CHAPTER 7
“Jay, stop. Everyone’s looking.”
My eyes refocused back to our little group. But the hairs standing on the back of my arm told me that a little green-eyed monster was making his way to us.
“Let them look,” my brother replied while he tightened his grip on Evy’s waist.
“Jay.” She sighed but had a small smile playing on her lips.
He grinned, planting a kiss straight on her lips that made her blush the same shade as her dress.
Those two loved each other so much that it was unbearable to watch them.
Finally, after messing her lipstick off completely, my brother noticed me. A dead stare flashed in his eyes as he regarded Jack with scrutiny.
I sighed internally.
Here we go.
Emmie loved to play the overprotective brother card, which made any if not all boys stay miles from his precious sister. Except for one man, though. I knew Emmie was the least of Mikey’s concerns. The forbidden temptation of touching his best friend’s sister was certainly not the reason Mikey avoided my presence.
It was something bigger, something he hid from the entire world.
I guess it still wasn’t good enough to stop him from kissing me.
“Lily, who’s this?” Emmie asked, raising a brow. “I thought you said you were coming with a friend.”
I sighed once again. “Yes, Emmie. Jack’s my friend, but who knows…” I added the last sentence firmly for good measure because a certain someone joined us.
“Nice to meet you, man. To be honest, I’m not much for rock music, but you guys are amazing,” Jack said.
Emmie nodded, a grim look on his face while he gave him a solid shake of hands. “Jack, uh? What do you do and how do you know my sister?”
“Jay,” Evy whispered, giving him a pointed look that made his eyes soften.
“Fine,” he mumbled under his breath.
“My cousin Riana works with her, and I’m an architect,” Jack said in a casual tone, not recognizing the undertones of my brother’s questions. Or if he did, he didn’t show.
Thankfully, the remaining members of our band arrived, halting my brother’s interrogation.
Katy and her twin, Matt. The man of the night.
It’d been Matty’s dream forever to start his own indie label that supported unsupported acts and raw talents, the ones that the mainstream labels wouldn’t give a second glance.
He was doing it for a cause that was so deep to him.
And we were all very proud .
It was finally happening, and I knew he would do an incredible job.
Katy greeted me and Evy with a quick hug. She was beautiful as always, dressed in a deep red dress sporting her signature red lip that gave her the classic old Hollywood look. I was glad to see her all dolled up instead of sporting her recent sullen look.
“Guys.” Matt cleared his throat. “This is Raphael and his sister Sierra.” He pointed at a tall boy with dark black hair and a girl who had hazel brown eyes that gleamed brightly from the golden dress she was wearing.
“Fuck me.” The boy called Raphael zoned his eyes at Evy, and before we knew it, he was right in her face.
She gasped, her eyes widening as he grasped her hand in his.
“I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful in my life,” Raphael said in an awe-filled whisper. “Please, do me the honor of being my girlfriend.”
If Evy was pink before, she was now beet red.
“If you don’t take your hand off my girl right this second, I’ll make sure you can never have a girlfriend for the rest of your life,” Emmie fumed.
Raphael’s eyes darted to the side, and they turned to saucers. “Fuck me. J.J.?” He gaped. “I’m your biggest fan.”
Emmie zeroed in on him. “Well, I’ll have one less fan if you don’t remove your hands from her.”
Raphael laughed, letting go. “I don’t care if you have a boyfriend. I can stop being his fan and make you my girl. Just say yes.”
Emmie raged, taking a step toward him, but Evy stopped him. “He’s just a kid, Jay. ”
“Fucking hell.” Matty grabbed the kid from behind by his collar and pulled him away. “I told you to behave. You better shut the fuck up before your mouth lands you in trouble. And you’re fucking sixteen.”
A hint of pink coated Sierra’s cheeks as her eyes volleyed between Matty and her brother.
