My mind gets so hazy around her; it’s like I become someone possessed. Like I have no ability to control my emotions. Or my mouth. Or my hands.
Those glimmering emerald eyes, locked on mine, as she moved up and down my ...
Fuck. I’m in trouble. As usual, I acted on primal instinct without considering the consequences. But fuck the consequences. They’ve been a threat all my teenage and adult life. I just want her, that should be enough to eradicate all this other bullshit.
‘You good?’ Zayden’s voice snaps me back to reality and I blink, his concerned face coming into focus in front of me.
‘Uh,’ I say, ‘can I talk to you for a sec?’
‘Sure.’
We move off to the side a little, and anxiety swells inside my chest to the point my head starts to spin. Swallowing it, I take a deep breath, refusing to let it overcome me.
‘So, here’s the thing ...’ I trail off as movement over Zayden’s head captures my attention. Kai has Anya cornered in the living room, and it’s clear from all the way over here how uncomfortable she is.
Zayden turns, seeing the same thing. We look back at each other.
‘Nope,’ we both say, pushing off the counter and storming over to them.
‘Come on,’ I overhear Kai say. ‘Just a quick walk around the block. You owe me.’
‘She doesn’t owe you shit, Adams,’ I bite out, and Kai stiffens. He whirls around to face us, the smirk vanishing from his face.
‘What’s going on here?’ Zayden demands.
‘Kai is trying to pressure Anya into going for awalk,’ Cami fills in, dramatically forming quotation marks with her fingers, making it evident what she thinks Kai’s true intentions are. ‘And Anya is too polite to tell him to fuck off.’
‘Fuck you, bitch,’ Kai snaps.
‘Hey!’ Zayden snarls, taking a threatening step in Kai’s direction. ‘You don’t speak to anyone like that in my house. If Anya doesn’t want to go, then she doesn’t want to go.’
‘You always going to fight her battles for her, big bro?’ Kai taunts, his slimy, leering smile etched on his face.
I’m moving before I realise what I’m doing.
‘No!’ Anya blurts, throwing her hands out and slamming them into my chest. ‘Think, Mase.’
‘I am thinking,’ I reply, my stare locked on Kai’s face.
‘Don’t blow your chance of ...’ she starts, and then stops.
‘Chance of what?’ Zayden asks.
‘Yeah, chance of?’ Kai says. ‘Looks to me like you’re bitching out.’
A low rumble emits from my throat as I sidestep Anya.
‘Don’t blow becoming captain on him!’ she whispers, but she may as well have shouted it with the way everyone looks at us.
‘What?’ Zayden asks quietly, his eyes ping-ponging between Anya and me. ‘Who? Captain?’ He’s not making any sense as he processes her words. ‘Coach asked you to be captain?’
Kai’s jaw is practically touching the floor as he gapes at me. He scoffs, taking a step back and holding up his hands. ‘Sorry there,Cap, didn’t mean to step on your toes.’ I bristle, heat inching up my neck as he glances suggestively at Anya. ‘Bitch doesn’t put out, anyway.’
I see red.
It takes everything inside me to hold back and not react to his words, even though that’s exactly what he wants me to do. My fingernails dig into my palms as I form fists with my hands, fighting for control. Meanwhile, Zayden’s fist launches straight into Kai’s face. His head snaps back, and he drops to the floor like he weighs nothing. His six-foot frame sprawls across the carpet, and the music comes to a screeching halt as everyone turns to see what’s going on.
‘Get the fuck out of my house,’ Zayden grounds out, an eerie calm settling across his face and shoulders, blood spread across his knuckles. My stomach roils at the sight of it. ‘Now.’
