Zelda
They both start moving toward me, skirting the dance floor at first, and then disappearing into the crowd when more couples come between us.
They’re gone, and my heart pounds. Then—back out again from behind the throngs of people, his friend bending to say something into a woman’s ear. I’ve never been this breathless and hot.
It’s not like me.
Not even in a crush of people like this.
If he came up to me right now…
If he put his hand on the back of my neck, and his mouth on mine…
If he kissed me hard as a bite…
I wouldn’t fight him.
There’s a low whistle off my shoulder, and I tear my eyes away from him.
“Where has he been all night?” Carly sets the drinks on the table without looking at what she’s doing, and one of them almost topples off and onto the floor. I steady it, letting out a little laugh.
“Who do you mean?”
She can’t take her eyes off him. My throat tightens. I want her to stop looking at him like that, and I almost reach out and shake her.
Which is crazy. He’s not mine. He’s some random guy I saw in the club. That’s all.
Carly glances at me. “Do you know him?”
“No.”
She straightens up, putting her biggest smile on. “Let’s get to know him. They’re coming over here.”
Five minutes ago, I was ready to be her wing woman, and that’s exactly what I should do.
I should let Carly shine.
The man with the jacket will be hers as soon as he’s here. It’s always how this goes.
I take a deep breath. This is how it’s supposed to go. Nobody meets their future husband in a club, anyway. That doesn’t happen. I know Carly thinks it might happen, but I’m more likely to meet Mr. Right in the library.
The two men reemerge from the crowd and close the distance between us.
The friend, in his dark t-shirt, steps forward with a flirty grin on his face, extending his hand to Carly, then to me. “Evening, ladies,” he says over the music. “My name’s Max, and this is my friend Sawyer.”
I can’t breathe. I can hardly focus on Max’s handshake. Every cell in my body is on fire with how close Sawyer is to me. It’s ridiculous to feel this way about a man I don’t know. I still do.
Sawyer’s eyes are on mine. In the half-darkness of the club, I can make out that his eyes are blue, and then only when the lights from the DJ area aren’t filtered with color. “Hey,” he says, then shrugs off his jacket.
Carly’s mouth falls open.
Sawyer’s wearing a gray t-shirt, and his muscled arms are covered in tattoos.
None of them distract from his incredible chiseled physique.
The sight of his arms makes me wonder what the rest of him looks like, what it would be like to watch him peel that t-shirt over his head and toss it to the floor, what it would be like to—
Heat rises to my cheeks. This is not the kind of thing I normally do. I don’t normally see men on the street and wonder what it would be like to be in bed with them, to have my hands sliding over those arms.
At least, if I do, I’m not the type to admit it.
And I’m not the type to fall for a guy like this.
From the set of his jaw, from the tattoos, from the way he’s standing, he’s radiating danger. And I don’t take risks like this. Not anymore.
Maybe it’s the drink that’s making me want to. It has to be.
Carly steps across to my other side and picks up her drink on the way, putting herself closer to Sawyer, and I try my very best not to let the bitter taste in my mouth get the best of me. But I can’t take my eyes off him.
“I’m Carly,” she says with a smile that turns seductive midway through. “I love the name Sawyer.”
He takes his eyes off of me for one second, scans her up and down, and then says, “Who’s your friend?”
Carly’s face falls.
My heart beats faster.
God, I’m a dick.
I want to tell him what my name is. I want to tell him a lot more than what my name is, and then I want to have more than a conversation.
I should not be excited that he just blew off my friend.
I really shouldn’t.
“Jesus, Sawyer. Don’t be such a prick. He didn’t mean it,” Max says to Carly, giving Sawyer a sharp nudge in the ribs. “He’s having a bad life.”
Sawyer’s intense expression doesn’t waver. “You’re right. That was rude. I’m sorry.”
It looks like he doesn’t care about the words coming out of his mouth. The energy coming off him is sharp and clean, like he’s anticipating something. Like he’s ready for a fight.
There’s no danger here.
I think this, and I know it’s not true. If there’s any danger here, it’s this man, right in front of me.
More heat ricochets through my entire being at the way his eyes bore into mine. “Zelda,” I hear myself say. “My name is Zelda.”
Max laughs again, trying to catch Carly’s eye. “Don’t pay any attention to him. Can I buy you a drink?”
Carly’s not having it. “You can stay if you want, but I’m going to find some different company.”
Then she turns on her heel and heads off into the crowd.
I should go with her. There’s safety in numbers. I need to be safe. I need to be good.
But I stay for the burn of Sawyer’s eyes.