And not because I worry Suze might poach him otherwise, or because I’ve downed one very potentLast Yeehawbefore coming downstairs, but because I ache to feel his lips on me, and his big callused hands wandering my skin.
The two hours of dancing fly by.
Too soon, he’s thanking Tricia and Jeneva for having included him, and leading Fiona to the bar for a tall glass ofprobably notwater.
“I love your boyfriend,” Calanthe murmurs, taking my arm and leading me out of the underground space Logan put at Jeneva’s disposal.
“He’s not my?—”
“Make it official already. You’re taking him to Atlantis.A-tlan-tis,” she repeats, enunciating each syllable as though the weight of it might’ve escaped me the first time.
“Who’s taking who tomyisland?” Tarian appears at the top of the staircase, white button-down open at the collar and sleeves rolled up.
The grin that wings itself onto Calanthe’s lips at the sight of her soulmate lights her up. Does my face do that when I look at Cillian?
We’ve been separated for all of a minute, yet my heart speeds up when I reach the landing.
I knew I was done thinking when I arrived with Calanthe and laid eyes on him, but now I canfeelit. His body calls to mine. Or maybe it’s his soul?
Whatever it is, it exerts such a gravitational force that I don’t even realize letting go of Calanthe’s arm and crossing the bar area toward where he’s bantering with Logan and Fiona.
I crash their conversation. “Fi, are you having another one of those—what did you call them again, Lo?”
“Last Yeehaws,” the blond Southerner drawls. “Reckon those need to find their way onto my menu.”
“They absolutely should. They’re excellent. Unlike yourAtlantitarians.” I scrunch up my nose. “Those are god-awful.”
Logan laughs. “Believe it or not, those are what people keep comin’ back for.”
That, and the fact that Atlantean patrons are often spotted in his venue.
“You need a back entrance, Logan.” My brother, who must’ve rolled in with Tarian, nods his head in greeting as he approaches. “It’s chaos outside. Did you advertise free drinks or something?”
“No.” Logan sticks the shaker bottle in the sink. “But I did mention a private event.”
“That explains it.” Dorian looks squarely in Cillian’s direction as he asks, “The women behaved, Logan?”
I bristle at my brother’s deliberate snub. “Logan wasn’t there the whole time. But Cillian was. You should ask him.”
Dorian’s cheeks hollow.
“All but Fi,” Cillian replies with a smile. To the world, it looks like he’s oblivious to the tension, but his fisted fingers and the tendons roping his neck mark the strain beneath his calm.
Fiona flashes us her veneers. “You missed out, honey.”
My brother is too busy glaring at Cillian to register her words. “Can I have a word with you, Elle?”
I purse my lips but walk down to a quieter part of the bar with him.
He leads with, “Diego told me about Callie’s dream. Just because she saw him there doesn’t mean he’d be coming as your boyfriend.”
“What else would he be coming as? Fi’s boytoy?” I deadpan.
“Maybe he’s not coming at all. Maybe Callie confused him with someone else. What I’m trying to say is, you don’thaveto date him.”
I slap a hand across my chest in fake relief. “Thank Gaea. Here I was, emotionally drafting our wedding vows.”
Dorian’s jaw tics.
