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My nose brushes against hers, and she tilts her face, bringing her lips closer to mine. “Why would I need to justify anything I do toyou? You don’t own me.”
“You’re protective of him,” I whisper, jealousy settling in the pit of my stomach.
Celeste arches her back and presses into me, her breathing uneven. “It’s not protectiveness. I just know how crazy you are. I don’t like that look in your eyes, and I won’t put him in harm’s way when he’s innocent. You’ll just have to trust me when I tell you he’sno one, and this isn’t a date.”
My eyes drop to her lips, and for a moment, I wonder if she’s kissed anyone else since I last held her this way. I was so certain that we were on the same page, that she truly had given me a chance.
“You’re wrong, you know?” I whisper as I lean in, my lips brushing against hers. “I might not own you, per se, but you belong with me.”
She exhales shakily as I capture her lips, my touch lingering and entirely in contrast to the harshness of my words. She pushes against my hands, and I let go of her wrists. I figured she’d push me away, but instead, her arms wrap around my neck, and she pulls me closer, kisses me harder.
“You’re still as unreasonable as ever,” she says, nipping at my bottom lip angrily. My hand wraps into her hair, and I kiss her roughly, my touch becoming punishing and utterly possessive. This kiss isn’t like the one that came before it — it tells her everything she refuses to acknowledge, that she’s mine as much as I am hers. She just doesn’t know it yet.
Celeste moans, and I push my peppermint candy into her mouth, my tongue tangling with hers. She sucks down on it, her fingers closing around the lapel of my suit jacket.
It takes all of me, but I manage to pull away from her, my back straightening as I stare her down. “Suck on that as you sit opposite your date, and think about everything we could’ve been, everything you chose to walk away from before even giving us a chance.”
“Zane,” she says, her voice breaking.
I falter for a moment, but then I shake my head and take a step away from her. “Honesty, Celeste. If you can’t even give me that, then what chance do we stand?”
ChapterSixteen
Zane
I watch as my eldest brother, Ares, shuffles a deck of cards on his front porch. A year ago, our youngest brother, Lexington, insisted on a monthly poker night when we realized we were all growing apart more than we’d liked as we started our careers. Every month, one of us hosts, and tonight it’s Ares’s turn.
Normally, poker night is the highlight of my week, but tonight I’d rather be in my observatory. I’d rather surround myself with the plants my mother left me, and the ones I’m trying to breed myself. It’s an unpredictable process, crafting new flower varieties, but at the same time, it’s systematic and scientific. Tonight, more than anything, I want to immerse myself in something that’ll keep my thoughts off Celeste.
“Dion said his flight got in late, so we’ll just start without him,” Ares says, and I hum noncommittally. Part of the reason I love poker night so much is that we all get to see Dion, who lives in London and takes care of our foreign assets. I’d never admit it, but he’s probably my favorite brother — out of all of us, he and I are most similar. I wouldn’t dream of confiding in any of my brothers about what happened with Celeste, but if I did, it’d be Dion I’d want to talk to.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lex asks me, and I blink in surprise when I realize the cards have been dealt and I didn’t even pick mine up. “You’ve been weirdly quiet for a few weeks now.”
Luca chuckles, a knowing look in his eyes. “What do you think?” he says, his tone taunting. “It’s Celeste Harrison, of course. You should’ve seen him when she walked into the annual gala a few months ago. I nearly shielded Valentina’s eyes for fear he’d come at the mere sight of Celeste, right there and then. He’s been like this ever since.”
I punch his arm in annoyance as Ares and Lex burst out laughing. Just hearing her name grates on me.
“Raven said you two saw her at brunch three weeks ago and apparently you lost your shit because she was on a date with someone else?” Ares mentions.
Fucking Raven. “Can we just play?” I ask as I pick up my cards. I was so sure Celeste would reach out to offer an explanation, but week after week passed without so much as a single text from her, and for once, I don’t want to be the person who reaches out first. Ever since she came back, I’ve done all I could to show my sincerity, but I can’t just force something into existence when this thing between us is so obviously one-sided. I need her to give me something,anything— just one sign to indicate that she wants this too, that she wants me to fight for her.
Ares chuckles at my expense, and I raise a brow as I glance at him. “Should we discuss why our little sister’s best friend is even telling you things like that? Aren’t you awfully close to a girl that’s a decade younger than you? Fucking pervert,” I snap, knowing full-well that Grandma is actively arranging Ares and Raven’s marriage. I can’t resist baiting Ares, though. Talking about Raven is the easiest way to rile him up and change the subject. He’s far more obsessed with her than he even realizes.
Sadly, he’s saved from replying when Dion walks in, his best friend, Xavier Kingston, in tow. We take our family traditions surprisingly seriously, yet there are a few exceptions. Xavier is one of them. I’m not even sure how it happened — one day Dion brought him with him, and he seems to have invited himself ever since. The Kingstons and Windsors aren’t exactly on friendly terms, but we tolerate Xavier. It has a lot more to do with Dion, to be fair. He is quiet and carries demons he thinks we’re unaware of, and Xavier seems to get that, supporting him in a way we can’t.
“Why does it look like we walked into some juicy gossip?” Xavier asks, as he takes a seat.
Dion frowns too, curiosity flickering in his eyes. “What did I miss?” he asks, and I instantly feel guilty. With him living so far away, I’d hate for him to feel like we’re excluding him even more than we already do, but there’s no way I’m rehashing the conversation.
“Just discussing Zane’s obsession with Celeste Harrison,” Lex quips, and I let my eyes fall closed. I’m fucked. They won’t let this go.
“I thought you hated Celeste?” Dion asks.
“Yeah, I distinctly remember you asking me to help break into her locker to plant all kinds of shit when we were in high school,” Lex adds. “Didn’t you nearly get her kicked out a few times?”
Fuck. Even Lex remembers how much of a fucking dick I was to her. If he can’t forget, how can I expect Celeste to?
Luca chuckles and shakes his head. “Isn’t there a saying about that? What is it? There’s a thin line between love and hate? Or something about boys teasing girls they like?”
