Taunting Lips (A Teasing Hands Accompaniment) Read Online Free

in case I changed my mind.
    The waitress smiled at the two girls sitting in the booth before mine on her way back toward the bar. She shook her head; her facial expression had morphed into one of pity. This caught my attention. Was it the universal break-a-fucker’s-heart day and I missed the memo?
    “Amanda, I need you to start from the beginning,” I heard the one that smiled at me say, and I paused mid drink. Amanda? It couldn’t be. “What did Hunter do this time?”
    That solidified it for me. There aren’t that many people named Amanda, or Hunter, within this area for it to be a coincidence. Impossible.
    “It wasn’t Hunter.”
    “ Gatita, ” I whispered low. My heart lurched inside my chest. It was her—in pain and crying because of my stupidity. Need so strong I could barely sit still overtook my body.
    “I’m done.” Amanda sniffed loudly. “Camden and I are done.”
    Those few simple words passing through her lips gutted me. Was the world so cruel? How could the universe put her in my path to change my views…make me want her, and then take her away. What the fuck?
    You did this.
    “I thought you were going to talk to him first? Find out what happened before making up your mind,” her friend asked, and I leaned forward in my seat. The table’s edge dug into my midsection the way I draped myself over it. Let that bitch cut me in half as long as I was closer to her. If I could breathe her in.
    There was a small partition between the booths that separated us. It was thin, and if I inclined at just the right angle, I could see the top of her head. Just knowing she was there, close enough to touch, made things better.
    A group of businessmen came into the pub then, and they all congregated by a group of tables a few feet away from theirs. Her friend looked over, and this was my cue to move. I took the seat directly behind Amanda, our backs facing each other as she spoke.
    “What was there to understand? He fucked me one day, and the next, had her all over his dick.” The sadness was still there in her tone, but it was now mixed with animosity. Amanda’s anger gave me hope. I’d take that any day over indifference.
    Is that what she thinks happened? Yes, I’ll admit to being stupid and using Cynthia’s drunkenness to my advantage, but I never moved past the flirting stage with her. We never kissed. Didn’t touch her unless it was to keep her hands where everyone around us could see them.
    “Is that what he told you?” My ears perked up at her question. Amanda had never given me a chance to answer—to explain a thing.
    “No.” A hand slammed down on the tabletop. The resounding sound its force created made the men across from us pause mid-conversation and look their way. “There isn’t a damn thing he could say to explain what I saw. He was with Cynthia after claiming to have an emergency and needing to leave. He canceled on me to spend the night with her.”
    I banged my head against the back of my booth and muttered low. “It wasn’t like that.”
    “Maybe it was a coincidence that they were there.” Even I snorted at that reply. No matter how I painted the picture—even if I was saying the truth—it’s a hard story to swallow.
    It’d been Stacy’s idea to head over to Rage after work—to have some fun and let loose after the busy week the spa had been having. Oliver and Stacy were sitting with me at the table my gatita found me at when Cynthia approached, drunk and horny.
    Grabby would be putting it mildly. It took me pulling her in close to keep her subdued, and even then, she fought me for a kiss. One that never happened no matter how hard she tried.
    “Bullshit, and you know it, Court.” Amanda took in a shuddering breath before continuing, her emotions palpable. Everything she felt, I did too. “He played the game well and I fell…I fucking fell for him. Love him.”
    “Shit!” The one I assume to be Court hissed. “I thought this was just a summer fling? Did you tell