But then the guy put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me to him. I felt a strong sense of nausea and powerlessness.
“Leave her alone, come on,” Will said, both hands full.
“Do you think you can tell me what to do?” said the guy, laughing.
I wriggled out of the stranger’s grip as he stared at William, glowering.
I had nothing more to do with their argument. Supposed alpha males only wanted to find an excuse to fight.
“I’m saying that you don’t scare me, little boy,” the guy continued.
“I’msaying that it’s best for you to get the fuck away and leave her alone.” James’s voice startled me.
And his intimidating figure forced even this guy to hightail it.
“Why do you always have to be like this? It doesn’t make sense,” I whispered.
James bit his lip and didn’t hint at an answer. I felt my cheeks itch, even my eyelids, as my eyes met his full, shiny lips. The burning image of the kiss with the stranger came back to mind.
“Are you okay?” asked Will, noticing my confused state. Then he handed me a glass that James quickly took out of my hands.
“Can you give it back to me, please?” I spat, annoyed.
“You seem drunk enough to me.”
“But it’s nonalcoholic,” clarified Will in response to his friend’s skeptical expression.
“I just want to try it.” James wrapped his lips around the straw and stayed still, his midnight-blue eyes glued to mine.
The echo of their words started to get more distant, and after determining that the drink didn’t have alcohol, James gave me back the glass. William caressed my face as I struggled to take my eyes off James. I didn’t know what kind of game this was, but I decided to let it be.
I closed my eyes. The warm sensation rushing through my veins gave me the shivers. Maybe it was the gentle way that William was moving the hair away from my forehead or the brazen way James caressed my body with a feverish gaze full of desire.
“Um.” I needed air. “I’m going outside for a bit,” I muttered, trying to free myself from the vise of their nearby, feverish bodies.
“I’ll go with you if you need me to,” I heard William say.
“No.”
I wondered why it was that putting two coherent thoughts together had started to be so complex. I would’ve wanted to tell them their behavior was wrong, that after what had happened the day before, Will didn’t have the right to interfere if someone came up to talk to me. I knew how to defend myself. And the same went for James. I had to get away from those two.
“You better not go out alone. You drank too much,” James whispered gruffly in my ear, making me wince.
“I didn’t drink anything.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I only took a sip of that drink from before.”
“Oh, okay.”
“James.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off his lips even for a moment. I smelled William’s scent behind me. It was delicate and smelled like fabric softener and maybe honey-scented body wash.
And when I turned to him, I was enraptured by James’s more intense, more masculine scent.
Will came closer to my cheek. I lowered my gaze, but I felt his mint-and-beer-scented breath on my neck. I closed my eyes, telling myself it was just my imagination.
