No Strings Attached Read Free Page B

spending it with him.
    “You think I want this? This…this is her dream. Something she’s been working toward forever. Who the hell am I to ask her to walk away from it? Do you have any idea how many times she put her life on hold for me when Mom was sick? So that I wouldn’t have to do it alone?”
    Nate dropped his gaze to the floor, his jaw tense. Jace knew it was chickenshit of him to remind his brother that he hadn’t been around when their mom got sick. Nate had been overseas, doing exactly what their father had always wanted, following in his footsteps, fighting for our freedom. But it was true. Hayden had been the only one who had stayed by his side. He’d had to grow up when he was just a seventeen-year-old kid who didn’t know how to cook a meal or pay a bill. God knows he wouldn’t be the man he was today without Hayden’s help.
    “If I ask her to stay for me, it will be the most selfish thing I have ever done. And you have no idea how fucking selfish I am. How badly I want to lock her in a room and keep her from doing this. She deserves better than that. Better than me.”
    “Did you ever think she might feel the same?” Nate raised a brow.
    “She doesn’t,” he said, watching her appear and disappear through the jittery crowd. “She shouldn’t.” He’d never let himself hope for that. Hayden didn’t need complications right now. She needed him to be supportive. Proud of her. And he was, damn it. Hayden trusted him for a reason, and he’d never give her a reason to question that trust. What he needed to do was walk away and take a cold shower like he had every Sunday night for the past year. And after seeing her in that barely there dress, he’d need a damn cold shower tonight.
    The pounding rhythm of a new song began, drowning out the rush of his heartbeat. He looked up, and his gaze clashed with Hayden’s for a split second before Lilly pulled her off the barstool and onto the dance floor. She gave a small smile meant just for him, but her green eyes looked glassy and sad. Then the smile was gone, and the dull ache in his chest roared to life. He made another round of drinks and watched Hayden lose herself in the music. Swaying her hips as her body found a rhythm to match the hypnotic beat. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She’d pulled her hair up, and he could just make out the little orchid tattoo on the back of her neck that he’d dared her to get in college. He’d obsessed over that little branding of ink for far too long. He’d even named his club after it, for fuck’s sake.
    He’d only imagined about a thousand times what that spot might taste like. What her hips would feel like in his palms as he licked it from stem to petal.
    Down, boy. He glared at the front of his pants, which were feeling ball-strangling tight. Not the time. Not the place. When he looked up, the jackass from the bar was back. Buzzing around her like a horny fly. Jace’s teeth ground together, and his jaw popped.
    “Jace?” Nate stepped in front of his view, brows pulled together. “Everything all right?”
    Jace dropped his gaze to where Nate was looking. He’d poured tequila all over the bar, missing the shot glass completely.
    He blinked and rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah. Fine. Fucking perfect.”
    “Go home, man.” Nate glanced over his shoulder and shook his head as he helped wipe up the mess. “Go home before you start shit you won’t be able to take back. Sleep it off. Talk to her in the morning. Hayden’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”
    Jace watched Hayden for a few seconds more and then nodded. Nate was right. He couldn’t stick around for this. He didn’t want to. And he wasn’t going to make any moves tonight. She’d only look at it as a ploy to get her to stay. He needed to go home, come up with a game plan. He’d have to catch her in the morning before her flight. Change her mind. Make her see reason. How he was going to do that, he didn’t fucking