“I wonder if she even dances anymore,” Brandy added.
“I doubt it. She looks more like a tomboy. Did you see what she was wearing?” There was just a hint of envy in Kailyn’s tone. My guess was that she was jealous of the attention swirling around Emma’s reappearance.
My eyes followed her as she gracefully weaved through the cluster of round tables. Her black cargo pants sat low on her waist and on her they looked sexy. Chains of silver hung around her neck in a variety of lengths down her white t-shirt. Gathered at the nape of her neck was her strawberry blonde hair in a low ponytail. Looks like someone had hung up her ballet shoes and traded them in for a bow and arrow.
Our eyes meet across the crowded and chatty room that smelled of baked chicken, watery mashed potatoes, and icky, lumpy brown sauce, but all I could taste was my own unease. Emma winked at me from where she sat, straight and rigid in her seat. Chase snarled low in his throat.
Emma, Chase, and I together under one roof was going to be extremely hazardous for everyone.
***
I sat at the edge of the couch arm and crossed my feet. “You wanted to talk, so…talk.”
His form dwarfed the room with his commanding presence. Leaning against the wall, he couldn’t have been any farther away from me. “Now that we know Emma and her dad are out there hunting us, I need you to be more careful than usual. We can’t afford any mistakes.”
He was telling me stuff I had already figured out on my own. “I’m not going to do anything stupid,” I assured.
“Really? Because I am pretty sure that stunt you pulled yesterday in the woods was pretty stupid.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you telling me that if roles had been reversed, you wouldn’t have done the same?”
He lifted his silver hooped brow. “That’s the difference. I could have handled the situation. Hell, I had it under control.”
“It didn’t look that way from where I stood.”
He pushed off the wall and in a blink he was standing in front of me. My breath caught in my throat as I slide off the couch to my feet. We hadn’t been this close in days, not close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him, or his body brushing up against mine. Eyes flashed the color of lightning, smothering the silver. “Then there is something wrong with your eyes. Or maybe it’s just your judgment. You forget all too easily what I am.” He cocked his head.
I took a step forward and watched his eyes widen in surprise. He’d expected to frighten me. When was he going to learn that I wasn’t afraid of him, of what he was? No matter how many times he threw it my face. “I know who you are. You’re the guy who is constantly saving me.”
The look on his face said he was expecting a different reaction. Anger. Fear. Retreat. Not intrigue, desire, respect.
I’d always had an aggressive streak, but this was unchartered territory for me. And it was totally freaking Chase out. That turned me on. It gave me this girl-power feeling that went to my head. I’d never tried to seduce someone before, and I wasn’t sure why I wanted to, or what had gotten into me. Flatting my hands on his chest, I peeked up at him under my lashes. His eyes had gone brighter, and my heart thundered.
“You play a dangerous game.”
Heard it before. I bit the inside of my cheek and said, “I like danger.” I was testing him, testing myself. Things felt different since yesterday, since seeing Ives. He had pulled away from me, and over the past few das he had put a wall between us. I didn’t understand why. What happened? What changed?
Looping my arms around his neck, tingles of excitement and eagerness unfolded through me. Lifting up on my toes, I closed the space between our mouths fully intending for our lips to lock. My eyes fluttered close, and–
I stumbled.
Chase had removed himself rather quickly from my embrace. He cut me a look and took a step back, then another, running a hand through his dark locks. I tried to ignore how magnificent he looked in those jeans. And the disappointment that spun in my belly. He shook his head, looking overwhelmed by me. I had become the aggressor, flipping the tables on him, and it looked to be messing with his head.
Served him right. Someone needed to flatten him on his superior rump. I was just glad it was me, even though I was hurting from the rejection. “What’s your deal?” I asked, taking a step in his direction.
A mask of indifference clouded his eyes still glowing. “I don’t know what you mean?”
I rolled my eyes. “Bullshit. For weeks you put on the moves, making my head spin. And now, you can’t stand to be next to me. Don’t play dumb with me. Ever since Ives and then the Emma thing, you are different. What gives?”