Overwhelmed by You Read online

  Then I noticed Ream standing in the doorway, his eyes watching me. Had he heard what I said? Did it matter if he did? Except now he’d know that I hadn’t slept with Lance.

  The heat in the kitchen went up a thousand degrees, and I breathed with my mouth open. I wanted to lick my dry lips but couldn’t because all I was thinking about was Ream licking them for me. Having his eyes on me was like him running his tongue across my skin.

  “You haven’t slept with him yet?” Ream’s voice was strung tight, and it was super sexy. I was attracted to his scariness and wanted to suck it right out of him.

  I noticed the sudden silence as Emily and Logan stopped talking and unpacking containers and looked at Ream and me.

  “I’ll get the plates,” I said, trying desperately to keep the quiver from my voice. What the hell was wrong with me? I never acted nervous, but Ream standing there with his deliciously tight ass in those jeans, his lips slightly parted—lips that had been hard against mine.

  I reached up into the cupboard and my hands had just touched the plates when I felt him beside me. His scent caused a carnival to break out on my insides, and it was like I was riding a roller coaster in a haunted house.

  He was standing so close that our arms brushed against one another. “I have them,” he said as he picked up the plates.

  I kept my voice low, so Emily and Logan wouldn’t hear. “I’m capable of doing it myself. What do you think … I’m going to drop them?”

  His whispered words drifted like a warm breeze across my cheek. “Oh I know what you’re … capable of, Kitkat.”

  My hands fell from the edge of the plates as I stared at him, mouth agape. He quirked a half smile then took the plates and walked into the dining room.

  Fuck. The image of me on top of him was plastered in my head like a flashing billboard sign. Every emotion I felt back then was being catapulted into the forefront of my brain, and I wanted to knock it back to Forgottenland with a friggin’ wrecking ball.

  “Oh Chinese,” Georgie said as she barged into the room. “I hope you ordered chicken balls, hot stuff.” She nudged Logan with her hip and grabbed a piece of broccoli from one of the open containers then popped it into her mouth. Then she was jumping up and down with her mouth open yelling, “Hot, hot, hot.”

  Crisis came in after her and went straight to me, putting his hands on either side of my waist, palms resting on my hips. “You’ve lost weight, sexy. Were you pining for me?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, must be that.” Crisis was a touchy-feely guy, and I got that because I was too. He never pushed the boundaries, and not once had he asked me to sleep with him. We were strictly platonic, and yet for some reason Crisis was in the habit of flirting with me especially in front of Ream. Of course I didn’t do anything to stop it because when a guy flirts with you, it makes you feel pretty damn good inside, and I had been missing that lately. So flirting back, I wiggled my hips and Crisis moaned, “Yeah, sugar. You still have it.”

  Ream didn’t find it funny—at all. “And that shit … ends now,” Ream stated from the doorway.

  Crisis laughed, but didn’t let me go. We’d been through this before. Ream usually said his piece, we’d argue, then he’d storm off. This time he was looking like he was going to remove Crisis from my person if he didn’t let me go.

  “Ream,” Logan’s voice bit into the air.

  Ream’s eyes never left Crisis as he spoke to Logan, “I told you what was going to happen.”

  “And I told you to cut it loose if she doesn’t want it.”

  “Not happening.”

  Crisis slowly stepped back from me. “About fuckin’ time, shithead.” Crisis turned to me with a broad grin. “Looks like it worked.”

  “What worked?”

  “Sweetcakes, I love you. I love touching you, but Ream’s my best friend. I’d never touch what’s his. Now, he’s finally picked up his balls and is claiming you.”

  “Claiming?” The voice that blurted the word was unrecognizable. “I’m not something to be claimed.” And what happened to the friends thing? What was Ream playing at?

  “Damn right you are. And looks like the other guy hasn’t done it yet,” Ream said as he strode into the room toward me. I felt trapped. He took up all the air in the kitchen, and I couldn’t breathe properly, his words ringing in my head like a gong.

