I twisted towards the sound of Courtney’s voice like a magnet. Flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes and a bright smile on her lips. I closed the distance between us and kissed her. Her arms snaked around my neck, fingers threading in my hair. She broke from our kiss, lids hooded.
“Hey you,” I breathed.
She smiled. “Hey you too.”
“This isn’t the place for a make out,” Hannah interrupted. Courtney flinched. My arm hooked around her waist. I shot a glare at her infuriating roommate. Too on edge, the needles started vibrating across my irises-
A soft hand on my cheek forced my attention back on my angel instead.
“Wait for me in the hall,” she murmured. I didn’t want to release her; it’d been painful enough to separate from her all day with the maelstrom of doom brewing around us. The air was thick with anticipation, like waiting for the first drop of rain.
But I obeyed and waited outside the dressing room with my eyes closed and my head throbbing, fingers rolling the three pills back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Resolve waned with every passing second.
A flood of laughter, excited chatter and cheers started and stopped with a click of a door.
I should’ve felt relieved as Courtney laced my fingers with hers, leading me out the back. Instead, I scanned the parking lot for the SUV from earlier. Courtney’s hand tightened in mine as if sensing my wayward thoughts; she edged closer to me. I halted, pulling her into my chest.
“You stole my breath tonight,” I whispered against her forehead. “I think I found a new religion.”
“I didn’t know you were the religious type,” she teased, her teeth digging into her lower lip. I snatched it from her, sucking her lip into my mouth. A breathy moan escaped her, my hands wandering down from her waist to her hips to her ass.
“Angel, let’s not pretend I don’t worship you.”
Her eyelids fluttered. “Are there limits to this worship?”
Only she could coax a smile from me when all I wanted to do was scream. “Of course not,” I murmured, skimming my mouth over her cheek to her ear. “I take prayerveryseriously.”
“As much as I want to take you up on that devout offer,” she began, pushing back. “We have an after party to attend.”
I blinked at her. Consumed in my terror, paranoia and anxiety, I’d completely forgotten. She caught my pause, cringing. “I’m sorry, but I promised everyone we’d go.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “It’s your night.”
She smiled up at me, angling for the off campus apartments across the street. My stomach knotted. Was my unease imagined or a sign from the universe? As we crossed the parking lot, I noted the empty spot where a dented SUV had been.
“Come on, I want to get there before it rains,” Courtney begged, picking up her pace. I hurried to keep up with her, with a string of words looped on repeat in my head.
Red. Pain. Screams. Bright lights. Rain. The side of a road. And you.
39
Courtney
Tequilaburnedupmynose, down my throat. Tarte lime juice burst between my teeth. My tongue glided over numb lips while my hazy eyes locked on a pair of ice blue ones.
Unable to say no to my fellow dancers, I lost count of how many shots I’d taken. I’d lost track of time, lost my attention span for anything that wasn’t the beautiful monster searing holes through my clothes. His heady, smoky scent washed away the burn leftover by alcohol, replacing it with flames of desire.
“You’re distractingly gorgeous,” I breathed, fisting Ollie’s shirt and dragging him closer.
He smirked. “Every time you’re drunk, I become gorgeous to you.”
I rose up to nip his ear, licking to soothe the bite. A low groan rumbled in his chest. “You’re always gorgeous to me, but if I tell you all the time, you’ll float away with an overinflated ego.”
His fuckinglaugh. The sound wound a tight, needy pull between my legs. A bathroom. A hallway. Anywhere but here so I could taste every inch of him. I fumbled for his wrist, tugging him with me. Despite dancing then immediately donning heels, I couldn’t feel the ache in my toes.
Or ankles. Or legs really.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked, a smile on his lips. Lips I wanted to suck and bite and lick-
