“You’re not scared of me.”
She was still smiling. “No.”
“Why?” I asked, my voice both far away and too loud.
Her hand cupped my cheek, thumb making a soothing pass that hiked up the wailing alarms.
“I was meant to know you. I don’t know why, but I can tell you honestly, I’m not trying to keep you out,” she said, each word like a drop of ice in my heated blood.
“Meant to know me?”
“You’re not the only one with secrets, Ollie.”
11
Courtney
Dangerousandbeautiful. Something inside me came alive at his touch, reservations that mom drilled into me faded into background noise like everyone else at the bar. Nothing mattered but the miracle in front of me.
“What’s your secret?” He asked, breath spicy with whiskey.God, the urge to taste him burned with a vengeance. Beneath my fist his heart slammed against the bars of its cage, his chiseled features sharp with suspicion.
“There’s a cost,” I said, surprising myself with boldness. “I don’t give information away for free.”
“What will it cost me?” he asked.
Those otherworldly eyes scanned me in a way only someone with his gifts could appreciate. Every nuance only someone like him could decipher. I knewexactlywhat I wanted from him no matter how wrong it was. Knew anyone else in my position would run screaming. Knew the right thing to do would be to get as far away from him as physically possible, but my visions had other ideas and he was in all of them.
“So, this is who you swapped me for?”
A furious female voice popped the bubble around us like a gunshot. I jerked away from Ollie as his eyes swirled silver. Those around us backed away, sensing the dangerous shift in the atmosphere. Everyone except the owner of the voice remained; the brunette I’d seen with her friend on move-in day. The same girl from the frat party.
Her figure was cut in a sinfully perfect hourglass, thick dark hair and lashes framing brilliant green eyes- undeniably gorgeous and undeniably livid.
The crowd parted again to another familiar face.
“What the fuck is going on?” Jack demanded, glancing between Ollie and the brunette. “M?”
“Ask him,” she snarled.
“Back off,” Ollie seethed through clenched teeth. His anger raised the hairs on my skin. I shifted slightly behind him, not wanting to get swept into their fight.
Jack’s chest swelled as he angled in front of the brunette. “Don’t talk to my sister like that.”
Hissister? Once Jack said it, their likeness was impossible to unsee. The slope of their noses, the shape of their eyes, the symmetry of their faces.
“Why don’t you ask her how she got me in bed to begin with.”
Jack whirled around, “Miranda, tell me he’s lying,” he begged. When Miranda’s mouth remained in a tight line, Jack cursed. “That’s fucking wrong- he’s my best friend!”
“He’s more than capable of fighting me off,” Miranda mused, venom dripping from glossy lips. Jack wagged his head in disgust before shooting an apologetic look at Ollie.
“A warning would’ve been nice,” he growled. Jack winced. Ollie’s hand reached back for mine-
“Funny how you haven’t mentioned that you sought me out too. You’re more than willing to toss blame on anyone but yourself.” Miranda spat, lunging at Ollie. The slap of her hand hitting his cheek echoed over the music.
Everyone froze, a deadly stillness settling over Ollie. No- he wasn’t still, he wasvibratinglike he tuned into a different frequency. Jack pushed his sister aside, his hands raised placatingly.
“She doesn’t know, brother. Please, don’t do something you can’t take back.Please.”
