My teeth grind so hard it hurts my jaw. “Don’t compare Julia to anyone. Don’t even fucking say her name.”
And that's when I see a smirk ghost over his mouth. “So… it’s real?”
“It’s real,” I spit. “I don’t want your bullshit with her. I don't want you flirting with her. I don’t want…” My words cut off.
“Us sharing her?” he finishes my words, way too casually.
My rage spikes to an all-time high. “She’s not a fucking toy.”
“I didn't say she was,” he shoots back. “But you and I have shared everything our whole lives. Food, rooms, fights, women… everything.”
“She’s not one of those women,” I growl.
Something dark flickers in his gaze. “Maybe not. But she looked at me, Mikey. You saw it. And she looked at you like she’d die if you stopped touching her.”
My voice drops to a lethal tone. “If you’re trying to piss me off, you're doing a great fucking job.”
“Relax,” Kai mutters, rolling his eyes. “I’m not trying to steal her.”
“You better not.”
He steps closer, chest to chest, voice dropping to a razor-edge whisper.
“But I am telling you this… whatever Julia is? Whoever she is? She’s not normal. You saw it too.”
I freeze, because he’s right. There’s something underneath her fear. It's something sharp and dangerous.
Something that is calling to every feral instinct Kai and I have.
Kai’s expression goes serious. “You can pretend it doesn't matter, but something about her isn’t adding up.”
I shove past him. “I don't give a fuck. I’m going to find her.”
“You think she’s fine?” he calls after me. “She didn’t look fine.”
“She will be,” I snap without even turning around to face him. “Because she’s with me.”
The music in the bar is loud, and people keep calling my name and reaching out to me for high-fives. Drinks are being shoved towards me, but I ignore them all because my mind is on one person, and one person only.
I look over to the hallway, the neon restroom sign staring back at me, and my pulse pounds in my ears. Before I can think, my feet start to move towards her. I don’t remember the last time my nerves have been this bad… I also don’t remember the last time a girl made me actually feel something.
Julia…
The last time I lost her, it was because I was a dumb ass and didn’t ask for her number. If I lose her tonight, it will be because I was too stupid to read her panic.
I reach the bathroom door and lean against the wall next to it. I take a few deep, hard breaths to try to ground myself.
“Julia,” I call out softly, as I knock once on the door. “Princess, are you okay?”
There is no answer, and my chest tightens.
I knock again, louder this time. “Jules… please talk to me.”
More silence… Fuck it. I open the door an inch, making sure it's not enough to invade the privacy of the women inside, but enough so she can hear my voice.
“Julia?” My voice cracks this time.
And I hear a quiet sniff and a shaky breath.
