I nod into his shoulder. “Does that mean you’ll agree to go to Mom’s party?”
“Brielle,” he grumbles.
“What? If you really want to make it up to me, then just say you’ll come.” I lean back and force him to look me in the eyes. “We can go together, and if Dad starts on his shit again, I’ll leave with you. It would just mean a lot to Mom to see you there.”
There’s a war raging inside of him that I wish I could put an end to. It’s the same one that’s been there for most of our lives. And even still, I have no idea how to put an end to it without our family taking casualties.
“You have to actually mean it, Brielle. If he goes at me, I’m leaving, and you’re coming with,” he says, voice tight.
“I promise.”
His gaze lingers for a few moments longer before he nods and releases me completely. I force a confident, reassuring smile.
“Fine,” he says, readjusting his backward cap. “And just for the record, I knew you were going to give in.”
“Likewise, idiot.”
“Always a know-it-all.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I tease.
Wes reaches for my hair and gently tugs on a loose curl. “You dyed your hair back.”
“I did. The red got a bit too much for me.”
“I missed the blonde. It’s always been more you than the red.”
His words strike deeper than I know he intended them to. They’re confirmation that I made the right call.
“Okay, so we can all go back to being normal now?” Kellan interrupts.
I pin him beneath an exaggeratedly bored look. “As opposed to?”
“I think what he meant to ask was if you’ve worked your problems out,” Aubrey clarifies with a pointed push of her chin my way.
Wes rubs his hands together. “All’s good. Now, pass me something to drink. It is my birthday, after all.”
The group erupts in cheers that I don’t join in on. With the music somehow growing louder and my brother distracted by the champagne bottle offered to him, I steal a glance at the front of the bus. The disco ball spinning above us paints the walls and leather seats in a rainbow of colours. All of which reflect off the black dress shirt and matching pants Roman’s wearing.
I swallow twice, then a third time.
He’s here, and he’s not moving. His hands are buried deep into his pockets as he stares right at me with those guarded, dark eyes that I can’t seem to stop thinking about. They weigh me down, yet I don’t dare wish for them to lift. I press my hand to the empty space beside me and struggle with my breathing, needing to keep it steady.
A deep blue light flashes across his jaw, illuminating the way it ticks. The rainbow reflects in his eyes as he shifts them just enough to scroll down my body. I dig my teeth into my tongue when the heat from his gaze lingers on my upper thighs, now exposed from the rising hem of my dress.
Suddenly, I’m contemplating pulling it higher just to see if he’ll follow it all the way up. Would he look away then or grab me and carry me right back off this bus?
A thick, veined hand rises to his styled hair and pushes the fallen strands back into place before he finally looks away from my thighs. This time, when I meet his eyes, the want inside of them is obvious. It sends sparks down to the damp space between my legs.
“Roman!” Finn cheers, forcing my attention away from the older man. “Come sit with us. We don’t bite, I promise.”
Speak for yourself.
I drop my eyes to Kellan’s shins across the aisle instead of lifting them back to the man who I know has to be approaching by now. Wes starts rambling about something to Finn, but I ignore him, too busy listening to my quick breaths.
My cheek begins to tingle, then my bare arm, almost like they’re trying to tell me something. By the time I pick up the sound of footsteps, there’s no escaping the draw I feel to look at him again. Even just once.
The seat beside me dips before I can give in. Heat blasts against my side, and a familiar cologne creeps up my nose. My fingers curl into my dress when I lean back and turn my head.
