“I know you won last night, but you weren't ready. I don't want you getting hurt.”

He showed me his teeth and said, “I like when you worry about me.”

Stumbling on my tongue, I puffed out air. “I'm not—that's—you...” He just stood taller, pleased by my reaction. Palming my forehead, then tugging my hair, I sighed. “Huck, look. Okay. Yeah, I don't want you to get injured. I'm not that terrible of a person.” I'm pretty awful, I reminded myself.

“I'm just flattered. Let me be flattered, love. It feels good. Nice and warm.” Caressing his own stomach, he hovered over the muscular V that led between his strong thighs.

No question, he knew what he was doing to me.

Inhaling till my ribs creaked, I shoved around him. I didn't breathe, I couldn't. The fear that a single whiff of his musk and leather would melt my resolve kept me moving through the house.

He's going to destroy me.

I had to remind myself why I was holding back. Fighting Huxton took everything I had. I filled my mind with images; That awful phone call, Reese's panicked voice.

Coaxing me into meeting Nehro.

Promising me everything would be fine.

Him, sweaty and panting on the girl in his bed—our bed.

Those teeth in a snarl, hand held high as he threatened me.

Cold words that demanded I owed him everything.

Oxygen rushed into my lungs when I pushed outside into the sun. Eliza blinked, sitting up, reading my pale face. “Zoe? What happened?”

“Nothing. Work called, I have to go in tonight.”

“Oh, yuck.” She made a face. “Is that why you're so... you look a little off.”

“Just weak from hunger.” Forcing a smile, I motioned behind me. “Speaking of which; shopping, groceries, wanna go?”

Wrapping her long hair up off her neck, she frowned. “What about Huck?”

I shrugged violently. “He left.”

Eliza looked over my head, lifting her eyebrows.

Twisting, I glared at Huck. Of course he'd followed me. “I meant he's leaving.”

“What? No, let him come with us. Errands are so boring.” Pushing out of her seat, she arched her back and yawned. “I'll drive, seems like I'm the only one who owns a car these days.”

Huck smiled, watching me curiously. “I'd love to come.”

“Of course you would,” I mumbled.

Leaning close, he whispered in my ear, “As if you're different.”

Shit, my blush went all the way to my scalp.

He wasn't wrong. No matter what I'd done in the privacy of my own bedroom last night, my heat wasn't sated. Not with him so close to me, teasing and taunting and getting me high on lust.

Huxton Blake was one hell of a dangerous addiction.

Too bad I was growing to love it.

The ride was extremely fucking uncomfortable.

Huxton sat in the front seat, chatting with Eliza, or just listening as she rambled on. I listened, too; the back and forth was exposing some of their history. But through it all, Huck was messing with me.

Between the seat and the door, he'd reach back, stroking my knee. When I'd slide my leg away, he'd watch me in the side-mirror, grin, and wait until I let my guard down to do it again.

Bastard.

“...Was so hot that day,” Eliza laughed, leading us down the freeway. “Remember, Huck? We'd bought these ice pops for the beach, but by the time we got there and parked, they'd all melted!”

“I remember,” he sighed. “I also remember how angry your—” He stopped himself, rethinking what he'd been about to say. “How angry your friend was that you'd stained the backseat of his car you were borrowing.”

My roommate eyed me in the mirror, smile flickering. “Uh, right. Well it wasn't like I did it on purpose.”

Huck snorted. “You made him pay to clean it.”

“He still let me borrow his new one months later, too.” Grinning so wide her eyes crinkled on the corners, Eliza turned into a parking lot of the nearby grocery store.

I wondered which friend would be foolish enough to not only pay for the damage, but loan another car out. Maybe 'friend' had meant boyfriend. That would be a little understandable.

“Alright kids, let's get this over with.” Eliza hopped out, adjusting her sunglasses and the dress she'd thrown on. She was the epitome of Californian.

Huck looked like he'd stepped off the pages of a motorcycle magazine. He'd replaced his swim-trunks with rich, midnight jeans and a tight tank-top. The leather jacket that I'd appreciated last night now looked too warm on him.

I wondered if he was from here, like me.

A guy like him was just... out of place. A constant outlaw.

He caught me looking. Without turning his head, giving me a delicious view of his strong profile, he just smiled. The hard nob of his Adam's apple rippled. Impossibly, I swear his green eyes were looking through me.

Terrified of what he'd find, I spun so fast I was disoriented. Tagging after Eliza, I listened to Huck's boots crunching over the pavement. Everything he did had a gritty feel, shadow and fire and smoke.

Cologne companies would make millions if they could bottle his essence.

“Okay,” Eliza chirped, shoving a cart through the automatic doors. In true LA spirit, even with the Christmas trees littered outside, the building was air-conditioned. “We need a lot of stuff. Let's make this efficient.”

Nodding, I zipped my jacket tighter. At least I'd changed into jeans. I hated the cold, and the store was chilly. “I can take half the list, hand it over.” Eliza was one of the few people I knew who actually made lists, and didn't just shop based on her mood or appetite. I appreciated her organizational skills.

She passed a sheet of yellow paper to me, saying, “Okay, sounds good. Huck, you can come with me.”

A massive wave of relief went down to my toes.

Huck didn't react, he just tossed me one quick look, then followed after Eliza down the aisle. I could hear her voice, cheerful and bright, all the way until they vanished behind the boxes of cereal.

Fanning myself with the paper, I grabbed a cart and pushed it along. Here was respite, here was a break from the black hole that was Huxton. His existence tugged at me, whispering for me to come closer; promising excitement, throaty moans, and so much more.

It would be fun, at first, I told myself, strolling past the vegetables. He's sexy, no denying that. The way he talks, how he says things... it ties me up inside. Sighing, I grabbed a bag of salad and tossed it in the cart.

He'll break me as easily as these tomatoes.

Huck will take what he wants from me.

Then he'll leave me behind.

Would he, though? Increasingly—temptingly—he was making me question my vow. Were guys like him that thrilled me guaranteed to always wreck me?

All of them have. Remember that.

Pushing a cool bag of broccoli to my forehead, I ignored the stares of other shoppers. I hated the cold, but right then, I needed something refreshing on my warm skin.

Imagining him standing in my bedroom, his hands brushing my cheeks—then lower, I laughed at myself. I need a sponsor. Someone I can call and say, 'Help! I want to fuck another bad boy! Save me!'

There was someone getting paid for everything out here. Surely, a cock-blocker on demand existed.

Muscle for hire.

I needed anti-muscle for hire.

Finishing the list Eliza had given me, I was almost done. There was one last item I needed to grab. It was for me, not something Eliza had asked for or required.

In the quiet aisle, I scanned the rows of colorful candy. Thumbing the items, I found what I was after. Beaming, I hefted the little bag of hazelnut truffles, jiggling them by my ear. Yes, this would do perfectly.

“You have a sweet tooth?”