I was antsy and ill-tempered partly because I was navigating uncharted territory and undeniably because this whole monogamy thing was new to me. I was used to scratching an itch when I felt it, used to appealing to baser needs and letting my carnal instinct drive me, behaving not because someone asked me to but because I wanted to was entirely new to me and the side effects sucked. I was horny and irritable, plus I was sick of playing phone tag with her, I had no idea how busy Shaw’s life was. The girl was bouncing from class, to work, to volunteer stuff all day long. When I saw her before on the weekends I had just assumed she had free time and was choosing to spend Sunday’s with my folks, clearly that wasn’t the case. Every minute of the girl’s day was planned and orchestrated, it made the fact that she had sacrificed a lot by refusing to see them until they opened their eyes more clear.

“Chill out. If she said she was coming than she’s coming.” Nash shoved an elbow in my ribs making me jostle the phone I was glaring holes into. I shoved it back into my pocket and picked up the beer I had been nursing for over an hour. I caught the eye of a smoking hot blond that had been scoping me out under the radar since we walked in the bar and had to do a quick mental rundown of why I thought spending time with Shaw and figuring out how she had got my head all twisted and turned was a good idea when easy as pie was right in front of me. The blond gave me a smile that all but screamed “I want you to take my pants off with your teeth” and I almost choked when beer went down the wrong tube.

Jet snickered and rubbed a hand through his messy black hair. The guy looked like a rock star; he was lanky and had that permanent freshly-laid and outta bed look that made girls stupid and dreamy eyed with zero effort. He also had an awesome voice and could sing, like really sing which made the fact he chose to be in a heavy metal band ironic because most of his stuff with Enmity was screaming and loud, but the guy was a consummate musician and could write a killer song as well as play pretty much any instrument he picked up. One night after a particularly nasty bout of beer pong he had confessed that he liked metal because he couldn’t deal with the fame and adulation of more popular styles of music. They guy wanted to be in a band but for reasons that only made sense to him, had no interest in being a full blown rock star, even though he had the look and the chops to do it.

“I swear you pull more tail than me and I’m in a freaking band. All you have to do is blink and you have broads falling all over themselves to have at it.”

I cleared my throat and set the beer down on the table. “Yeah, well I told you guys I need to cut that shit out for a while.”

Jet looked over his shoulder at the blond than back at me with a smirk. “Good luck with that.”

Nash tossed back a shot and hissed out a breath through his teeth. “Cut him some slack dude, he’s got a good thing working.”

“I’m just saying he doesn’t have to even work at it.”

I pulled out my phone and checked the time for the hundredth time. “Something tells me that is about to be completely untrue.”

Jet and Nash both did another shot and Jet gave a howl. “The first band is getting ready to start so I gotta go make sure the guys are ready to kick some ass tonight. We’re getting ready to finish the album we’ve been working on so we need to kill it tonight.” A round of fists banging went back and forth and I sighed as the blond gave me another pointed look. I didn’t mean to keep looking in her direction but I guess old habits died hard.

“This blows.”

“Seriously, chill. Shaw is awesome, she’s a total babe, she’s got enough balls to give you your shit right back and she knows you and still is willing to give you a shot. She’ll be here so just calm down and tell your junk to freaking relax.”

My hair was still up in the crazy mohawk so I couldn’t run my hands through it; instead I rubbed the back of my neck and tapped my fingers on the edge of the table.

“Why do you think she wants to give this a shot, I mean logically she knows I’m a bad bet, she knows what my history is like and historically we don’t have anything in common. I know I can’t get her out of my head, but what do you think her reasons are for seeing what this is all about are?”

“I think she’s a super bright chick and whatever her motivation is she’s thought a lot about it. I don’t think she went to bed with you just because and I seriously doubt she agreed to kick it with you simply because you asked. I think if you can keep your head on straight and your dick in your pants you’ll eventually find out why she’s doing what she’s doing and I’m pretty sure the reasons will knock you on your ass.”

“I think I’m certifiable for even thinking I’m going to be able to do this.” I liked girls, liked no strings attached sex, liked going where I wanted when I wanted and I liked not having to answer to anyone but myself and hooking up with Shaw put all those things on ice. I sighed again and let my eyes wander back over to the blond. She was still looking at me only now her very pretty face was scrunched up into a scowl. Her mouth was pulled in like she had tasted something sour and I couldn’t figure out what had changed in the minute since I had last caught her eye until I heard Nash mutter “Damn,” and realized that every guy seated around us had turned to watch Shaw and Ayden as they made their way past the bar and towards where we were seated.

They made a striking pair. By far the classiest girls in the place, it was clear neither one had ventured down to Cerberus before. Shaw’s blond hair was loose and long, falling over shoulders bared in a black halter top. She had skinny jeans on that looked like they would need to be surgically removed they were so tight and a pair of bright blue heels that should look ridiculous at a show like this, but instead had even old school head bangers drooling in their pints. Ayden had her dark hair spiked up and sexy, she was in a tiny little skirt and a billowy purple top that completely fell off of one shoulder. She was rocking a pair of black cowboy boots that had clearly seen some better days but that didn’t stop the two of them from turning every single head, male and female as they slid up on our table.

