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It was a no-brainer. If Nissa wanted her freedom, then I was bound and determined to help her get it. The question was how we were going to get around her father.
Nissa
What had happened at the festival was my fault. There was no other way around it. I shouldn't have gone. I had known I shouldn't go, but I had been so relentless about my freedom. I should be able to do simple things like enjoying a night out.
But there had almost been a stampede at the goddamn festival. Westin had been worried. I could tell in the way his shoulders had been tense when we'd finally made it home. He'd checked the flat but hadn't even been able to look me in the face.
Just apologize and get it over with.
I knocked on his bedroom door. He dragged it open, frowning down at me. "What's up, Nissa?"
Why was it so hard? It should be easy to say, 'I'm sorry. You were right, I shouldn't have been there. Thank you for saving my arse.' Except I couldn't quite bring myself to say the words. Instead, I scowled back up at him. "You looked pissed off."
"I'm not pissed off, Nissa. What do you need? Why do you look ready to go out?"
I glanced at myself. I had put on a V-neck long-sleeved T-shirt and a hoodie with jeans, and I did have my boots on. "I was planning to go out."
He shook his head. "I swear to God, you never learn. If you want to go out, you need to let me know in advance, so I can scout and look for potential trouble spots. Instead, you just want to take risks."
"I know. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry about yesterday. I don't know what else to say. I shouldn't have been there. You were right. I just want to be able to live like a normal person for once in my life. I know everyone else would just be dying to be extraordinary in some way. But not me. I just want to be average. Completely, totally, average. And I just feel like that's impossible."
He sighed. "It's not impossible, Nissa. You just have to be more careful than most. I checked the news reports. There was a small explosion of one of the propane tanks by the makeshift kitchens. It should have been easy to manage, but with the crowd, they had a hard time controlling everyone, so there was a bit of a stampede. Some kids got hurt."
"I recognize that you are doing your job and I appreciate it."
He sighed and let his head hang. "Do you want to talk about the other thing?"
I frowned. "What?"
He crossed his arms and then leaned in the door jam, the motion making his biceps stand out. And I could see them under the tight black Henley he had on. Practically taunting me. Not that it mattered, because I wasn't intimidated. "What are you asking?"
"That thing you were doing. The dance, the tease. We're not going to talk about it?"
I swallowed hard. "I have no recollection of that."
He flashed a grin then, looking every bit the Westin I once knew.
"Can we just maybe pretend that I didn't do anything?"
His gaze met mine steadily. "Absolutely not. You know exactly what you did. I just want to remind you of one thing."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"You and I, we have a lot of history. And while you want to pretend like it's over, I know for a fact it's not. I can feel it in your body. Last night, you were teasing me deliberately. I just want to make you very, very aware that if you keep teasing me, one of these days, you're going to get caught."
My insides turned to jelly. Why the fuck was that so hot?
"And if I don't want to get caught?"
There was that cocky grin again. The one that had my stomach in knots. “Then don’t tease me. It’s really that easy. We can have the kind of relationship where I’m your bodyguard, and nothing else. Maybe your mate. Or you can keep playing with fire. And if you do, you and I are going to take a little jump down memory lane. This time, I will be there when you wake up, and I will make sure every single inch of you is sore enough that you can’t walk in the morning. There isn’t an inch of your skin that I will not lick, and kiss, and fuck. I just wanted to be very, very clear so that you know what’s going on now.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
There was something just a little bit edgier about Westin now. A little bit tempting, a little bit dangerous. And like the girl who always loves to play with fire, I lifted my chin. "A, I'm not afraid of you. B, if I feel like teasing you, I will. C, I think you talk a big game. Now, can you get your shit so we can go? I have an appointment."
I turned on my heel then, heading for the door to grab my coat, and all I heard was the low rumble of his chuckle that made electricity dance over my skin.
Yes, I was absolutely, positively, playing with fire. Because while I might be calling his bluff, I knew that he was one hundred percent serious.
