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“We ain’t bothering nobody.”

“You’re bothering me!”

“Come on, Lakelyn.”

“No. You and your lil’ crew need to get the fuck out of my house.”

His jaw tightened.

I pointed toward the entrance. “Now!”

For several seconds, he didn’t move. Then he gave a slow shake of his head. “Still got that attitude.”

“And you’re still somewhere you don’t belong.” I moved aside to give him a clear path toward the door. “Goodnight, Chalis.”

He opened his mouth, but before he could respond, something strange moved through my body.

A sudden warmth spread through me, not painful or frightening, just unexpected enough to make me lose my train of thought.

The music seemed to dim around me.

Chalis was still standing directly in front of me, but his voice sounded farther away when he said my name.

“Lakelyn?”

I reached for the edge of a nearby table as a brief wave of lightheadedness swept over me.

What the hell?

Had I drunk too much?

Three shots had never been enough to make me feel like that.

“Lakelyn, you okay?”

I heard him, but for some reason I couldn’t seem to respond immediately. Then a thought slipped into my mind so suddenly that I knew it hadn’t been there a second earlier.

Let him stay.

My forehead creased.

No.

I didn’t want him there. I wanted his ass gone.

Still, the thought pressed against my resistance again.

Just let him stay.

My shoulders loosened, and the strange sensation disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.

Chalis was still watching me. “Lakelyn?”

I straightened. “Yeah?”

“You good?”

For a second, I couldn’t even remember what I had been about to say.