Without Doubt (14 page)

“
I have questions,” I
admit. “You want to do this now?”

He nods, looking a little unsure.

I take a deep breath before diving in and
asking like he told me to. “How many girls have you been with?”

“
I’m not answering that,”
he replies casually, as if I should’ve already known that
answer.

Not really the exact response I thought I
would get, but close enough.

“
Have you always used
protection?” I ask as he leans against the vanity, settling
in.

His muscular arms fold across his chest and
he clears his throat. “No. I have in the last few years, but I was
stupid when I was younger; thought I was invincible.”

“
Are you
clean?”

“
Of course. I get tested
regularly to be sure, but like I said, I don’t ever do
anything
without a
condom now.”

That made my gut hurt. What the hell, may as
well power through this last one and see what he has to say.

“
Have you ever had a
threesome?” I’m proud of myself; it actually came out super casual
as if I just asked, “you want some coffee?” In reality, I’m dying;
sometimes I can’t believe what comes out of my own mouth. I tell
you, this guy does this shit to me.

Instead of answering me with words, Declan
raises his eyebrows at me; it’s the only movement the guy makes. No
twitch of the lips, no cock of the head or foot spasm, just raised
eyebrows. My conclusion is one of two probabilities: A) he hasn’t
and thinks that was the most ridiculous question ever or the more
likely possibility B) he has and he’s giving me the opportunity to
retract my question.

“
I’m done, I don’t want to
hear anymore. Thank you for answering most of my questions,” I say
as I walk over to the shower that has been running this whole
time.

Just as I reach back for the hook on my bra,
I feel Declan’s hands grasp mine. He slowly guides them to my sides
as he presses gentle kisses to the back of my neck and shoulder.
His hands move to the bracelet he had made for me and releases the
clasp before it pools into his palm. It sounds like he slid it into
his pocket before reaching back up to undo my bra and slid it off
of my chest. After tossing it off somewhere to the side, his hands
are back to my hips and inside my nude lacey panties. I feel
unsteady; my breathing is out of control. I no longer feel the
effects of the alcohol, just the effects of Declan. My hands dart
up to grip the wall of the shower in front of me as he slides my
panties down my legs. I step out of them one foot at a time and
just when I’m ready to turn around and reach for him I feel his
hands gliding back up my legs. They pause on my calves when I feel
his warm breath and then his wet tongue on the back of my knee. Oh
Good Lord. My knee buckles and my head falls forward. Declan’s
right hand quickly reaches up to steady me by spreading his fingers
broadly across my lower belly, but makes no move to stand. Instead,
his left hand raises a little, up to my thigh, while his lips
follow along, making a trail up the back of my leg until they meet
my butt cheek. There, they do not depart from my skin, oh no, but
they do however make a different connection. Declan takes this
opportunity to lightly nip at the plump skin back there. An audible
gasp rings out above the water pounding against the tile. Too soon,
I feel his body rub against my bare back as he stands up, running
his hands along my body and up into my hair.

“
Get in that shower,
Sunshine. Right now, please,” Declan demands in a gruff voice and I
listen, stepping into the blazing hot shower on trembling legs with
a wildly beating heart, more turned on than I thought could
ever
be
possible.

Declan

I deserve a fucking medal for being able to
walk out of that bathroom like that. Before I reversed the tension,
Ava was pissed as hell and she yelled probably a lot louder than
she realized—when I walked out, Macie was practically rolling on
the ground laughing her ass off.

I change in the room real quick before
heading out to meet Greyden while the girls get ready. He’s just
walking out of his room when I reach it.

“
How long until the girls
are ready? Sloan just called and they’re on their way to dinner,”
he says in way of greeting.

“
I told Ava an hour.” I’m
still in a bad mood from all kinds of shit that went down today. I
haven’t had time to deal with one issue before another hit me, then
Ava went off like a damn bomb in the bathroom. I’m about to lose my
shit.

