“Yeah.” He squeezed her hand and let go. “I’m good.”
With one last lingering look at his face, eyes slightly narrowed, she nodded and turned to hurry into the ladies room.
Behind him, she hadn’t moved, lurking like mythical Medusa, waiting to destroy him. “How precious.”
His brows tugged together, hard. She had always been the most destructive person he’d ever known, even more than Will. His younger cousin had hurt himself and those around him because he’d been unable to process an emotional pain Colt had no insight into — he doubted even Del had known what went on in Will’s head.
But her? He didn’t have a clue where her drive to destroy other people came from.
Didn’t want a clue.
Maybe she’d needed a way to get back at Tick for something, and he’d shown up drunk enough to hand it to her, almost destroyed himself in the process.
He refused to give her anything else.
Folding his arms, he trained his gaze on the paneled restroom door and held his tongue.
Her trilling laugh scratched over him. “Cat got your tongue?”
He did not have to engage. That had always been Tick’s downfall with Will — and her. He didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut so he gave away his own power by responding. Maybe he’d learned, but as a boy, he’d had a competitive drive to have the last word with Will and a desperate drive to keep Allison happy. He’d been doomed to fail on both fronts.
Colt himself recognized the power of silence. Isolation did that for a guy. Let her have her say, get her digs in . . . in the grand scheme of his life, she meant next to nothing now.
As long as she kept her poison away from Holly, they were good.
A fingernail scraped down his nape in a teasing caress. The familiarity of it pushed nausea into his throat. Memory flashed in his head — the same touch when she’d walked up behind him at Andy’s, seeking him out.
He’d forgotten that, how she’d made the first move that night.
He spun, putting a backward step between them, the same way he had a decade ago. Staring into triumphant blue eyes, gleaming with malice, he kept his face impassive. She wanted a reaction — she wouldn’t get one from him.
The burn of victory in her gaze shuddered through him. That level of ill will left no room for anything good in her life.
Shit, that was sad.
He and Holly would go home, spend the night together. Tick and Caitlin would go back to their house on the river, carry on their lives together.
She’d go home with that hatred and unhappiness, let it color every second of her life.
Hell, he felt sorry for her.
Behind him, the restroom door swung open, Holly’s shoes clicking on the hardwood. He glanced over his shoulder, smiling to alleviate the concern darkening the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. “Ready to dance with me some more or do you need a break?”
She eyed him a moment, gauging his emotions. A smile bright with joy broke over her face, curving the pouting mouth he’d wanted to kiss since high school. “I’m always ready to dance with you.”
Ignoring her low sound of disgust, he held out an arm for Holly. “Yeah, that’s why you said no when I asked you to homecoming.”
“Colton.” Ignoring the other woman standing in the hall, she tucked her hand through his arm. “You are not teasing me about that for the next fifty years.”
“Of course not.” He steered them toward the main room, refusing to edge around her, forcing her to move with the steadiness of his stride. He shifted his arm to curve around Holly’s waist and pinched her hip. “I was thinking more like seventy.”
“You’ll be ninety-eight and forgetful.” Her arm folded around his waist, warm through his shirt. His lungs opened up with that familiar weight, with the joy of having her next to him, a walking, glittering promise of everything pure and good.
“Making you a memory box to match your grandma’s.” He rubbed his fingertips along the curve of her hip, playing with theedges of her sequins. “I’ll write out a reminder and tuck it into one of the drawers so I remember every so often.”
“You would, too.” Eyes narrowed, she let him twirl her into his arms. He grinned. Was he supposed to be intimidated by that small glare? All he felt was lighter and freer, even a little younger than he normally did. “You should be glad you’re handsome and good in bed.”
“Good?” He buried a chuckle in the curve of her ear, grinning at the shiver he felt move over her. “I’m going to be great later.”
