I take a deep breath through my nose and release it slowly. Fuck, I hate this. She looks gorgeous and sexy enough for other guys to notice her.
Other guys to fucking maul her.
Not that she hasn’t always been gorgeous all on her own, but her beauty is like a full moon hidden behind the clouds, veiled but undeniable when you look closely. Now the clouds have parted, and everyone can fucking see it.
Anxiety grips my throat like a vise. My saving grace over these years has been that no one but me and that dipshit Cody Morris have ever seemed to notice how beautiful she is.
“Damn, she looks good,” mutters the pledge next to me, and I shoot him a glare that ought to make his heart stop beating. The uneasy weight in my chest grows heavier as a group of guys surround her. What the fuck is she doing? Her transformation can’t be a good sign.
She’s up to something.
“Move,” I bite out, pushing through the crowd and making my way toward Amy. I need to figure out what’s going on here and why she decided to crash the party. And I need to put a damn coat over that dress. As I approach her, her eyes alight with mischief.
Ah, she’s doing this to get under my skin.
“Amelia,” I say, trying to keep my voice casual as I close the distance between us. “Nice of you to drop by.”
“Tristan,” she replies, her eyes shimmering with a mix of amusement and defiance. “I thought it was about time I came to another party. I hear they get pretty wild.”
Her words make me wince internally. Yes, they do get wild, which is why I won’t be letting her drink much. She looks like she’s five foot nothing, and I doubt she drinks much. I’m not letting her leave my sight.
Especially not in that goddamn dress.
“Let’s talk,” I tell her, grabbing her arm gently but firmly and leading her away from the prying eyes of my brothers. God help anyone who approaches her.
“Someone’s grumpy,” Amy says as I pull her into one of my brothers’ bedrooms. I slam the door behind me.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” I clip out, clenching my jaw and trying to keep my emotions in check. That’s proving harder than I imagined. Jealousy where Amy is concerned isn’t new for me. I’ve been watching her hang out with Cody Morris every day since we started college. Thankfully, they’ve never gotten together, and I’ll make sure they never do.
No one will touch her but me, and certainly not one of my frat brothers.
“Don’t you think I look pretty?” she asks in a voice as sweet as maple syrup.
“You look gorgeous, and after I look my fill of you in that dress—” I let my gaze drop to her chest. Fuck, her tits look soft and luscious. “After that I’m putting a coat on you.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, but it does nothing to hide her tits. Nothing could hide them in that dress.
“No, I like this dress. I like the way I look.”
“Well, I have a really nice…T-shirt that’ll look great over it.” I grab her arm. “Come with me upst?—”
She yanks her arms from my grip. “If you make me wear a T-shirt, I’m going to assume it’s because you’re fatphobic and don’t like me showing off my body.”
Heat washes over my skin. Is she fucking serious?
“Goddamn it, Amelia! You know that’s not true. You know you look gorg?—”
“Do I?” Her sweet smile is nothing short of malicious, and goddamn it, I want to yank that dress off her and show her with my cock what I really think of how she looks.
I let out a frustrated sigh. “I know you’re playing me right now, but I’ll allow it. You can wear the dress. As long as you understand that you’re not leaving my sight tonight.”
She scoffs. “If you want to stalk me, I can’t stop you. I’ll be with your bestie, anyway. You trust him, don’t you?”
My head grows fuzzy. “Nick?”
She nods.
“Why would you hang out with Nick?”
