Free Off Guard by Marian Tee Page A

bear.
          “Who is it?” He tried not to sound disgruntled.
          She looked at him shyly. “Phillip.”
          He choked. “Phillip Blakely?”
          She nodded, shifting to her side so she could look at him directly. “Yes.” She searched his face for a clue about what he thought of her dating someone like Phillip Blakely, who was clearly out of her league.
          He took his time answering, playing with her hair, which he often did. He had a strange obsession about it.
          Hadrian was doing his best to calm himself. He should have been prepared for this. She was a beautiful girl – it was inevitable that some other guy would snap her up. But did it have to be Phillip Blakely, dammit?
          Phillip was an ass. There wasn’t any other fucking word that could better describe the other man. He was a stuck-up obnoxious trust fund brat who thought he walked on water and that his half-British bloodlines meant everyone should kiss his ass.
          He looked down at Gabby. She was chewing on her lip again, a clear sign that she was nervous. It made him think of biting her lip himself – and bite other parts of her body, for that matter.
          “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked suspiciously.
          Hadrian schooled his expression into something inscrutable. “I’m wondering what he saw in you when you’re such an ugly brat.”
          Gasping, Gabby snatched one of the pillows and hit him square on the face with it. “You always say such mean things!”
          When she tried to hit him again, he grabbed the pillow and threw it over his back, out of her reach.
          She pouted at him.
          He rolled his eyes.  
          She kept pouting.
          Ah, the little brat knew he was a sucker for her pouts. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Where do I have to drive you?”
    ****

    Less than two hours later, someone tapped Hadrian from behind, ruining his concentration. “I’m busy,” he said shortly. Girls had been hitting on him, doing their best to capture his attention while he played pool with the other guys. Normally, he would perhaps pick the most interesting of the bunch and give them both what they wanted but not now – not when he was still furious about Gabby dating another man – and he had let her.
          But then…how could he not?
          He took aim and made his shot. The white ball hit its target, pushing the other ball into the hole. The other guys groaned but he paid them no heed. He should be focused on taking his next shot, but all he could think about was what Gabby could be doing with Phillip Blakely.
          He had known Gabby since they were kids. Their moms had been sorority sisters and when his parents had died in a car crash, her parents had treated him like their own even though he had been fiercely independent.
          The loss of his parents had made Hadrian unwilling to open his heart to anyone, but Gabby had completely demolished his defences with her stubbornly sweet ways. She had forced him to care. She would act tough when she used to get into trouble with the other girls in school, but alone with him she would cry and demand that he comfort her.
          Without him knowing how or when, she had wormed her way into his heart – and had stayed there.  
          Someone tapped him from behind again.
          “Will you quit it?” He turned around with a scowl but instead of some shameless bimbo, he got Gabby, eyes shiny with unshed tears and a shaky smile on her lips.
          Hadrian whitened. “What—”
          “I can wait,” she cut him off with an overly bright tone, her lips trembling even harder as she spoke.
          With a curse, he drew her protectively towards him, tossing his cue stick on the table. “Gotta bail guys, sorry,” he muttered to the others.
          “Sure, man. Take care of your girl.”