I peered up at Bradley through my silver hair. I prayed he hadn’t noticed how close Dante and I had been just then. I hoped he didn’t see the way Dante’s eyes went hooded with desire as they honed in on my mouth. Because Dante hadn’t meant it. He was just a flirty guy, andIcertainly hadn’t intended to be this close to the guitarist.
“Can you follow me, please?” Bradley asked through a tight smile before looking at Addie. “Will you excuse us for a second? I forgot my pen and some papers in the truck.”
That was a lie. I carried all of the papers for him, and his pen was in his pocket where it always was. Still, I followed under the pretense of grabbing forgotten materials with my coworker. In reality, the situation I was stepping into wasn’t between two coworkers but two lovers.
“What the fuck was that?” Bradley snapped the minute we rounded his truck. We stood on the driver’s side so that the silver Ford separated us from the view of the home. It didn’t, however, block the cold, so I wrapped my arms tightly around myself as he continued, “Why the fuck is Dante acting so close to you?”
I shrugged, even as my nerves ramped up. “We’re friends.”
“What?” Bradley roared incredulously. His eyes widened in spiteful disbelief.
“Well, I should say we’rebecomingfriends,” I quickly clarified. “We aren’t really close. We’ve texted a few times since the bar, and we bumped into each other on Saturday at the coffee shop. I recommended him some books.”
“Fuck, no,” Bradley hissed with a hard shake of his head. “You aren’t friends with him. Delete his number. Don’t talk to him. Don’t look at him. Do you understand me?”
My jaw dropped, and the pinpricks of panic began to morph into anger. Was he seriously trying to tell me who I could and couldn’t be friends with now? Was he trying to say he could havedozensof friends, yet I couldn’t have thisone?
“What’s your problem?” I asked. “I’m allowed to have friends, Bradley.”
He scoffed and gave me a quick once over. “Don’t be dumb, Serenity. He isn’t your friend. Why would someone like that be friends with someone like you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
The two of us gasped as Dante rounded the truck casually and appeared behind Bradley. His ever-present cocky smirk was in place, but this time, I noticed an iciness to it. The corners of his eyes were narrowed slightly, and a sharpness framed his grin.
He wasn’t amused.
He was pissed.
Bradley glared at Dante before looking at me again. “Go back inside, Serenity. Addie’s probably waiting.”
“What? I—”
“Go!” Bradley yelled, his blue eyes lit with rage.
I took a jarred step back. Bradley had yelled at me before but never likethat—never so desperate and furious. It conjured a ripple of fear in my stomach, causing me to swallow hard. I didn’t look at Dante. Instead, I bit my trembling lip and walked away.
Chapter 9
Dante
IT WOULD TAKE ME LESS than thirty seconds to snap Bradley’s neck. My fingers, which were shoved deep into my pockets, itched to do it—sink my claws into the muscle and feel bone crunch into dust beneath my grip. My blood practically burned with the need to make this human suffer, to make him feel as shitty as he made Serenity feel.
Not because I felt any type of affection for the human woman. But because nothing brought me greater satisfaction than watching a human, who thought they were above everyone else, crumble upon their fragile tower.
Bradley’s tower was paper on a burning base, and I couldn’t wait to watch him fall into those roaring flames.
Bradley’s eyes tracked Serenity around the truck until she disappeared back inside. When he was sure we were alone, his fuming eyes met mine. “Leave my girlfriend alone.”
I snickered and tilted my bearded chin higher. “No.”
His rust-colored brows nearly shot up into his hairline as his mouth dropped open. “No?No? Dude. She’s fucking taken. She’smygirlfriend. Do you not know what ‘relationship’ means?”
“Do you? You expect her to be faithful to you when you can’t return that same courtesy?”
His eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched at his sides until the knuckles turned ghostly white. He ground his teeth, andsuspicion clouded his gaze as he scrutinized me. “You haven’t told her.”
It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t need to ask what he meant by the statement.
