And for once?
He was right.
Because in this moment, in his arms, I didn’t care who was watching.
I was exactly where I wanted to be.
I let out a soft laugh, one that melted into the thrum of the music as I leaned into Nick, pressing closer until there was barely space between us. A breath escaped me—half sigh, half surrender—as I gave in to the freedom he offered so effortlessly. There was power in this. In being on display, in choosing to stay beside him despite the eyes, the noise, the whispers.
It was the first time I felt like I was choosing me.
But just as I was losing myself in him, a voice sliced through the moment, sharp and ugly like broken glass.
“You really think she’s worth it?”
The words came from somewhere nearby—another booth, a pack of men too loud and too drunk, their attention clearly unwanted. I didn’t have to turn to know they were watching us. Me.
Nick stilled.
His body, so warm and fluid just seconds ago, went rigid beneath my hands. I felt his jaw tighten, the shift in him immediate. His arm around my waist became protective, possessive—his entire posture changing like a storm building on the horizon.
“Just keep dancing,” he murmured, low and lethal, his eyes fixed on them with a kind of silent threat that sent a chill down my spine… but not from fear.
I looked up at him, part of me bracing for the explosion I could feel building in his chest. But when our eyes met, there was something else. Steel. Certainty. Control. And somehow, that grounded me.
So I nodded.
I didn’t say a word. I didn’t give them the reaction they wanted. I just let Nick guide me again, arms wrapped around him, swaying to the beat like none of it mattered.
Because it didn’t. Not here. Not now.
They could spit whatever they wanted—mock what they thought they knew about me, throw jabs about the girl I used to be. But I wasn’t her anymore. Not with Nick’s hand warm against the small of my back, not with his gaze locked on mine like I was the only person in the room.
He spun me gently, turning our bodies so I faced him fully, blocking out the rest of the club. And suddenly it was just us again—just this moment, just this beat, just this unshakable gravity tethering us together in the middle of the chaos.
For now, we were untouchable.
Chapter 22
Nick
I dipped my head, pressing a slow kiss to the side of her neck. Her skin was warm and soft, and the way she shivered against me had my control fraying at the edges. The beat of the song pulsed through the club, but all I could focus on was the way she fit against me—her body molded to mine like she was made for it.
I moved us in time with the rhythm, my hand splayed low on her back as I guided her across the dance floor. Every sway, every brush of her hips against mine, sent heat coiling through my veins. There were so many things I wanted to do to her right then—so many ways I wanted to claim her fully, to make sure no one ever questioned who she belonged to again.
But not here. Not with a hundred strangers watching.
She was mine—but she was for me, not for show. Not for anyone else’s eyes.
I pulled her a little closer anyway, just to remind everyone in the room what they couldn’t have. She tilted her head to look at me, and fuck, the trust in her gaze nearly wrecked me. She didn’t even realize the power she had—how just being near her made me want to burn the world down and build her a safer one in its place.
When the song finally ended, I leaned in, my lips brushing her ear. “Come on.”
She nodded, and I laced my fingers through hers—tight, unbreakable—and led her back to our table. Every step away from the dance floor felt like reclaiming something. Not just her body pressed against mine, but her confidence, her safety, her future.
She was with me.
And that meant everything.
