He shook his head.“I didn’t get a chance.You started dancing with my sister, and she bolted out of here so fast that I had no time to charm her.”
Lula Mae was too close.Touching me and annoying the hell out of me.I was already strung tight.I didn’t need some clingy-ass female I had no interest in all over me.
I swung my gaze back to the glass doors to see she was gone.Fuck.Was he right?Had she left because of this?
“I need to go check on her,” I told Lula Mae as I stepped back.
“I just bet you do,” Wayon drawled.
“Don’t,” I warned him.
He chuckled again, and I was real damn close to punching his smug-ass face.Bastard.I hated him as much as Than did.He was a son of a bitch, and I would be glad when the entire Davidson clan was out of Mississippi.
“The song isn’t over,” Lula Mae said.“I love this one.”
I’d done my time.
“Locke will come dance with you,” I told her, knowing good and well that wasn’t likely.He’d entertain her but he wasn’t much of a dancer.
I didn’t wait for her to say more when I stalked to the door.
Oz’s eyes were on me the second I stepped inside.I ignored him and turned toward Locke.He had to go deal with the princess now.I was done.
“Lula Mae is asking for you to come dance with her,” I told him.
His brows drew together, and I shrugged as if I didn’t know why she’d chosen him over me.They could all believe what they wanted.I didn’t care.Looking back at Oz, I gave him a nod, then started toward the hallway where Elsie had gone.She’d either escaped to the kitchen or the bedroom.I was betting it was the former.But, hell, I could be wrong.Maybe she just went to the bathroom.
No.She had walked too fast as if she couldn’t get away fast enough.That wasn’t for a pee break.She wasn’t coming back out tonight.
Was it because of my dancing with Lula Mae?Or had that fucker said something that upset her?What was Oz thinking tonight anyway?All these damn people around here.She was grieving.Did he not think of that?
I paused at the kitchen door to see it was empty and continued on toward the stairs.I’d tried to get her away from this earlier, but she pulled away from me and defiantly went over to sit with Wayon.What had that shit been about?If she liked him, she wouldn’t have bolted.
The collar of my T-shirt suddenly felt too tight.I reached up to tug at it.The restlessness was back, but along with it was a different animal trying to break free.One as foreign to me as the other.
My strides were longer as I drew closer to her door.When I reached it, I lifted my fist to knock and stopped, then grabbed the handle and turned it.Not locked.A smirk curled my lips.
Not smart, Pickles.Good girls know to lock their doors when a bad boy is one room away.
With a shove, I swung it open and walked right on in.
Twenty-Eight
Elsie
I was glad my view of the backyard didn’t include the pool.If they did go skinny-dipping, like Lula Mae had insinuated, then I wasn’t sure I could move on from that sight.With my arms crossed over my chest, I stood there, staring into the moonlit darkness.
The sound of footsteps caught my attention, and I glanced back toward the door.
Please don’t let someone be coming to tell me I’m needed downstairs.I’d had all I could handle.
While I waited to see if they were going to stop and knock, I held my breath.The footsteps slowed until they went silent at my door.But there wasn’t a knock.I sucked in a breath, taking a step back when the door swung open wide.Before I had a moment to panic, Forge came striding in like he belonged in here.
His gaze swung to mine, and there was a smirk on his lips.
“Forge?”I choked out his name.
“Yes?”he replied casually.
