Ryne wipes his face and tries to regain his calm, cool, unaffected exterior. He is definitely one to throw walls up, nice and high. But if you look really closely there’s a glint shining in his eyes, the slightest glimpse into his true thoughts at this moment. You can’t miss the curiosity and the interest if you’re really looking, and believe me I’m looking.
I plunge my hand into a nearby cooler and pull out a bottle of water. Making a cheers motion to the group, I turn and walk away.
* * *
Once darkness fallsand music thumps into the night air, Evie and I take to dancing, joining the mass of bodies swaying and grinding around us. We grind against each other playfully and Evie twines her arms around my neck. I glance off to the side where some people less inclined to dance are stretched out on logs around a fire. Evan hovers near the perimeter and his expression makes me laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Well,” I lean in to whisper in Evie’s ear, really playing up the moment. Evan’s expression grows darker and darker and I swallow a grin. “Don’t turn around now, but your boy’s looking at me like he wants to destroy me.”
Evie starts to turn her head, and I gently grab her chin. “I said don’t look, you goober. He’s literally staring me down right now.”
She huffs. “He’s not my boy and I don’t belong to him.” She turns her head slightly, then slows her movements and rests her head against me. I tighten my arms around her waist and she sighs into my chest. “He’s so confusing, Dacen.”
“He’s being crystal clear right now. He’s about to come over here and kick my ass.”
Evie chuckles and looks up at me. Her long brown hair, wavy since air drying after our earlier swim, swings loosely around her waist as we dance. I grab Evie’s hand and spin her out. She giggles again as she twirls around and spins back into my arms. I dip her in Evan’s direction. When I pull her back up, she whispers in my ear.
“Ryne’s looking over here, and D, I swear to beans, he looks about five seconds away from pitching a hissy fit. And I don’t think it’s on Evan’s behalf. That’s interesting, wouldn’t ya say?”
I scoff but an electric current still swirls through my body at her words. We dance to one more song and then head over to grab bottled water, laughing along the way to one of the coolers. We’re distracted talking and because you can’t hear footsteps through the sand we don’t hear them approach.
“Glad to see you two are done fucking on the dance floor.”
I slowly pivot around to find Ryne, Roman, Tyler, and Evan standing shoulder to shoulder. Surprisingly, it’s Evan who’d made the smart-ass comment and not Ryne.
“Well if it ain’t Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto, in the flesh,” I remark dryly. Tyler laughs and even Roman smirks at my words. Ryne shoots them a glare.
“What? It was funny,” Tyler’s deep voice rings out.
“And not inaccurate,” Roman adds with a shrug.
“So did you guys come over here just to be pains in our asses?”
“I need to talk to Evie,” Evan proclaims, calmer now. I cock an eyebrow at him as if he’s crazy.
“I don’t think—” I start, but Evie reaches up and rests a hand on my arm.
“It’s fine, Dacen.” Her words are soft but determined. She steps forward and crosses her arms over her chest, and snaps out at Evan. “Well? What?”
He scratches his neck and tilts his head toward the water’s edge. “Could we go talk over there or something?”
Evie raises her eyes to the stars as if she’s praying for all the patience in the world, an absolute requirement when dealing with Evan. “Whatever.” He reaches for her elbow as she walks toward him, but she yanks it out of reach and stomps past.
“She’s about to hand him his ass and I don’t even get to be a witness to the total annihilation.” Roman shakes his head in mock sadness, then grabs Tyler and nods toward where people are dancing. “Come on. Chicks and dicks shaking their hips around? Yes, please.”
Is he already done with the blonde girl from earlier? I cringe at the thought. They walk toward the fire, their laughter carrying behind them. I turn back toward Ryne. His face is impassive but there’s a storm brewing behind that mask. He stares at me, unblinking. I stare back at him. He raises a brow. I raise mine back. It’s some kind of warped, silent showdown and neither of us wants to be the loser. I want to push him, see what he does, so I lick my upper lip and then drag the lower one between my teeth. His gaze slides to my mouth. While he’s focused on my lips I sneak a peek down to his swim trunks in what has to be the fastest once-over in the history of once-overs. When I look back up his eyes bore straight into mine.
Oops, guess my fast once-over wasn’t all that fast.
“See something you like?” He spits the words out mockingly, but his eyes call to me, two beautiful gifts of steely blue heat, wrapped in a facade of anger, and tied up in a pretty bow of confusion.
I shrug and try to ignore the flash of déjà vu as my eyes settle over his hard frame once more. There’s a tension in it that practically pulses and vibrates over his skin. “Something interesting, at least.”
Ryne’s eyes narrow into tiny slits. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I take a slow drink from my bottle of water, licking my lips while I put the cap back on. “Exactly what I said. Something interesting.”
