All the Wrong Choices by C.A. Harms

Chapter Twenty-One

Jonah

"You'retwo-seconds away from having steam shoot out your ears." Tony chuckles as he tosses me another beer. "I don't get you two. You want her, go fucking get her."

"Shut up," my nostrils flare as I continue to watch her mix in with the other ladies I know are her closest friends. She's wearing a blue bikini, and the only thing it makes me want to do is to toss her ass over my shoulder and carry her off to cover her up. Okay, well, maybe there is something else it makes me want to do, but it is inevitable. Dani directly connects to my libido, and I'm always willing and ready to go down that road.

The problem is there are about thirty other guys at this party who are also willing, and that pisses me off.

"Whose bright idea was it to have a fucking pool party anyway?" I'm fully aware my mood has shifted since Danielle got here. Before her arrival, I was calm and relaxed, then she showed up, and the assholes started looking her over, flirting, and everything goes to shit. I can't even say back the fuck off because what claim do I have on her? None, that's the damn problem.

"How's Reece?"

"Don't care," fucker is just poking the bear right now, and he knows it.

"Reece is eyeing you like you're a triple chocolate cake with cherries, and it's been years since sweets have graced her tongue," he taunts.

"You're a dick."

"And she wants yours," he adds, and I look away from Danielle to lock eyes with the guy who I think of more as my brother than just my friend. "Who knows, maybe taking Reece for a spin would get you off this dead-end road with Dani."

"Leave it alone."

"Are you honestly saying you don't feel anything for Reese?" I don't bite back. "Nothing, no fantasies you never played out, no urges, not a damn thing."

I still don't respond. "I'm pretty sure at this point Reece would give you anything you asked for if you took her home with you.

"If Mallory wasn't engaged, and she showed up here right now telling you that she'd made a mistake and wanted you back, would you tell Addison it was over?" Tony and Mal were together for two years, and they'd gotten in this huge fight. She moved out, and he thought they just needed a break. Two months later, she was with another guy, and a year after, she was engaged. It turns out it wasn't just a break. Addison is the first woman he's been with since Mal.

"No," he holds my stare and doesn't falter in the slightest. "Addison is who I want."

"And Dani is who I want." He doesn't have to understand it, and he doesn't have to like it.

He doesn't push any further. Instead, we stand silently drinking our beers, both watching the women each of us just admitted we wanted. The problem is his girl knows where his loyalties lay, and mine has no fucking clue. Or maybe she does, but she refuses to accept them.

Tony walks off toward his girl and Dani looks up and holds my gaze. Shifting in the lounger she occupies, I allow my eyes to roam over her from head to toe. Damn, Danielle is by far the hottest woman here and has no clue. If only she could see herself the way I see her.

Making eye contact once more, I smirk, and she smiles like she knows what’s hidden behind the bar, I'm growing hard just looking at her. The idea of taking her off somewhere alone hits me. Pressing my body to hers, allowing her to feel how she affects me, is rushing through my mind.

I smile as visions of untying the string on her hip and allowing her bottoms to fall away float through my head. I need to stop, or I'll need to stay hidden in this very spot until my dick calms down.

I hold her stare and notice something shift in her expression before she quickly looks away.

"Do you plan on avoiding me this entire party," and that explains it. Reece brushes up against me, or should I say her tits skim over my arm. I can barely look at her. Why she got a boob job is beyond me, the things are hideous. I'm not going to degrade her or say she isn't attractive. Reece has always been beautiful. The thing is with her; she's always been searching for something more or something better. Always trying to be something she's not, living up to the expectations of others.

Three years ago, she was perfect in my eyes, but to her, she needed lip injections because they weren't full enough. Or a tummy tuck because she felt too thick. Now here she is back from a failed attempt in LA, and she looks like a mannequin, somewhat porcelain-like. She no longer holds the natural beauty she once had. She's plastic, and I like natural. I prefer petite brunettes with a sweet ass and curvy hips.

"Not avoiding you," I finally tell her, motioning for the bartender to give me another.

"Which one is she?" Reece's question surprises me, and I look over to find her staring off in the direction of Dani and all her friends. "I know it's not the one Tony seems to be holding in his lap because that would just be awkward.”

I'm not about to give her what she's asking. What, so she could attempt to stake some claim she doesn't have. We ended what we had a long time ago, and yes, I may have loved her then, but those feelings are gone. I have no desire to touch her, no pull to feel her lips on mine. I don't crave the feeling of her body as I glide my hands over every inch. Dani owns all those feelings and desires. They have been hers since the very first kiss in that darkened parking lot.

"You always did love the color blue," trying not to react to the fact that she's just managed to pick out Dani, who is wearing the only blue bikini in the group. "But the blondish brown part is a little confusing because even before me, I think all your love interests were dark brunettes or black hair. But, there was the redhead you tried to make me jealous with right after I left."

There is no need for us to travel down memory lane.

"But you forgot about her real fast when I came back two weeks later." Reece is beginning to piss me off. "Wasn't she at the same bar when you and I snuck off to the parking lot to play in—"

"What's your point, Reece?"

"My point is, I don't think your girlfriend will notice if you and I sneak off so I can show you that the spark is still very much there."

"It's one-sided," I interrupt her desperate flirting.

"What?"

"The spark, the interest," I clarify, "it's one-sided. I don't feel the same way, and I have no desire to give it another go. Even if she doesn't know, even if you and I can manage to go off somewhere, screw around some corner and get back without her noticing, I still won't do it. We had our thing, our time, and we've been over for a long time. We should pretend like the last ten minutes didn't happen so you can save a little face and not feel like I just told you I'm not attracted to you, not even a little bit."

She looks like she's swallowed a bug.

"That woman right there," I use the beer bottle to point in Dani's direction. "She's all I want." I don't stick around for Reece to say anything in return. Instead, I push back off the bar and walk toward the pool. Sitting down on the edge of, I hang my legs into the water and enjoy the refreshing coolness against my flushed skin.