The two of us stare daggers at one another, like we’re in some kind of standoff, and I hate it, but not enough to back down.
“Are you going to let me go dance with Sienna, or is she not allowed to touch me either?”
Kole finally steps away, but his anger remains fully intact. “Let’s go.”
“Excuse me?” I demand, folding my arms.
“If you go out there dancing like how you were before, I’m going to have to kill every motherfucker who eventhinksabout putting his hands on you.”
“So what? You’re just going to stand there like a fucking bodyguard, scaring everyone off?” I shake my head. “You were supposed to be the fun brother.”
“I still am.” The corners of his mouth curve up, and he reaches for my arm.
In a breath, I’m standing in front of Sienna, who is grinding up against some random guy with bulging muscles. Her eyes dart from me to Kole, clearly picking up on the tension radiating between us, but just as I’m about to ask her to go to the bathroom, Kole grabs me by the waist, pulling me into him.
I whirl around, taking a step back. “What are you doing?”
“You want to dance, and I don’t want any guys thinking they can make a move.”
“So you think I’m going to dance with you after you’ve scared everyone else off?”
He shrugs. “You said yourself I’m a good dancer.”
“That was back when you were dressed like Kevin Bacon and not acting like a total asshole.”
Kole grabs a hold of my waist and pulls me into him again. “Come on, Grey. Let me show you that I’m still the fun brother.”
His voice is seductive, and the way he’s looking down at me is making my body buzz with nervous energy.
“What about the blonde you were talking to?” I ask, as I run my hands up his chest, clasping them behind his neck.
“What about her?” he says flatly, as we both begin to sway back and forth to the music.
“Wouldn’t you rather be dancing with her?”
“No.”
He says it with so much conviction it makes my heart beat out of rhythm.
“Why not? She’s hot, and you two seemed to be getting along,” I press despite feeling the relentless envy stirring up with images of her touching him.
His eyes narrow on me as he forces me closer, leaving barely an inch of space between us.
“She was just a distraction. Nothing more.”
Before I can ask him what she was a distraction from, Kole whirls me around so that my back is to him. His hands fall to my hips, and Sienna looks at me with a smirk that says she’s loving it. There’s only a second of resistance before I begin dancing, giving in to the tequila and the music. All thoughts of keeping Kole in the friend zone seem to fade the longer his body is pressed against mine.
It feels like I’m walking on a tightrope, clinging to it as gravity threatens to pull me from safety. I know being this close to him will only make things worse, but it’s as if my soul is screaming at me that in his arms is exactly where I should be. To everyone else it probably looks like Kole is just playing with his brother’s pet, but they couldn’t be more wrong. If anyone is playing with me, it’s the universe.
Somehow, it feels like no matter how much I try to take control of my life, someone else is pulling the strings. I keep finding myself caught in the middle, suspended between two versions of reality. A human living in a world run by vampires and werewolves. Freed by a contract, only to have to keep up appearances in public. Bound by a mark and an Alpha, all while feeling pulled to his brother. There are so many invisible chains restricting me that it feels like I’m slowly being crushed by their hold.
I turn around to face Kole, silently telling the universe to, “Fuck off.” His hands press against my lower back, injecting me with a shot of adrenaline that courses throughout my body within seconds. I didn’t know I could feel so safe with someone while also feeling like I’m free-falling through an endless sky.
“I’m sorry I ruined your night,” he says, true sincerity lacing his words.
“You didn’t,” I promise, running my fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair.
In this moment, I can’t remember why I was even mad at him for scaring off the other guys. It’s not like they really mattered. The only guy who matters in this whole club is the one standing in front of me. Anyone else was just going to be a substitute for the real thing.
