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CHAPTERONE
The pulse of the loud music vibrates through my body as I move across the crowded house party. My best friend August invited me to this shitfest, and I haven’t seen him since my arrival ten minutes ago. He’s probably upstairs with some chick getting himself off. Horny bastard.
I remind myself I’m just jealous because it’s been a while.
Almost a year, to be exact.
My sex life isn’t very exhilarating. It’s more like a series of lousy hookups paired with the occasional minor disappointment.
I stand on my tiptoes and strain my neck to look over everyone, but it’s useless. If August is somewhere down here, I can’t see him over the people crowding around me. I’m not exactly the tallest person in the building. I’m probably more like the shortest, which is ridiculous considering my entire family is well over six feet. I’m one hundred percent sure I’m adopted. My mom decries this, but I don’t really believe her.
I run my hands down my midriff shirt and then duck under a guy reaching for someone else. I question why I decided to come here in the first place, but then I remember August’s puppy dog eyes, and how I couldn’t resist. He knows I have a hard time saying no to him when he looks at me like that.
Conniving bastard.
I squeeze past a couple making out, and slide along the wall. My size makes it easy to scurry around people. I eventually make my way to the corner of the large living room and stand on top of an end table to see if I can find my best friend.
My eyes skim across the throbbing, mostly drunk crowd, and through the haze of the lights and smoke, I seehim.
Oh, mother of all that’s holy. I groan. Not again.
How is heeverywhereI am? I should’ve never accepted that ride home with him that one night. Ever since, he’s been borderline obsessed with me.
I narrow my gaze at Sem van Beek who’s looming across the dimly lit room. He’s impossible to miss. He stands out in a place like this, full of dude bros and sorority sisters. Oh, how does he stand out, you ask?
Let me count the ways.
First, he towers over everyone, and the muscles on his arms and abdomen are clearly defined through the grey t-shirt he’s wearing. You don’t get muscles like that from working out in a gym. No, you get that from lifting heavy shit all day long. Second, he looks like he just rolled in from a hard day of manual labor, all scuffed up and calloused. His jeans are worn and torn at the knees but his long, shoulder-length wavy blond hair looks freshly washed.
I’m sure most people here haven’t worked a day in their lives. Or if they have it’s been in an office or maybe a coffee shop. Sem works in a scrapyard, and I’ve heard that he enjoys building off-road vehicles from the ground up on the weekends. Most people here don’t even remember to get oil changes in their luxury sedans. And third, he just looks rugged, like a guy who enjoys guns and gasoline and blowing shit up.
Speaking of which, I’ve heard he likes to set things on fire. I should probably stay away from this pyro.
Very far away.Should probably move my eyes away from him right this second. Yep.
Spoiler alert, I don’t.
I notice a few girls standing around him, craning their necks up to gaze at him and giggle. And I admit, he’s good-looking… if you like a guy who looks like a fucking goliath Viking.
And I don’t. I most defiantlydo not.
No, my tastes run more refined. And Sem is just too…rough.
You,I mouth, pointing at Sem and then slashing my finger to the space in front of me.Come here.
Sem cocks his head like the psychopath he is, those bright blue eyes flashing, and then he strides forward. He’s so large that everyone moves aside for him. Like Moses parting the Red Sea.
Ridiculous, obnoxious man.
When he finally stops in front of me, he meets my eyes. We’re literally the same height right now because I haven’t moved from my perch on the table. It makes me feel like a pharaoh or a king for some reason, and it goes to my head. I just ordered Sem over here, and he came. What kind of black magic fuckery is this?
“What are you doing here?” I ask sharply.
Sem reaches out and flicks the bracelet on my wrist. “I was invited.”
“By who?” I ask, not believing him. Because I know he doesn’t live nearby, and he definitely didn’t go to college here because I would have noticed someone like him hulking around campus.
Hold on, did he even go to college? Come to think of it, I hardly know anything about him. Just heard a lot of stories from his cousin, Caleb. I make a mental note to inquire more about him.
