Michael
Idrop down next to Katie, the music slamming through the room and the lights cutting across everything in flashes. It’d normally irritate the hell out of me, but she’s beside me, turned toward me, smiling, and making the rest of it irrelevant.
She looks fucking unreal tonight, and I can’t stop myself. My hand slides down her thigh. She moves with me instantly, leaning in and kissing me.
“Whoa. It’s way too early for that. We’re not even drinking yet,” Sarah cuts in, grabbing Katie and pulling her back.
I exhale through my nose, jaw tightening as I force myself to sit there and take it, even though every instinct in me wants to tell her to mind her own fucking business.
Katie looks at her. “Dance?”
“Yes! But we need drinks.”
“Let’s go to the bar,” Katie says.
I catch her before she can move. My hand closes around her waist as I pull her down onto my lap.
“Doll, we don’t go to the bar.”
I lift a finger, and the response is immediate. A server appears at our table. Katie grins, clearly entertained.
“Look at what my boyfriend can do,” she says to Sarah.
“Yeah. Yeah.” Sarah brushes it off, sliding down next to Luca, who’s sitting there watching with a smirk.
Katie’s arms slide up and wrap around my neck. Her body settles against mine.
“What can I get you?” the server asks.
“Doll?”
“Something fruity,” she says. “With vodka.”
“Anything in particular?” the server presses.
Katie just grins. “Surprise me.”
“And for you, sir?” she asks.
“Oh, let me guess,” Katie cuts in, her voice bright with amusement. “A whiskey neat.”
“Sir?”
“What she said.”
The server turns to Luca and Sarah, but I’m already tuned out. My focus is back on her.
“You act like you know me,” I say quietly against her ear.
“I’m starting to,” she murmurs, leaning in until her forehead rests against mine.
“Katie, please make googly eyes at your very hot boyfriend later. We came here to dance.”
Shut the fuck up, Sarah.
“Fine!” Katie laughs, sliding off my lap. “Lead the way.”
Sarah grabs her hand and pulls her toward the dance floor.
Katie glances back, gives me a quick wave, and turns forward, already moving with the music as they join the crowd.
I lean back against the couch watching her.
The server comes back with our drinks and sets them down. I tip her and move Katie’s aside.
“So you’re fucking Katie’s best friend.”
It isn’t a question.
“Uh, yeah, Boss—“
I shift my gaze to him.
“I mean Mikey.”
“You need to act normal,” I say, my voice even. “Because if Katie hears you call me boss again, she’s going to lose her fucking shit.”
Luca looks at me.
“You got something to say, cousin?”
He hesitates. “I’m just super confused.”
“What the fuck are you confused about?”
I know what he’s thinking. I just want him to say it out loud.
“Never mind.”
I cross my ankle over my knee, taking a drink of my whiskey without breaking eye contact.
“No,” I tell him. “You started it. Fucking say it.”
He takes a deep breath.
“You seem attached. Like next level. I’ve known you my whole life, and even in a family setting, I rarely see you smile, let alone laugh.”
“I’ll tell you this one time,” I say.
My eyes move to the dance floor to Katie.
“Don’t ever question me or my relationship.”
“I wasn’t, Bo—Mikey.”
I cut him a look.
“That woman out there,” I say. “She’s fucking it. My future. All of it. Do you understand me?”
He nods fast.
“She gets everything. She’s above everything.”
“Got it.”
A few minutes later, Katie comes off the dance floor, shrugging out of her jacket. I straighten up, my focus locking in the second she reaches me. That sheer top isn’t hiding anything. She tosses the jacket into my lap.
“It’s like a damn sauna out there,” she says, tipping her head forward as her curls spill loose before she pulls them into a high ponytail.
“Is that my drink?” she asks, pointing.
I nod, lifting mine for another sip. She grabs hers and takes a long pull.
“Fuucckk,” she groans. “That’s tasty.”
Then she’s shifting my hands aside and dropping straight into my lap. My hand slides to the small of her back.
“Luca.” She leans toward him. “Sarah wants you out there.”
He looks at us, hesitates for a beat, and stands. I don’t follow him. My attention is already back on the beautifully feral woman in my lap.
“You having fun?” I ask her.
“Absolutely,” she says and kisses me.
My hold on her tightens as I bring my other hand up to her jaw and pull her closer to me. She smiles into my mouth.
“You’re cute,” I say when she pulls back.
She tilts her head. “You sort of are too.”
“Katie?”
A male voice behind her. She turns in my lap, then—
“Oh my god!” She jumps up. “Trenton!”
She crashes into him, arms around him as he pulls her tight. My jaw ticks.
“Michael,” she says, still wrapped around whoever the fuck Trenton is. “Come here. I want you to meet someone.”
I push to my feet, setting my drink down, already over it.
“Trent, this is my boyfriend, Michael.”
He offers his hand. I let it sit there for a beat before I take it.
“Nice to meet you, man,” he says.
Katie doesn’t let go of him.
I nod once. “How do you two know each other?”
“Trent and I went to middle school and high school together,” she says, smiling up at him.
“Yeah,” he says, laughing. “Katie is the sole reason I passed senior lit.”
“Stop,” she says, hitting his chest. “I’m pretty sure your speech on mustaches through history really put you over the top.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot about that.”
They laugh like I’m not standing right here. I want to knock his fucking teeth in.
“Sounds like you two knew each other pretty well.”
They glance at each other and laugh again.
“Katie and I dated junior and senior year.”
There it is. Katie flips her ponytail, shrugs it off, and moves back to me, sliding her arm through mine.
“Clearly I have better taste now,” she says, smiling.
“Ouch,” Trent says, pressing a hand to his chest, laughing.
Fuck you, Trent.
He looks between us, then over his shoulder. “I better get back to my group,” he says, still smiling. “It was really great seeing you, Katie.”
Katie lets me go and hugs him again. “You too.”
Trent pulls back and looks at me. “Nice to meet you, Michael. Treat this one good.”
He points to Katie and disappears into the crowd.
Katie turns back to me, her hand settling against my chest. “Hi.”
I take her wrist and bring her with me to the couch. I sit and pull her into my lap, lifting her legs beside me. My hand moves up her side, over her ribs, higher, until it closes lightly around the front of her neck, my thumb resting just beneath her jaw.
“So, let me guess.”
She looks at me, breath catching just enough. “What?”
“He was your first.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The way you hugged him. The way you looked at him.” I hold her there, eyes on hers. “You lost your virginity to him.”