“You think I am?” Jeremy leaned closer. If I had been thinking straight, I would have backed off. Thought a little clearer about what was happening. He was my best friend. Myroommate. But I didn’t think straight when it came to Sadie. I’d kill my roommate before he could lay a hand on what was mine.
“She’s mine,” I said, hands fisted at my sides because I knew if I raised them, there would be no coming back from that.
She was more important than everything—friends, family, the game.
“The hell she is.” He chest-bumped me, and even if the fucker was bigger than me, I knew how to handle myself. “Teresa is?—“
“Teresa?” I cut him off. My gaze quickly scanned who Sadie had walked into the party with. Relief struck through me.
Teresa, the soccer-playing roommate.
“I don’t want her. That’s not who I was talking about,” I quickly amended.
“What?” His body stilled, and the two of us looked towards our girls. “Who do you?—“
“Sadie,” I shared. Jer’s head turned to me so fast I heard it whip through the air, his eyes wide as they locked with mine. The energy in the air changed dramatically.
“Her roommate?” he asked with a quiet whisper. I nodded and held my hands up in peace. “Sadie. Not Teresa,” I repeated and saw the relief in his eyes. Both our shoulders relaxed as we leaned against the brick wall we’d been sitting on.
“What are the fucking chances of that?” he muttered. “Roommates becoming obsessed with other roommates on the same goddamn floor.”
“Hmm,” I grunted, taking a slow swig of my beer.
“Something about that fucking building,” Jeremy said before he stood, stretching his back, and even though all I wanted to do was keep my eyes on Sadie, something washed over my best friend’s face. I’d never seen it look that way.
He literally changed into an almost stranger right in front of my eyes. His features darkened, transforming him to a colder version I didn’t recognize.
“Jer, you good?”
“Talk to you later,” he grunted then started to walk away without another word. I hated the ease with which he took every step towards them. My hands fisted, clenched tightly in a white-knuckle hold as I tried to breathe.
Everything inside me wanted to follow him, go talk to Sadie, formally introduce myself and find a way to pull her into my arms or tuck her close to me until it was time for me to walk her home.
This wasn’t a place for my sweet little bird.
Too many guys looking. Checking her out. The thing inside of me wanted to lash out, stab their eyes out of their sockets for daring to even catch a glimpse of what the monster inside me believed was his.
I should have kept my distance.
Watched Sadie from afar and made sure I made it clear to all the assholes here that she wasn’t to be fucked with. But I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I stepped out of the darkness of the backyard and straight into the light.
Her light.
6SADIE
“Why are we here again?” I asked for probably the third time. It wasn’t fair, and I needed to stop. We had only been at the Omega house for the last fifteen minutes, and I genuinely needed to make the best out of the situation.
I was there for her.
Tere was crushing on someone, and as a good friend, I needed to be supportive.
“Because,” she started to say, and I could tell by the look on her face it was going to be something sassy. My lips started to twitch in anticipation for whatever remark she was going to drop, when I noticed how she looked beyond me at the backyard in front of us. The scent of chlorine mingled in the air from the pool.
My body stilled.
I watched in slow motion as her face changed. I tried to process what I was taking in. A twinge of fear, maybe worry, flashed in her dark burnt-caramel eyes before it was replaced by genuine interest and something else. Something that felt too intimate to watch. I glanced to see who had her wearing her heart on her sleeve, when she hardly ever even smirked at a guy.My eyes moved in the direction and suddenly, something ugly ran through my veins when I noticed the elevator guy from today walking towards us.
Laundry guy was coming towards me.