I didn’t know what to do so I just stared at Shaw while she stared back. I was pretty sure all the blood in my brain had been diverted south so I just blinked at her like an idiot while Nash chuckled and told both of them hello.

“Hey. Sorry we’re late we had a bachelor party run over and it took us longer to get out of there than we thought it would.”

“I sent you a couple of texts to see what was going on.” I should be asking her if she wanted a drink, doing something to let her know I was happy she was here but instead I was being surly and weird.

She frowned. “My phone is off.”

Ayden propped her elbows on the table and took the shot Nash offered her up. She glared at Shaw and pointed a finger at her. “Tell him why it’s off.” There was accusation there and I saw, even in the dim light of the bar the way she flushed.

I put a hand on her lower back and bent down so that my lips were touching her ear. I felt her tense but she leaned her hip into mine. “Why is your phone off Casper?”

She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Because Gabe is blowing it up. Mt mom invited his parents to Brookside Country Club for dinner next weekend and they expect us both to be there. He has it in his head that we should ride up there together and won’t leave me alone about it so I turned my phone off because he’s making me crazy and I don’t even want to go in the first place.”

A cocktail waitress chose that moment to walk by so the girls ordered drinks and I got another beer. I pressed Shaw closer to my side and turned so that we were facing each other.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

She flattened a palm on the center of my chest right over my heart and looked up at me with sad, green eyes. “I don’t know. I have to go or my mom will make my life hell, but I don’t want to be anywhere near Gabe. I’m trying to just ignore the entire thing.”

“That’s not going to work for long.” I liked the way she fit next to me, like she was custom made to be right there.

“I know.” The waitress dropped off drinks and Ayden grimaced as the first band started. I laughed and poured her another shot.

“Just power through the first two, I promise Jet’s band is really good.’

She made a face. “I like stuff with a little more twang and a lot more banjo.”

We all laughed a little. “Just help Nash finish the tequila, that’ll get you through and if it gets too bad I bet Jet has ear plugs we can go snag for ya.” She said something I didn’t catch but made Nash laugh hysterically so I turned back to Shaw. I gave an internal shiver when I noticed she was having some kind of girly stare down with the other blond from earlier. I curled my hand all the way around her waist and yanked until she was pressed full body against me.

“Hey, don’t.”

“It’s not like she has to be so obvious about it.”

“Shaw look around. There are at least ten guys sitting no less than five feet away I can actually see undressing you with their eyes, it’s cool. I’m hanging with you, not her and you’re here because of me not them, that’s what matters, right?”

She made a face at me which made me want to suck on her bottom lip. I reached up and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. It felt like satin and immediately slipped back out. “I’ve never waited around for a week to spend time with a girl I’m into before, frankly it blows, and I want to spend time with you.”

“I really am sorry we ran late. I had to do some work to get Ayden to agree to come. This really isn’t her scene, mine either for that matter, but I’m glad we’re here.”

She ran her index finger over the tattoo of the phoenix that was sticking out of the sleeve of my t-shirt on my bicep. “I want to spend time with you too, Rule. I’m sorry my life is so hectic.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I slid my hand under the heavy fall of her hair and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “So are you going to come home with me tonight or what?” If she said no there was a good chance I was going to have to take a cold shower before I could get my jeans off. Her green eyes were brilliant as they gazed back up at me, never had a girl, especially a girl I had known for so long been able to keep me guessing as to what she was thinking. Shaw was a hard one to read, her eyes just seemed to be reflecting back what I was feeling instead.

“We took a cab so as long as I make sure Ayden is cool that can definitely be an option.” Her voice had dropped to an even huskier octave and I thought it was possible I had never heard anything sexier. I grunted in approval like the Neanderthal I was and let my hand fall from her waist to the curve of her ass.

The four of us chatted and had a couple more rounds while we all suffered through the first and second band. The second one would have been alright if the lead singer had focused more on trying to sing than looking a part but for the most part they just hollered and jumped around for an hour and Ayden was ready to jump on stage and wrestle the microphone from the poor girl. I was surprised how fun it was to just hangout. Ayden was funny and sarcastic, she and Nash bounced barbs back and forth like they had been friends for years and by the time enmity was setting up the Patron was gone and the two of them were loaded. Shaw was quieter, she was watching everyone and everything around her, she asked questions and responded when engaged in conversation but for the most part she just kept an eye on what was going on rather than fully participating in it. At one point I almost started a brawl because I had gone to the bathroom and Nash had slipped out to smoke, we were only gone for a minute and by the time I got back to the table some sweaty metal head was trying to press up on Shaw.