He smiled, eyes bright and thrilled. “Only if you matter.”
Matter. The word landed in my chest like a challenge. Matter how? And to whom? I imagined their eyes on me like teeth.
Then, I imagined Alek’s teeth on me, ripping into my throat, marking me as his. Now, my nerves were lit up, but not for the same reason as before.
“Not perfect,” my inner voice hissed, sharp as knives. I tugged at the hem of my dress, aware of every pair of eyes while wishing he were here to keep me from feeling so exposed. “You will never be good enough for him. Your brother will never accept him. Never.”
Nikolai led us to a booth on the side of the room markedVIP,slinging the sign off to the side and holding out his arm to help Mia and me slide into it. The music was lower here, and I breathed a sigh of relief at being away from the prying eyes.
“Have fun tonight, ladies.” Nikolai gave me a piercing sky-blue stare. “But not too much fun, okay, Miss Vale?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that.
Nikolai disappeared into the darkness of the crowd, and I sighed, already regretting saying yes to Mia, though I would never tell her that. How could I when she was clearly so excited to have me here?
The song changed to one I vaguely recognized, a low tune filled with lots of bass and words I could barely hear. “Oh my God! I love this song! Let’s go take shots and dance!”
I wanted to tell her that leaving this booth was thelastthing I wanted to do… but I didn’t. I just accepted her outstretched hand and let her lead me to a bar and a night full of bad decisions.
December 27th
Evangeline
Hi Alek :)
Aleksandr
Hello, pretty girl.
Evangeline
You are so sweet. :)
You make me so happy. :)
I’m gonna keep you. :)
Aleksandr
Are you okay, Eva?
Evangeline
I am MORE than okay!
I was okay like three drinks ago!
But now I’m BETTER!
Aleksandr
Where are you, baby? I’ll come get you.
Evangeline
Umm… I don’t know. It’s dark.
*missed call from Aleksandr*