  I heard Emily’s breath hitch and Logan’s grunt just before Ream reached me. I thought he was going to kiss me, and I backed up until my lower spine hit the kitchen cabinet. “Ream …”

  He moved in until his chest was up against mine and then … he reached up and over my head into the cabinet and grabbed another plate. “Forgot one.” He hesitated, the feel of his rock hard thighs pressing into me. He backed off achingly slow, and I locked eyes with him. He winked and I swear my stomach hit the floor. This Ream I was scared of. Terrified. Because my snarky sass couldn’t beat him. I knew it and he had figured that out, and it was frightening to my resolve.

  I breathed a heavy sigh as he disappeared back into the dining room. Oh my God. I was pathetic. What the hell was I doing? I was way better prepared to deal with Ream when we argued. This … this was wreaking havoc on my emotions, and I was losing the battle.

  “Holy bajoodles,” Georgie said as she grabbed a bunch of utensils from the drawer. The clang of them hitting each other felt like my insides sparking off. “That man is hazardous to the libido.” She smacked her lips together. “Who’s taking bets he has her in the sack by nightfall?”

  “Georgie. You bitch,” I gasped. She knew damn well I was seeing Lance.

  “One week. Sugar is still fighting it,” Crisis shouted. Georgie and Crisis followed Ream, arguing the wager as they went.

  I looked over at Logan and Emily who both had their eyes on me. “I’m with someone else now.”

  No matter how much I was attracted to Ream and wanted our friendship back, there were no second chances. After what he’d told me about his sister, I understood why he freaked out. But trusting him not to do it again—impossible. Friends stuck by one another, he obviously couldn’t do that. And that was the most important quality I needed in a relationship—any relationship. I’d rather be alone than with a guy who couldn’t stand by me when things got rough.

  “I know.” Emily nodded toward the dining room. “He doesn’t look like he’s going to back off though.” She looked up at Logan with narrowed eyes. “What are you going to do about it?”

  He chuckled. “I love when you’re demanding, Mouse. Try it in bed tonight, we’ll see what happens.” Logan chin lifted toward me. “He’s out of here if you say the word. He knows that.”

  Shit. Ream was determined, but I was stubborn. And once I got something in my head, I didn’t back down. The doctors said that was why I was still alive after the shooting; I was too damn stubborn to die. “Maybe it’s time for me to look for my own place.” I was saving my money to buy a house, but it would be a struggle to do it now. I’d rather wait a few more years, unless of course hiding my issue from everyone became a problem, then I’d have to leave. No way in hell was I risking anyone knowing. It was bad enough Ream knew.

  Emily’s eyes widened. “No. You love the horses. You’ve made your career painting them. If anyone has to move, Logan will tell Ream to.” Emily let go of Logan’s hand and walked over to me and gave a half smile. “Actually …” She glanced back over her shoulder at Logan and he nodded. “Logan and I are moving out.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. I know it may not be practical at first. I’ll still be here every day to help with the horses, but we found a place only twenty minutes away and it’s gorgeous. Well, it looks gorgeous from the pictures the real estate agent sent. We’re going to see it tomorrow.” She reached out her hand behind her and Logan approached and took it in his.

  “Oh.” I was happy for her, but at the same time I didn’t want her to leave.

  “Logan …” Emily paused and looked up at him and my eyes went to his as she loo
ked for consent. He gave a subtle nod and a rare grin. “Logan wanted to tell his mother first, but … he asked me to marry him.”

  “Holy shit!” I immediately threw my arms around her, knocking Logan away in the process. “Oh my God. When? Where’s the ring? Who else have you told? When’s the day? Oh my God, this is amazing. I suspected it wouldn’t be long before he put a ring on your finger. Your boyfriend is crazy needy when it comes to you and this would be his ultimate seal the deal.”

  Logan grunted and frowned, although I saw the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his lips because he knew I was right.

  She laughed and pulled back. “He asked me a week ago. He wanted to ask me while on stage at the end of his concert. I think it was so every single guy would know that he was making me his legally. Although, I think most of them know better than to try to steal me away from an ex-underground fighter. Anyway, he didn’t ask me on stage because I would’ve killed him and instead it was …”

  “Babe.” It was Logan’s warning tone.

