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Maybe Molly would change that? I smiled to myself then made my way across the dance floor toward our table.
I stopped.
My breath hitched. Then I stared and it was me watching him without him noticing. For a brief flicker I set my emotions free, and it was like leaving the door to a bird’s cage open. Hesitant to leave the protective cover at first, and then spreading its wings and experiencing the freedom. It was cathartic and I wanted to stay there and allow him in.
He was sitting with a beer in hand, slowly turning it in a circle, his head down. There was a hint of sadness, something cracking his confident all-encompassing attitude. I wouldn’t have seen it if he knew I was looking at him. The slight defeat in his shoulders, the tension in his jaw line, and the longer than usual blink as if he wanted to close his eyes.
He had one arm slung over the back of the chair next to him, and it was then my eyes hit the petite brunette sitting in it. He wasn’t touching her, and it wasn’t that chick that sent my blood pressure on the rise. It was the other girl who walked up and was hanging over him, her hand resting on his shoulder as she leaned in whispering something to him. I knew the tactic; shit, I’d done it. Slight touch, nothing too much, voice low and sexy letting your breath whisper across his ear.
The cage door slammed shut.
Jesus, why did I care? We were done. This was good. Maybe he’d stop playing with my head if he hooked up with another chick. But the thought of Ream screwing the blonde was like a punch to the stomach. The combination of anger and feeling ill threatened my usual cool, and I had to look away for a minute to collect myself again.
“Kat?” Emily came up beside me. She looked at Ream then back at me. “It always happens. The girls around them. You get used to it.”
I flicked my hair over my shoulder and pulled my shoulders back. “He can have any girl he wants. There’s nothing between us. I’m dating Lance, Eme.”
Emily nodded, although I knew she didn’t believe me. Shit, I didn’t believe me.
As I approached the table so did Crisis, and he slapped Ream on the back and drew his attention away from the girls. “Hey, buddy.”
Ream nodded to him and said something I didn’t catch. Crisis gave a curt nod, and I caught the quick look at me before he threw his arm around the blonde and carted her away. My eyes drifted to Ream’s tatted arms that were now flexed with tension then traveled back up to his face. He was watching me.
My lips parted as I took a few deep breaths and locked gazes with him. He never took his arm off the back of the chair with the brunette, and to anyone who didn’t know him, they’d think nothing was wrong.
I knew though. I saw how his brows twitched and the twirling of his beer stopped. The slightest tightening of his grip on the bottle and then the shift of his legs so they were no longer crossed at the ankles, but rather ready to react. I felt like the rabbit caught coming out of the hole with the wolf lurking nearby.
“Sis.” Matt came up beside me and pulled me into a hug, breaking my view of Ream.
Matt was lean, over six feet, with broad shoulders and dark blue eyes that were just like our mother’s. He would’ve been a star quarterback if he hadn’t had to stay with me when our parents died. Being eight years older than me, eighteen at the time, he gave up his scholarship at Western University in order to raise me. I was only ten and when he told me what had happened to our parents. I could remember begging over and over again to see my mom while Matt cradled me in his arms. But no matter how much I begged, I never saw her again.
“You’ve lost weight.” He looked me up and down then leaned in keeping his voice low. “You okay? It’s the fucking drugs, isn’t it?”
Not really. And no, I wasn’t okay. I was used to ignoring what I didn’t want to face, and Ream wasn’t allowing that. I was off-balance and my body reacted to it. I knew a pill would help, but I was trying to control the amount I took.
“Kat?” He squeezed my hand.
“Umm yeah?” What had he asked again?
“You’ve lost too much weight. What’s going on?”
“It’s fine. I’m just trying something different with my diet. There’s an adjustment period.”
He still didn’t look satisfied by the way his lips pursed together. He pulled me a little farther away from the group. “You’re too skinny, Sis. You want to try and eat healthier, we’ll see a nutritionist.”
“God, I’m not sixteen anymore. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine. And you’re not sleeping.” I tried to hide the black under my eyes with makeup. Guess I failed. He nodded toward the table. “It’s Ream, isn’t it? Fuckin’ guy. I know shit went down between you two and it’s obvious he hurt you. I don’t like it. I don’t like him.” Ha … if my brother knew Ream called me bitch and a whore, he wouldn’t have been allowed inside Avalanche.
“We’re fine.”
“A lot of fines here, Kat.”
I put my hand on his arm, and gave him my most annoyed look: lips pursed, eyes narrowed while giving an exasperated huff. “I love you, but clamp down on the overprotective brother for tonight. We’re celebrating Logan and Emily’s engagement.” I eased up on the annoyed look when I got that he wasn’t buying it. Gah … big brothers were the best and the worst. I softened my tone and gave him a big fake smile. “Talk tomorrow? And I’ll see a nutritionist, okay?” I kissed his cheek and that did it. He relented, although knowing Matt he’d be on the phone tomorrow looking for a nutritionist for me.
