Page 52 of Make Me Mean It

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CONNOR

Iregret coming here before we make it ten feet through the door.

“What are we even doing here?” I ask, raising my voice over music loud enough to vibrate through my chest.

There are people everywhere. Packed against the bar, spilling into the narrow spaces around us, crushed together beneath technicoloured lights that flash quickly, making the entire room feel disjointed. Every few seconds someone brushes against me, shoulders knocking mine, and I resist the urge to start physically moving people out of my way.

This is hell.

Logan rolls his eyes and links his fingers through mine, tugging me forward. “Will you stop being such a sour puss and just let loose for once?”

His body falls into the beat without any effort, while I dig my heels in and let him drag me deeper into the crowd. The rubber soles of my Converse stick unpleasantly to the floor with every step, my shoulders climbing higher every time another body brushes against mine.

“I’m charging you for my therapy after this.”

Logan laughs and keeps moving, apparently taking my lack of immediate escape as enthusiastic participation. I try to follow whatever rhythm he’s found, but the bass is too heavy, and every time I manage to loosen one part of myself, someone brushes too close, and everything locks up again.

I look up from my feet, my eyes finding familiar green ones.

Theo’s leaning against the bar with a drink loose in one hand. He cocks his head, his tongue swiping over his lip ring, eyes on mine.

Whatever rhythm I had managed to find disappears. I’m standing completely still in the middle of a packed dance floor with Logan’s hand in mine and Theo watching me.

Theo lifts a shot glass to his mouth without breaking eye contact, a faint smirk forming against the rim before he tips his head back and swallows.

The glass hits the counter, and he pushes away from the bar.

His body cuts through the crowd with ease, people shifting around him while he moves towards us. He isn’t even dancing, but somehow every step falls into the beat anyway, loose and effortless, making me more aware of how badly I fit into a place like this.

I turn away, determined to put Theo back where he belongs. Out of my head.

Logan taps my arm before leaning towards my ear. “I’m gonna get a drink. I’ll be right back.”

My head whips towards him. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

I grab his hand, pulling him back towards me, but Logan isn’t looking at me anymore. His eyes move over my shoulder, and when they come back, the corner of his mouth is already lifting.

“I have a feeling you’re gonna be just fine without me,” he chuckles, slipping his hand free.

“Logan.”

He only grins wider before disappearing between two bodies, leaving me staring after him with the uncomfortable certainty that I know exactly what he saw over my shoulder.

“No, no, no.”

Theo’s voice is low against my ear, a hand closing around my hip, calloused fingers catching me firmly, halting my next step.

“Fuck, Reid, just stop,” he chuckles, his thumb pressing into my side before he lets me go and moves around me.

His black shirt is damp with sweat, clinging to him. His next breath shifts it against the hard lines underneath, giving me a brief glimpse of muscle.

I wrench my eyes back to his face, Theo’s tongue passing over his bottom lip, his mouth curving up.

I knock his hand away from my hip. “Fuck off, Knox.”

Turning away before he can answer, I barely make it half a step before his fingers close around my wrist and pull me back around.