“She seems really nice,” Cassie says, taking a step closer.
“She is. I’ve known her forever.”
“Want to dance with me?”
I look down at her, taking in her big blue eyes and soft brown curly hair. She really does resemble Atlas in several ways—andnow that I’ve seen what I’ve seen… now that I have this envy coursing through me, I have conflicting feelings.
On the one hand, I only want him. I want to take him this very second, to show him whatIcould do for him. I don’t want anyone the way I want Atlas.
On the other hand? Completely born from spite, I want to ravish someone else the way he was taken by his boyfriend. I want to forget him, to wipe this need from my body with the touch of someone else’s fingertips.
“Yeah, let’s dance,” I tell her.
Spite it is.
I take Cassie’s hand and pull her to the living room, and she wraps her arms around my neck, beginning to sway to the pop song playing through the speakers.
Her small body fits so easily in my hands, and her skin is very soft. She bats her thick lashes at me, smiling sweetly. She knows she’s pretty, and she’s using it to her advantage: yet another way in which she and Atlas are similar.
Cassie presses herself closer to me, and my body heats, reacting to the feel of her breasts pressed to my sternum. Her fingertips dig into the hair at the base of my neck. I can smell her vanilla perfume.
Atlas has always smelled of smoke, seawater, and sugar. When I had him pressed to the door early today, I could smell him so clearly that it was hard to focus on anything else.
I kind of wanted to eat him.
Our bodies grind together, my hands tracing her hips and dipping to run over the top of her ass. Cassie giggles.
But I can feel his eyes. I have always been able to feel it when he watches me; I’ve known him for far too long to not feel his presence in every room I enter.
I lift my gaze, and sure enough, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen is Landon. He’s watching me with a blank expression, one that I know means he’s displeased. His brown suede coat hugs his figure nicely, matching the blue jeans he’s wearing.
Landon has always been beautiful, just as he is now.
He is so insanely different from Atlas, and I can’t wrap my mind around being attracted to both of them. Or why I’ve found myself so desperate for Atlas when I’ve never felt this…needwith Landon.
My best friend stares me in the eyes and subtly nods his head to the right, signaling the small bathroom around the corner in the hallway. When he found it, I’m unsure.
“Hey,” I say to Cassie, turning my attention back to her. “I have to take a leak. I’ll be back, okay?”
Cassie nods. “Sure, I’ll go make another drink. Be quick, yeah?”
I make an affirmative sound that’s lost to the music and head quickly in the direction Landon had gone. The bathroom door is cracked, but the light is on. When I peek inside, he’s leaning against the sink, his ankles crossed casually as he taps away at the marble ledge.
“What’s up?” I ask him.
Landon raises his head, and when those green eyes land on me, all the air in my lungs rushes from my body. Straight fire dances in his irises; he looks ready to devour or be devoured.
“Is that your girlfriend?” he asks, his voice strained.
“No. I already said she’s a local.”
“Didn’t look likejust a localto me,” he counters.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair as I lean back against the door. “What do you want me to say, Lan? Sometimes we flirt; I might fuck her. I’m not sure yet.”
Something dark passes over Landon’s features, and he stands up straight, angling his body toward me.
“So, you invited me here so I could watch you get ready to fuck some girl?”
