Page 52 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

My pulse quickened.

Mike brought his mouth to my ear again. “You don’t seem like much of a crowd person.”

“Not really,” I admitted.

“I can tell.” His hand found the small of my back, steadying me as someone almost knocked into us from behind. “Want me to be your bodyguard for the rest of the show? Make sure you don’t get squished?”

He shifted to stand behind me, his chest solid and warm against my shoulders. The song reached a chorus, and the crowd pressed in around us, but the panic didn’t come. I felt protected, not trapped.

Well. This was definitely not how I’d expected the evening to go.

“I…” I started to say, then stopped as his arms came up on either side of me, creating a protective barrier against the surging crowd.

I could lean into Mike properly if I wanted. Give him a clear sign that I was interested. The thought made my heart skip a beat, but not entirely in a bad way.

This is what I was supposed to be doing, wasn’t it? Putting myself out there? Embracing every opportunity?

His breath tickled my ear as he said something I couldn’t quite catch over the music. I tilted my head back slightly, about to ask him to repeat himself, when suddenly I was being yanked sideways with enough force to nearly knock me off my feet.

A hand gripped my arm, pulling me away from Mike so violently that I crashed into a group of fans behind us. Beer sloshed from their plastic cups, the cold liquid splashing across my back and seeping through my hoodie.

“Oi, watch it!” one of them shouted.

I spun around, expecting Mia and Jess, who’d accidentally snatched me away in their excitement at finding me. Instead, I found myself staring up at a very different face towering above me.

Everything stopped.

Kit.

Kit Thorne.

My Kit.

Here.

At this SEVENTEEN concert. In the middle of the crowd, looking absolutely furious.

A low growl rumbled from his chest as he glared fiery daggers at Mike, who was staring between us with complete confusion written across his features. Mike’s face shifted from bewildered to slightly hurt. Slightly annoyed, even.

He didn’t say anything. Just melted back into the crowd and disappeared, leaving me standing there with beer soaking through my back and my mind reeling.

The music had paused between songs as SEVENTEEN grabbed some water on stage, and the relative quiet made everything feel even more suddenly, uncomfortably surreal.

All I could manage was, “What’s going on?”

“He was… touching you!” Kit’s voice was alarming, peppered with something that sounded almost like distress. “That… random guy had his arms around you!”

I blinked at him. “He… he was only being friendly.”

Kit’s face scrunched up, and he scrubbed a hand through his beard. “Do you think Wren would approve of how friendly he was being?”

What’s Wren got to do with this? But before I could voice my confusion, Kit’s face crumpled.

“Fuck, Felix, I’m so sorry. Look, that’s obviously nothing to do with me. I was completely out of line. If I’d known you actually liked that guy, I wouldn’t have intervened. I honestly thought he was harassing you.”

The words tumbled out of him in a rush, but none of them explained the fundamental impossibility of his presence here.

“But… Kit…” My voice sounded frazzled, angry even, though I was mostly just baffled beyond belief. “Why… why are you here?!”