Damaged and the Dragon Excerpt

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Here's a tiny bit of Dragon to hold everyone over until the book is ready on March 31 (fingers crossed). I've just started it, but tend to write out of order. Hope you like what I've got so far.

Nick never looked at me. Not really. He looked at other girls. Smiled at them too. I was right there and he didn’t see me.

Maybe it was the gallon of Dr. Pepper I downed before arriving at the study group, but I didn’t want to be ignored anymore. I refused to sit across from him and be invisible. No more playing coy when I wasn’t sure what the hell coy even meant.

When I slammed my hand down on the book he was reading, Nick didn’t even flinch. Never seemed startled at all, though the others jumped. He lifted his gaze to meet mine and waited as if I was a spoiled child and he was the ever patient parent. Fuck him for his patience.

“You suck.”

“Bailey,” Emma said.

I turned my angry gaze to her and she probably pissed herself. I didn’t care about Emma or the others. I wanted Nick to pay attention to me.

“I’m storming out of here,” I hissed at him, “and you better fucking follow after me to see what’s wrong. If you don’t, I’m coming back here and making a scene.”

The corner of Nick’s mouth lifted into a half grin. “You’re already making a scene. Think of a better threat.”

“I’ll set fire to the building,” I growled. “I know how to work dynamite and just love blowing shit up.”

The other half of Nick’s mouth lifted and he smiled at me. Then, his gaze lowered as he returned to reading. The fucker was calling my bluff! Unfortunately, I didn’t know anything about dynamite and loud noises made my head hurt. The fucker knew I wouldn’t do shit.

I still stormed out of the library. No way would I stay there and show him that he’d won.

Outside, I felt like crying. I felt like screaming. Even felt like finding dynamite and proving I wasn’t full of shit. None of those moves would fix my problem, so I sat on a bench and sulked.

Nick was stupid to want Farah even after she hooked up with Cooper. He was a sap. A fool! Much like me wanting a guy who was hung up on my sister-in-law.

I blamed Farah’s fat lips. They were too sexy and made guys think of blowjobs. While I considered putting poison in my lips to make them fat like hers, I didn’t want anyone thinking about blowjobs when they looked at me. I wanted them thinking I was special. No, I wanted Nick thinking that, but he was a loser stuck on a girl who didn’t want him.

“Out of dynamite?” Nick asked from behind me.

“Yep. Used it on the last loser who pissed me off.”

“And you’re pissed why?”

I glanced at Nick who stood next to the bench. His shirt was too tight around his chest and messy around his waist. If he was mine, I would fix it and maybe feel him up a little. Instead, I had to glare at him like he was a piece of shit. I blamed Nick for making me hate him.

“You suck.”

“Okay, but why now?”

“You’ll never have Farah. I mean, it’s not like she’s going to leave my hot, rich, stud brother, so she can slum it with you.”

Nick studied me and I saw nothing in those bright green eyes. He could be examining something on the heel of his boot. That was how interested he looked and I hated him for not jumping me that very moment.

I looked down and found my boobs jutting from my chest. I was hot. Not blowjob lips hot. Not broken little girl needing a savior hot. Just rich girl with great fake boobs hot. What the fuck was Nick’s problem?

“You smell like bacon,” I muttered, standing up. “I hate you for that.”

“Bacon?” he asked, walking towards the parking lot as if I wasn’t standing right there. “I shower more than once a day. That’s weird.”

“You ate a bacon hamburger or some shit,” I said, rushing after him as he dumped his school bag onto the back of his Harley. “You smelled like bacon and I love bacon. I think you did that on purpose.”

“Probably,” he said, taking my backpack and shoving it next to his. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

Nick climbed on the Harley then focused his beautiful gaze on my face. “Do you care?”

I didn’t dare smile or give away the happy dance happening inside me. Shrugging, I climbed on behind him. My attempt at playing it cool ended when I wrapped my arms around his hard stomach. I’d dreamed of this moment and it was better than my fantasies.