One of the other two wasJared. With his hot-ass Australian accent and blond curls, he was the epitomeof surfer dude. I sort of guessed his eyes had been sky blue before the ashtransformation, but now were the same black, with slight rings of silver. Hewas a funny, laidback guy, seeming to bring lightness to the other more seriousash. He had been the one Ryder wanted to train me in weights, and as I hadadmired his biceps on more than one occasion, I’d been looking forward to it.Unfortunately, he’d had to leave with Kyle, so some other random enforcer hadhelped.
The final of the six wasSam. Sam was a bit of a dark horse. I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him speak. Hejust stood there with his black hair cut militarily short and his featureshard. He wasn’t the tallest of the enforcers – that went to the mammoth ofMarkus, who was at least six and a half feet – and he wasn’t the scariest –that was definitely Ryder – but there was something about him, a containedenergy. He was one to watch.
I found my eyes drawnagain to Ryder. I was like a fucking bee with a flower, needing to suck outwhatever sweetness I knew was inside. He wore clothes like no one’s business. Hehad on a dark blue polo shirt and dark-wash jeans. As my eyes dragged across hisbroad shoulders and slim hips, I realized he was checking me out almost asclosely. His silver eyes were hooded now, his expression hard to read. I wasn’tsure if he appreciated all my skin or was hoping I had a large coat to throwover it.
He didn’t say anythingabout my outfit though, he just flicked his head to the hallway. “Let’s go.”
Oliver gave me a grin,his teeth very white against the dark tones of his skin. He crossed the space,and showcasing not an ounce of shame, interlocked fingers with my bestie.GoJayden!I had quite the happy feels. Nothing like knowing your bestie wasall hooked up with some hottie.
Ryder gave me a sideglance, distracting me. “The boys have been bugging me to go out.” He flickedhis head to the group. Kyle fell in on my other side. I tilted my head back tomeet his lazy smile. Strangely enough, I was immediately comfortable with this guy.He induced no confusing and often x-rated feelings like Ryder, and even thoughhe had the same tough, badass vibe going on, he seemed a little more relaxed.
“Fuck yes,” Kyle said. “It’sbeen boring as shit here for a while. Even my request in the UK proved to benothing. The action has dried up since we got that call all those weeks agoabout our mythical ash girl.”
Those black eyes twinkledat me and I found myself smiling in return.
“I’ll bet you thoughtthat was some sort of system malfunction.”
He gave me a wink. “I wasmore focused on keeping Ryder from smashing the shit out of every single one ofthe ash who were at your mom’s house when we got there.”
My eyes shifted across tothe silent enforcer again. “What did they do?” I asked, as some worry seepedinto my voice.
He shrugged. “Nothingmuch, but they were too caught up in what you were. They abandoned protocol.”
“And the fact that one ofthem was cradling her in his lap while she convulsed had nothing to do withit?”
Ryder turned that darkstare on Kyle, who just laughed. You could tell they’d been friends for a longtime. He was one of the few males not afraid of him. We walked in silence for abit. I was still pondering Kyle’s words, even though I really didn’t want tobe. Ryder shifted a little closer, and as my eyes rose to meet his, he said, “Yourhair looks good down.”
Whoa.Thatwas completely unexpected and I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t used to Ryderdishing out compliments. I didn’t want to read too closely into it. He was anhonest guy. Probably there was nothing more than simple approval.
“Thanks,” I finallymurmured.
You look good in a towel.
We traveled the rest ofthe way through the Hive in silence, before ending up in the courtyard.Everyone piled into a big black unmarked van and then we headed to the club.Hell yes. Finally, some normalcy in my life.
The doorman was a vampire. They mustcompletely change shifts when the curfew ended. I had no idea, I wasn’t one tobreak curfew much. Ryder nodded at the bouncer and we all strode in withoutpaying or ID checks. Ryder posse perk.
The club was pumping, themusic louder and more bass driven than the last time I was here. I felt my bodyloosen up as we strode further in. This was my world, not the fucking Hive.
“Charlie!” my bestieshrieked, bounding over to me with blond curls bouncing. Girl looked all kindsof gorgeous in her short, tight blue dress, eyes extra blue against the darkliner. She slammed into me with the force of a truck and I laughed as I huggedher. We stayed like that for an extended moment, flashes of our past flitteringthrough my head, and I knew she’d be thinking the same thing. The last time wewere in a club everything had been normal. Then that very same night,everything changed. You really couldn’t take anything in life for granted, itcould be gone before you even had a chance to really know you had it. Eventuallywe had to untangle ourselves and I handed her over to my other bestie. Tessaand Jayden had been chatting over email but hadn’t met in person.
“Girl, your hair isMarilyn Monroe gorgeous,” he told her. She grinned and hugged him. My heartoverflowed at my two BFFs finally meeting.
“It’s nice to finallymeet you. Thanks for dressing Charlie tonight.”
I scowled. “What! How doyou know he dressed me?”
Tessa rolled her eyes.“Please…”
Her next words were cutoff as she finally focused on the enforcers, her eyes running across the six tall,buff, and badass guys. She lingered the longest on Ryder. Somehow she knewwhich one he was. She had never really met him; the last time she’d been passedout. I was a little nervous about the glint in her eye.
Please don’t say anythingstupid, Tessa.
“So, you’re Ryder,” Tessasaid. Her words made it sound like he was some important person in my life.Shit. My cheeks reddened.
Ryder extended his handand shook hers. As he pulled away, a vampire strode in beside her and put anarm around her shoulders. I bristled at the sight of a bloodsucker so close toher.
Tessa smiled up at theguy with his strawberry blond curls. Damn, he was sort of a cute, sexy versionof a grown-up Cabbage Patch Doll.