  “Logan considers it unshareable info.”

  “Ah, so he tied you up and spanked you until you agreed to marry his sorry ass.”

  Emily laughed and a bright flush rose to her cheeks. “Something like that.” She turned to Logan. “But he knows I’d have said yes no matter what he did.”

  I playfully hit her shoulder. “But a week? And you’re telling me now?”

  “I wanted to see your face when I told you.” Emily leaned back into Logan’s encompassing embrace. “We decided it might be a good idea if we had our own place too.”

  “Yeah. Of course. Wow. Grats to both of you.” I really was excited for them; I mean they’d been to Hell and back, both of them suffering because of that monster Raul. I hugged them and it felt odd because Logan wasn’t an easy guy to hug. Even though I knew he was completely smitten with Emily, Logan had this protective shield around him that still made him unapproachable.

  “Hey, food’s growing green hair. Kinda funky, let’s eat it,” Georgie yelled from the other room.

  Emily lowered her voice. “We haven’t told anyone yet, so …”

  “Yeah, of course.” I ran my fingers across my lips. “Zipped. But you’re showing me the ring first.”

  Holy crap. With Emily gone that left me alone with Crisis, Kite, and Ream. Dangerous. And so not going to work.

  I made it through dinner with Ream sitting beside me, which I tried to avoid, but he’d waited until I sat before he dropped down next to me. He even had the nerve to shift his chair a few inches closer to me, to which I glared at him and he ignored.

  His thigh was so close to mine that I could feel the heat radiating off it. Every time he moved in his seat, a torch lit inside me anticipating his touch, yet he never did, even when he reached in front of me to grab the pepper. His body leaned across the invisible line of personal space, but only the fine hairs of my arms felt the brush of his skin.

  When he sat back down, I expected him to look at me, knowing full well what he was doing, but he didn’t. He merely started shaking the pepper onto his lemon chicken.

  I ate a few spoonfuls of vegetables and steamed rice. It was all that I could have since I started this new diet. Considering I used to pig out on the spring rolls and beef lo mein, no one seemed to notice.

  After we cleaned up, I snuck out the side door to do a final night check on the horses. I’d made it three steps before I heard the door click and the footsteps.

  I didn’t have to look behind me to know who it was; there was a confident rhythm to his step that I’d recognize anywhere. I closed my eyes for a brief second while I continued to walk toward the stables.

  “You barely ate anything.”

  “I wasn’t hungry.”

  His arm brushed up against me, and I pulled my arm in closer to my side. “What are you playing at, Ream?”

  “I’m not playing.”

  I stopped dead in my tracks and spun around. “Bullshit.” I was the one who flirted. I didn’t like that Ream was making my heart jump out of my chest every time he leaned close. “Stop whatever it is you think you’re doing.”

  Ream ignored me and kept walking to the barn. I watched him from behind for several seconds, admiring how his faded jeans clung to his ass and thighs. I rarely painted nudes, but the thought of painting Ream was playing in my mind.

  He reached the barn door and swung it open. “Coming?”

  Barn. Alone. With Ream. Shit. He thought he could play this game better than me, and I excelled at flirting. Well, I did until he screwed that up too. Now, it wasn’t any fun.

  I reached the barn door and his whispered words swept across my skin. “I missed you.”

  Oh God. I was used to being in control, and tonight he made me feel completely out of control, especially when he surprised me with saying shit like that. “Well, I didn’t miss you.”

  Ream didn’t say anything as he followed me into the barn. The five horses stuck their heads out over their Dutch doors and a few nickered at us, knowing they were getting their night hay.

  I noticed Ream keeping his distance from them by staying in the center of the aisle so the horses’ noses couldn’t quite touch him. Clifford tried his very best, stretching his thick neck out as far as he could then nodding his head up and down lifting his lip and flapping it.

  I laughed at my obnoxious horse, and Ream froze, eyes watching me. I tucked my hair behind my ear and his eyes followed that too. Heat blazed. That familiar belly drop hit hard and fast as I looked back at him, neither of us moving. God, I missed this. Us hanging at the farm together. The comforting presence of him at my side. Did I just think that? We had comfort, then we had anger. Now it was … well I didn’t know what it was, but getting back to the ease between us was impossible.

