His knuckles whitened, gripping the plastic so hard it warped.
Shane, predictably, made a joke to cut the tension: “Let’s not all fight over Amelia’s superior intellect, gentlemen, she’s got enough brilliance for the whole table.”
The room laughed, but the sound felt hollow, a bell rung in a crypt. I smiled, but my mouth was dry, the inside of my cheeks bitten raw.
I wondered if they could see it, that every jibe and touch from Alex was another bone in the graveyard Caiden and I haunted.
As the night wore on, laughter and games filled the room, but I felt like an outsider, trapped in my head. My gaze kept drifting to Caiden, who was now sitting across the room, his expression hard to read.
And then I noticed Alex watching me, a hint of something more in his eyes. It sent a shiver down my spine, reminding me of the growing connection between us.
As I glanced over at Caiden, I saw the pain etched on his face, the internal struggle that mirrored my own. And in that moment, I knew this was far from over.
The scent of Alex's cologne hung in the air as I sat beside him, his arm casually draped across the couch, grazing my neck, while I locked eyes with Caiden, his face a mask of seething anger.
Two can play at this game, Caiden.
I sent a silent challenge to him with my gaze. He shifted in his seat. The brown specks of his eyes were adorned with an inner heat that caused my stomach toflip and twist.
Caiden watched as I leaned into Alex, giggling like a giddy schoolgirl at something he said.
The game ended, but Alex's arm remained where it was, a comforting weight against my side, it was a nice change from the iciness radiating from Caiden across the room.
He didn't speak, didn't touch, but the intensity in his eyes promised a continuation, a battle waged not with words, but with actions.
With the silent language of hearts entangled and torn, battling within the fury of winter and delicacy of starlight.
The storm within us raged on, a prelude to a confrontation that felt both inevitable and terrifying. This tension being unresolved and electric.
Alex stood and stretched, his shirt riding up to reveal a stripe of tanned skin. He caught me looking and winked, so deftly I wondered if he’d been practicing in the mirror.
“You want to try that new gelato place around the corner?” he asked, pitching his voice low, just for me. “I hear they have blood orange. Your favorite, right?”
I managed a nod, because what else was I supposed to do? Say that every flavor tasted like teeth and regret now?
Alex offered his arm, and I took it. The others watched with varying degrees of amusement, but when I glanced back at Caiden, I saw the vein in his temple pulsing, his jaw set like concrete.
He didn’t say a word, only stared at the wall, as if he could bore a hole through it and escape into the blackness beyond.
I let myself get to the bottom of the porch steps before the chill of the night air bit into my arms, and I remembered too late that I’d forgotten my bag.
“I’ll grab it,” Alex offered, but I shook my head, already halfway back up the walk.
Inside, the house was quieter; the laughter had faded and the lights were low, everyone else gone off to their own corners. I grabbed my purse on the counter.
As I turned, I nearly smashed straight into Caiden: six feet of silent fury, standing in the half-lit hallway like a warning.
He didn’t move.
I tried to brush past him,but his hand shot out, catching my wrist. The grip was tight, but not cruel; his thumb pressed right over the flutter of my pulse.
“Are you seriously going to fuck him?” he whispered, not even looking at me. “Is this just for show, or are you actually that desperate?”
I tried to yank my arm free, but I was held captive by the force of his strength. “You don’t get to police what I do.”
He laughed. “No, I guess I don’t. You’re a free woman.”
He stared at me, his face a study in rage and hunger.