“
I’m surprised you’re
letting her out to play after the way you fuckin’ wigged out on the
valet attendant.” Humor laced his words and he was smiling, but he
knew me too well and could probably tell that I was dealing with a
whole slew of shit right now.

“
Dude. He was touching
her! And then he came to the room to bring our luggage and was all
smiles for her. Does the guy have a death wish?”

Greyden laughs at me while we get in the
elevator to go to the casino. My face remains expressionless as I
stare ahead at my reflection in the mirrored wall.

“
I am not bailing your ass
out of a fight or jail tonight, so you better rein it in, bro,” he
warns.

We walk out into the casino and go to the
side exit to get to this little country bar next to the hotel. We
always come here for appetizers and drinks before we hit the clubs.
It’s cool; outdoors and small, but popular and most the time the
people there are pretty chill.

“
She has me all kinds of
crazy. I’m not sure how to handle it. Grey, you wouldn’t believe
the shit we just went through in the…” I trail off, thinking better
of telling him everything right now. Can I do that? “Ah hell, I
have no damn idea how to be in a relationship,” I say out loud as
it crosses my mind.

Greyden shakes his head and laughs quietly
as he walks next to me. “Are you looking for advice?” His question
is serious, but I know for a fact that his sorry ass hasn’t ever
been in a relationship either so I don’t know what he thinks he’s
going to give me advice on.

I just look over my shoulder at him as some
girls dressed in shorts that show their ass cheeks and shirts that
could pass for oversized bras walk past us, sizing us up and
murmuring to each other. He watches them too, until they’re too far
behind him. This was once my scene also, and they were pretty
girls—okay, not the right choice of words—they were sexy as hell,
and if we followed them about two steps, they would have stopped
and then hung with us for the rest of the night until we told them
we were finished with them. Jackass move on our parts, but it’s
what those girls are looking for and expecting when they come to
Vegas dressed like that, or should be anyway.

“
Are you offering it?” I
ask. I’ll take whatever I can get right now.

“
Give the girl whatever
she needs, Dec. You do that on top of secretly telling Rachel to
back the hell off. If Ava is seriously handling your bad tempered,
possessive, jealous craziness, then you give her whatever she wants
and maybe just try to rein it in a bit.” He’s not being
patronizing, he’s being helpful, and I know I should take his
advice seriously.

Rather than chancing getting any more
feelings out on the table, I opt for a subject change. “Is the room
situation really okay?” Not much I can do about it at this point,
but I still thought I should ask.

Greyden winks at the hostess that lets us in
the gate to the small bar and she blushes profusely. I chuckle
under my breath because he has always had it easy in the sex
department.

“
Yeah it’s cool. Macie
is…” he trails off, probably thinking of the right words so he
doesn’t piss me off, “
different
when she’s not around her brothers. It’s good;
we’re good.”

I’m not entirely sure what he means by that,
but I’ll take it at this point because our only other option is for
her to come sleep in the second bedroom in our suite and that’s not
happening. I want Ava all to myself.

We finish a few beers and appetizers and
Grey wants to go meet the guys at the club. The girls are somehow
still about an hour away from being ready and against my better
judgment I tell them to meet us there.

When we arrive at the club, I have the
bouncer keep an eye out for the girls so he can tell them where the
VIP section is that my buddy, Sloan, reserved. His cousin, Lyle, is
a bouncer here and hooks him up with this section or one similar
whenever he’s in town.

Sloan Smith is quite a bit younger than I
am. He found me after a fight I had in San Jose a few years ago,
letting me know he was a fan, and it wasn’t long after that when I
started seeing him more frequently after my fights because when the
fights are over, they hold bodybuilding competitions and that’s
what Sloan’s into. He’s a cool guy, we keep in touch and we hang
out whenever we’re in the same city.

The section where they’re at is full of your
typical club girls. Sloan and his friends have at least one on each
arm, which is the norm for these guys. None of us have a big enough
name for groupies yet, but Sloan is a pretty bastard and nicest
asshole you’ll ever meet and it certainly shows by the amount of
short skirts following him around like he’s their next meal
ticket.

