I kept my hand on her, moving it from her waist to the small of her back as I guided us out of the throng of people and to a standing table. The minute there was space, she stepped away from me like I was an exposed outlet that had just shocked her. Her face had gone firetruck red, and she couldn’t meet my eyes as she looked back at the crowd we’d emerged from.
“That was crazy,” she noted breathlessly. “Th—Thanks.”
“No problem.” I handed her the drink she’d ordered.
She finally met my eyes again, and a tentative smile tugged at her mouth. “I have to get back to my boyfriend, but … this may be rude. If it is, please ignore me. B-But could I maybe get a photo with you? I seriously can’t believe I’m meeting you.”
“That’s not rude.” I pulled out my phone. “I’d love a photo together.”
Before she could respond, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her into my side. She gasped and barely managed to look at my outstretched phone in time to smile for the photo. When I was done taking the photo, I held the phone out to show her, her soft body still leaning into mine.
“What do you think?”
“Holy shit!” she gushed breathlessly, bouncing slightly on her feet. “I love it!”
Releasing her, I handed her the phone with a new message thread pulled up. “Put your number in, and I’ll text it to you.”
There was no sign of her exuberant smile fading. She nodded hard and held my phone in one hand and her mai tai in the other. As she put her number in, a bull barrelling through the crowd caught my eye over her shoulder.
Bradley stomped this way, his brow furrowed in a deep scowl as he met my gaze. I grinned. This was about to get even more exciting.
“Here you go,” Serenity offered happily as she handed me back my phone.
As I slid it into my pocket, Bradley gripped her shoulder and yanked her around to face him. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Serenity nearly lost her drink from the force of his tug. All of the light that had filled her eyes only a moment ago faded like a star burning away into nothing.
“Bradley,” she gasped. She cleared her throat and looked back at me, gesturing a trembling hand in my direction. “This is Dante. He’s the lead guitarist in my favorite band. You know. Sinners Do It Better? He got my drink, and I asked him for a photo.”
“Sup,” I greeted Bradley with as much feigned nonchalance as I could muster.
Bradley pulled Serenity under his arm and raked his blue eyes over me as though to size me up. I did the same, and with him so close now, that earlier sense of familiarity came back with a vengeance. I’ddefinitelyseen him somewhere. He hadn’t been one of my or the other guy’s partners—he wasn’t any of our types. So where—
The memory slammed into me like a truck. I was thrown back in time to a house party at Harper’s, Perseus’s human obsession. The ballerina and I had run into each other for a brief moment, and she’d been lugging a lanky red-head behind her in an effortto drive Perseus crazy.Thisred-head. From what Perseus told me later on, the guy had no gameandwas a total piece-of-shit. Though, I’d seen that for myself tonight.
Unable to contain my malicious glee, I said, “Hey, I remember you.”
Serenity’s eyes widened, and she looked between the two of us, settling her gaze on Bradley. “You’ve met Dante before? Why didn’t you tell me! You know he’s my favorite.”
Bradley paid her no attention. His gaze seared into mine as they narrowed. “I don’t remember meeting you anywhere.”
“Yeah,” I responded cooly, casually scratching the bar piercing in the top of my ear. “We didn’t reallymeet. You were actually busy with my friend at that house party back in November. Ring a bell?”
“Oh,” Serenity said, looking up at Bradley. “The one you went to with Marcus and John? Damn it! Were all of the Sinners Do It Better guys there? I should’ve gone!”
Serenity might as well have not been there, because Bradley’s focus was locked on me. I saw the second he realized what I was referring to, and his nostrils flared as he grabbed Serenity’s free hand. Without taking his eyes off me, he hissed at her, “We’re leaving.”
“What?” she asked with a frown. “But I just got here. You said—”
He finally looked away from me to snatch her drink from her hand and slam it on the table I stood next to. I didn’t even flinch as the beverage sloshed out, dripping onto my face and shirt.
Bradley stepped into my space and jabbed his finger into my chest as he snarled quietly, “Stay away from my girlfriend.”
He whipped around and yanked Serenity along with him, her questions being silenced under his snapped, “Shut up!”
My face remained blank as I watched the two go, and I couldn’t help but think of all the errors that Bradley had madetonight. After convincing Serenity that her boyfriend couldn’t do it as well as me, I’d intended on having some steamy fun with her for the night. One night. That was all I had been interested in.
Until Bradley challenged me.
