Carina decided to speak up first as the bartender slid the next round in front of them. “I invited him,sorella.Abby and I ran into him a few days ago.“ Her voice was tender as she moved to her side. Carina leaned forward and whispered into her ear, leaving me out of the rest of their conversation.
Abby nudged me with her elbow, drawing my attention away from the two women, who had moved on to laughing. She lifted one of the shot glasses for me to take, but I waved her off. “I don’tdrink hard liquor,” I explained and ordered a beer, even though I knew I would take maybe a sip and nurse the bottle for the rest of the night.
“Really, why?”
“Long story, Abby.” Just because we kept in semi-contact after I left doesn’t mean she had the full truth. That was still a secret that I had been wrestling with. I needed to tell Lennon, but what would she think of me once she knew. But that was for another time.
Lennon’s stare was heavy on me as I grabbed the bottle from the counter and turned back around. I leaned in closer to Abby. “You sure it’s okay that I’m here? She doesn’t look too happy.”
She rolled her eyes at me in a way that was clear to anyone that her older sister was her favorite person to imitate. “Lennon likes to think she knows what’s best for her and never likes to ask for help. It’s time for me to start repaying her for all the times she took care of me.” She winked as she threw back the next shot before dragging Carina off to the dance floor. The music moved through my chest as it blared through the bar, my blood seemed to pump along with the beat as we stared at each other for a second longer.
There was a wall around Lennon; she’d been carefully laying brick after brick in front of her in order to keep herself safe. First from her mother, and then from the pain left behind after losing her husband. But when I was with her, the light she was made of would shine through all the layers she had built. It exposed her weak spots and allowed me to peer through the cracks to see her for who she was. It made me want to break down her walls and show her she didn’t have to hide.
Her hair was down, a personal favorite of mine, and the neon from the bar signs bounced off her auburn strands in a halo-like fashion. I drank in her appearance like a man dying of thirst. Her red dress was a striking color against her skin and it hugged her curves. It stopped mid thigh, the soft flesh tempting and inviting. I stood there, merely staring at her while tongue-tied and her chest stuttered on her next breath as my eyes burned into her exposed skin.
I stepped forward, pushing the drink forward along the counter. “For you, love.” She plucked the glass from the table and brought it to her lips with eyes that bored into mine and beckoned me to come closer. One more step placed me a breath away from her. I placed my free hand on the wall beside her head and leaned in even closer. With the bottle in my hand, I pressed it against the bottom of her shot glass. I tilted it against her lips and let the liquor pool into her mouth. Her throat worked to swallow while her eyes pinched closed to try to stave off the burn before popping back open. Her lips parted, and she used her thumb to wipe away the excess liquid before sliding it in her mouth to get every last drop.
There was no way she didn’t know exactly what she was doing to me.
I took a step back to defog my senses. “You look good tonight, Theo.” Her breathy voice was full of surprise. There was a sudden rush of blood into her cheeks at her boldness, turning them into the most perfect shade of rose. I set my beer on the counter and reached to grab her hand. She pulled back for a fraction of a second before her hand relaxed into mine.
“And you are utterly breathtaking.”
I wanted to kiss her, devour her, spill every ounce of my affection into her until she was drowning in me, and only me, for the rest of time. If I could only help her heal her past, I could ruin her for a future man. She tugged me in closer and pressed into me ever so slightly, urging me to follow through with that thought, but her eyes were glassy. When I actually got the courage to act on my desires, I wanted her to be completely present. I wanted there to be no doubt that she wanted it, too.
The moment broke when Abby and Carina returned to drag Lennon out with them. I excused myself to the bathroom for a minute. As I passed by them on the edge of the dance floor, my steps faltered as Lennon swayed her hips and body back and forth to the beat. The movements caused her dress to ride up on her thighs, and I couldn’t help but imagine what they would feel like in my hands.
Focus.Bathroom first, then maybe I could get her to dance with me.
By the time I made it back to the main room, there were twice as many people. I scanned the crowd in the middle of the dance floor but didn’t see Lennon. The only person I could find was Carina, who was speaking to a man with hair pulled back into a bun at the base of his neck. “Carina,” I said, interrupting what looked like a conversation that would either end up with them kissing or fighting—I couldn’t quite tell. “Have you seen Lennon?I can’t find her.”
Her eyebrows lifted as the man she was with introduced himself. “What’s up, man, I’m Levi.” I shook his hand briefly and Carina scoffed.
“A nuisance is what you are, Decker.” As she swatted at our hands. “She was still dancing a minute ago. She’s around here somewhere.” She turned back to her conversation.
One more scan of the room revealed Lennon in the middle of the dance floor. I started to make my way through the crowd of people when I noticed a man come up behind to a spot that should be mine. Lennon froze and shook her head at the guy. He leaned into her ear and whispered something that caused her to jerk backwards. Her head snapped side to side as her eyes danced around wildly until they landed on mine. They softened slightly the second she found me and attempted to walk away before the guy snatched her upper arm to stop her from leaving.
All I saw was red. Pulsing, radiating, blood red. It clouded my vision at the sight of his fingers digging into her.
I shouldered my way through the last remaining people, placing myself between her and the idiot, knocking his hand from her arm. I drew myself to my full height, which alone was usually intimidating. My arm wrapped behind me to keep her close, but out of the way. “You touch her, or any other woman for that matter, like that again, and you’ll be leaving here with a broken arm,” I barked out, my voice low and dangerous. I had never even been in a fight before, but I was convinced I could snap him like a twig. The guy stalked away without another word.
Lennon’s hands scraped down my back as the guy walked away. “Thank you,” she breathed out in relief. I took her face in my hands and searched for any sign that we needed to leave.
“Are you okay?” I’d never felt so panicked. Just the thought that she might be hurt, or that someone had their hands on her when she clearly did not ask for it had my blood boiling.
A laugh escaped her that softened the heat in my veins. “I’m fine. He was an ass.” She pulled at my shirt to bring me in closer and started moving to the music again. I had completely forgotten we were on the dance floor for a second. She spun, pressing her backside into me, and I had to stifle a groan. My hands found her hips, and I let go of my restraint just a fraction. My head dipped, and placed a brief kiss on her exposed shoulder, and it felt like I had come home.
twenty-two
Lennon
It could have beentwo or twenty songs that passed before we stumbled off the dance floor. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this carefree, unafraid of what the people around me were thinking. My brain was in a haze from the liquor and the way Theo’s hands found their permanent residence on my body. Abby and Carina were chatting at a table when I collapsed onto the top with my hands, not entirely drunk, but definitely not sober. A slow fire ignited in my lower belly, threatening to engulf my entire body in flames as he drew small figures on the fabric along my hip.
“Having a good time?” Carina crooned at me. I flashed her a dark look and played her game.
“Who was the man you were cozied up with earlier, Carina?” I cackled as she tongued her cheek and drew in a quick breath.
My feet started to ache and my dress was getting tighter and tighter with every passing minute, but Carina showed no signsof stopping. “Hey, are you okay if I head out early?” I asked the birthday girl, who was all too willing to send me home.
