Page 63 of Truck Me

Despite my annoyance over her comfort, she looks sexy as fuck. I want to see her in my bed with nothing else on but those shoes.

“I know you’re not talking about me, Tanner Koch.” She adds, dragging my eyes back up to her face.

“Char, baby!” Tanner’s full smile is back. He hops out of his chair and pulls her in for a tight hug. Too tight. So tight, in fact, it feeds my anger. When she lifts her arms and returns his hug, an audible growl escapes me.

Every eye at the table turns to me.

Tanner turns to face me with his arm draped over Charlotte’s shoulder. His hand grips her bare shoulder and I grit my teeth. He’s smirking like he knows why I’m pissed, and she looks worried. “Something you want to say, Garret?”

“Nope,” I say as I pick up my glass, only to find it’s empty. I glance around for the waitress but she’s nowhere in sight.

I set it back down and pick up my cards instead. “Are we playing cards or what?”

“Yeah, we’re playing cards,” Tanner says. He leans forward and tosses his chips into the pot without letting go of Charlotte. “I call and raise your bet.”

I lift a brow. He’s trying to get a rise out of me, but I refuse to give into his bullshit. When he straightens, he leans in close to Charlotte’s ear and whispers something to her. She gives him a tight smile, but she doesn’t look pleased. That gives me some comfort.

Not that I should find comfort in anything Charlotte does. She’s not mine, and she can’t ever be mine.

The rest of the table places their bets or folds, and Edge calls for us all to show our cards. We all flip over our cards. My hand wins.

“Would you look at that,” Tanner says. “Mutter wasn’t bluffing after all.”

I collect my chips and push to my feet.

“I’m calling it a night.” I mumble to the table. I hear lots of moans and protests at my declaration, but I don’t give a shit.

I can’t sit here and watch Tanner flirt with Charlotte, even if she’s not returning his advances.

I ignore them all, head to the bar, and cash in my chips. I have to get out of here before I do something truly stupid.

Like kissing Charlotte senseless and publicly claiming her as mine.

* * *

I’m almost to my truck when I hear Charlotte calling after me.

“Garret, wait!”

I glance over my shoulder and freeze when I see she’s running toward me in those damn high-heeled shoes. She’s going to slip on a patch of ice and fall flat on her face.

I reach my hand out, signaling for her to stop, but she doesn’t. She keeps running toward me like she does this every day.

“How do you run in those shoes?” I bark out when she reaches me.

She furrows her brow and looks down. “What? These?” She lifts her foot in front of her and wiggles it. “Used to it, I guess. Wear them long enough and they feel completely normal.”

“Well, they don’t look normal. They look cold.”

She rests her hands on her hips and gives me one of her wide smiles. “Aw, are you worried about my wellbeing?”

I growl.

Her smile grows.

We stare at each other for a few moments, neither of us speaking. She’s the first to break.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re upset?”