making me laugh yet again. “A duckie duck.”

There is a cartoon picture of a duck saying “quack,” on the T-shirt. It’s stupid but she looks good in it. I’d bet that Jen would look good in just about anything.

“Do you know what rhymes with duck? Do you?” She giggles. “I could show you.” She tries to give me a sloppy kiss, but I move away.

I smile. “Let’s get you into bed, beautiful.”

“I can’t sleep. I can’t! What about my teeth…my face…?” She falls back on the bed, slow-blinking. “I need to…um, brush…my…” Then she passes out. Jen lets out another one of those cute snores. It’s soft but very definitely there.

I cover her with a blanket. I kiss her on the forehead. Then, I watch her sleep for a while before I get ready for bed. I look longingly at the spot next to Jen, but I end up taking the couch.