  I needed to get my mojo back and get control here. I chewed my lower lip, raised my brows, and cocked my hip. I excelled at this. I loved flirting. It gave power and I liked power, and I felt like Ream had it all right now so I needed to take some of it away.

  When he began walking toward me, I decided that playing with Ream was a mistake. He obviously wasn’t going to back off. I quickly turned and grabbed the scissors hanging on the wall and cut the binder twine on the bale of hay against the wall. The twine snapped just as Ream came up behind me. I jerked, the presence of him so close to putting my confidence to shame.

  His breath wafted across my ear as he leaned in, never touching but so close that I could feel every inch of him. “Fire playing with fire only leads to an uncontrollable inferno. You ready for that, Kitkat?”

  I pulled hard on the twine and my elbow shot back hitting him square in the chest. I smiled when I heard him grunt. “I’m not fire. I’m the fire hose.”

  The sound of his laughter had me swinging around, needing to catch a glimpse of the easygoing Ream that I’d tried to eradicate from my mind. It was a mistake because the memories hit me like running into a brick wall.

  A loud bang sounded and I jerked my eyes away from Ream to Clifford, who was nodding his head up and down while kicking his hoof into the stall door. “Coming, buddy.” I picked up a flake of hay and passed it to Ream.

  He backed away without taking the hay. “I don’t do horses.”

  “What?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll wait outside for you.”

  “You’re kidding, right? Just throw it in his stall.” I pushed the hay into his chest and he had no choice but to take it or let it drop. “That guy over there.” I pointed to Clifford, who was making the racket and was the only horse in the barn that would make Ream’s job difficult. Clifford liked to nip playfully, and he had a big reach with that neck of his.

  He hesitated and I smiled. It was cute. This hot, sexy guy who was all muscles, tattoos, and confident was nervous of a group of horses that were likely more terrified of him after the abuse they’d been through. Okay, except Clifford. He wanted attention and wasn’t scared to demand it. Ha … He and Ream should get along perfectly.<
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  I threw hay to the other four horses before he even managed his one. He stood facing Clifford, who was sticking his neck out like a giraffe and trying to grab the hay from Ream’s hands. Clifford was getting pissed off and kicking the stall door harder. It looked like Ream was contemplating how he was going to get close enough to throw the hay in without the horse attacking him. The funny thing was that Clifford would suffer to Hell and back, and had, and he still didn’t have a mean bone in his body.

  I was about to give in and take the hay from Ream before Clifford kicked a hole through his door when Ream raised the hay over his head and tossed it like a basketball for the hoop. Clifford backed away just in time, and the hay disappeared into his stall. He snorted and began eating.

  When Ream looked back at me, there was a determined expression on his face, confident and unwavering. Shit. There was nothing about Ream that was N.I.C.E.

  “I made the mistake of not protecting Haven. I don’t repeat mistakes.” No, Ream contemplated all angles before he acted. Probably, another reason why he ran out on me as soon as he found out what he was dealing with. “Deny us all you want, Kat, but you’re not pushing me away.” He nodded toward Clifford. “I don’t trust or like them. But you do. So, I’ll learn.”

  Ah fuck. “I’m dating Lance. You may think otherwise, but I don’t date or screw two guys at once.” I was trying to act like his words meant nothing to me, but really I was melting into a puddle of heated butter at his feet.

  I flicked off the lights and we left the barn, Ream close beside me.

  “The arguing, fighting, and hurting one another—that’s finished. We were friends first. I’m getting it back.” We walked several feet before he added, “And this guy you’re dating, he hurts you, that involves me, so he better watch his step.”

  “Ream, he’s nice.”

  He grunted. “You don’t like nice, Kat. Doesn’t do anything for that sassy attitude of yours. You’ll be bored with his nice, but try … and know when his nice doesn’t do anything for you … I’ll be waiting.” He lowered his voice, “’But, baby, I know what makes you wet and it isn’t nice.”