Greyden is keeping himself
busy with the previously mentioned short skirts and I dodge as many
as I can. They’re hot and not that long ago I would have been all
for it, especially since I haven’t had sex in months.
Months
. Months is a very
long time to be with the one you want but aren’t sleeping with, but
to then get thrown into the lion’s den on top of that? I need
another drink. I flag down the waitress, who grabs me another beer
just as I see the bouncer, Lyle, who I paid to keep an eye out for
the girls. I don’t see either Ava or Macie, but I do see a second
bouncer following him as they make their way up off the stairs and
into our VIP section. Our group gets eerily quiet. I stand to go
find out what happened with the girls when the big guy steps to the
side, revealing a very underdressed Macie and Ava. I can feel my
body heat from the sight of Ava and from the lack of clothes
covering them both. Sloan quickly takes notice of Macie, or maybe
it’s Ava he’s salivating over; I’m not sure since they’re standing
right next to each other equally wearing next to
nothing.

Lyle comes up and speaks in a hushed tone,
“Hey, Boss, figured you would probably want them escorted up here.
That’s your sister and your girl?”

I’m furious. I can’t verbally respond since
all of my strength and effort are being utilized to remain as calm
as possible and not flip the fuck out on them, so I give one curt
nod for my answer instead. “That’s what I thought. We can’t have
any issues in here, James, so I think I’ll be hanging around while
you guys party. Got a problem with that?”

“
Yeah I do. I can handle
my own.” I don’t need this guy thinking he needs to fight my fights
for me, he knows who I am and what I do for a living.

“
Look, I’m a fan and I’m
not going to allow you to lose your shot at UFC because you lost
your shit over some guy looking at your sister or heaven forbid
your girl. Let me stick around to make sure some numbnut doesn’t do
anything stupid.”

Well that makes sense. At this point I can’t
guarantee I won’t smash the next douche that looks at either of
them like he wants to eat her alive. Before I tell Lyle to stay I
need to see if I can convince Ava to go back to the room with me
instead.

Greyden abandons the girl hanging on him and
walks straight to Macie. He looks almost as pissed off as I feel,
which is weird since he’s the only one of my friends that has never
taken on the brotherly roll to Macie. He’s always been on her side
and backing her up when she wanted to date in high school even when
Luca, Keegan and I were dead set against it.

Ava has apparently determined my mood
because she has turned her back to me and begins speaking to a
waitress. The back of her dress… well, there is no back. Ava’s
smooth, slender, tan back is completely bare, which means she’s not
wearing a bra. And if I noticed in two seconds that she isn’t
wearing a bra, every other guy has noticed too. Her dress is molded
to her delicate curves and just long enough to not allow anything
to hang out. When I asked Macie to buy her a dress for tonight,
this is not what I had in mind.

“
Shut the eff up,
Greyden!” Macie screeches as she attempts to push him
away.

He doesn’t budge. “Watch your mouth, Macie,”
Greyden grinds out through his clenched teeth.

I find it comical that he has always
corrected her on her language when she slips, which is extremely
rare, but to hear him correcting her for using the word “eff” is
hilarious. I really want to know where this protective side came
from, but I also really need to talk to Ava, so I don’t have time
for Greyden’s sudden change of attitude.

“
Oh my gosh!! I didn’t
even say the real word! Go back to your slut over there and let me
get a drink!” Macie stomps past me in her pointy shoes and Greyden
rubs his head in frustration before shaking it at me and following
her.

I walk up behind Ava and wrap my hands
around her tiny waist while pressing my back against her warm naked
one.

“
It’s not my dress, Dec,”
she says right off the bat, holding up a hand. “Well, actually,
that’s not true. Macie gave it to me to wear because after I saw
what she was wearing, I was going to look like a forty-year-old
virgin in comparison.”