“Raphy.” Sierra gripped her brother’s hand and shot him a sharp look. “Cut your antics, and don’t fucking embarrass me,” she bit out through her teeth.
Raphael rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine.” He wiped his hand over his pressed dress shirt.
“Matt, you have five seconds to explain to me who this little fucker is,” Emmie commanded in a low, deadly tone.
“He’s the one he found busking on the streets—his debut artist. He has talent but unfortunately, a big mouth,” Katy pitched in.
Oh, that was who he was. Matty had been telling us for weeks that he had found a boy with talent unlike anything he’d seen before but was a complete menace. Raphael here fits the description. And if he had the talent that Matty said he did, then he would be a big name one day. I had no doubt when it came to Matty’s vision.
“Damn, never a dull moment, huh?” Jack whispered in my ear.
“Yeah, welcome to my life,” I muttered, but a sharp inhale caught in my throat. I could feel him barely an inch away from me. Although he watched the gang bicker among themselves, his entire attention was on me.
It always was.
Even though he had another woman in his arms .
And guilty as charged, mine was always on his too.
Even though I was in another man’s arms.
That was Michael and me.
In tune but worlds apart.
Soon, we all took our designated seats at the table.
“So what do you usually do at a launch party?” Jack asked from his seat beside me. On my other side was Katy. But I didn’t know if it was a blessing or a punishment because he was right in front of me.
But like usual, we both blatantly ignored each other.
“I don’t know,” I answered Jack’s question honestly because I really didn’t know. “It depends. I just come to support them. The technicalities and the marketing are handled by Katy and the boys.”
“Matty, it’s almost time. Are you ready for the speech?” Katy asked softly, minutes later.
The frown on Matty’s face deepened, and he straightened his bow tie. “Fuck, do I really have to?” he mumbled.
“God, I’m going to enjoy watching you squirm on stage. Just wait for the millions of memes I’ll post tonight.” The clown chirped in, a.k.a. the fake version of Michael. Only Emmie and I knew the real version of him—the quiet, lost boy who spent half his time in our house.
“He’ll be fine. The only meme floating around will be yours,” Sierra quipped, placing a hand over Matty’s shoulder. “You’re going to be amazing.” Her entire face transformed to a soft look while she peered at Matty.
A beat of silence passed around the table before we all burst out laughing because no one had put Mikey in his place before .
He looked stunned before a devilish grin lifted his lips. “Ah, a feisty one, huh.” Mikey rubbed his hands together. “I love when they’re feisty.” His date didn’t even seem bothered. I’m sure she was a paid escort with a tight NDA, ready to look pretty at events of the rich and famous.
Matty snapped his eyes to Mikey. “Shut the fuck up. She’s only eighteen.”
“Seems like someone’s being a little too defensive.” Mikey’s eyes gleamed with mirth.
Matty clenched his jaw and gave him a sharp look while Mikey laughed it off.
“How about a dance?” Jack whispered in my ear.
“Sure,” I mumbled, taking his hand as we headed to the dance floor. It’d been well over an hour, during which Matty gave his speech stating the message behind starting this label. It tugged all our hearts, and we girls were beaming proud of him and the boys, who were co-producers of the label. There was even a little auction at the end to raise money since this was a non-profit initiative.
The low-lit dance floor was already filled with people swaying to smooth legato from the live violinists.
Jack held me close as we slow danced together, not missing a single beat. I could feel my heart rate picking up, a tinge of beady sweat down my spine, and my slight change of breath.
It certainly wasn’t because I was out of shape.
“So this is what a rock-star party looks like, huh?”
I laughed. “Not really. This is very toned down, considering it’s meant to have a professional air. But you should see them when on tour, especially in the earlier days. Man, were they wild. ”
“I could only imagine. Have you joined them on tour? How’s it like behind the scenes?”
“A couple of tours, whenever I find the time. As much as I love watching the boys play live, it can be exhausting to keep up with their schedule.”
Jack nodded. “Even a day trip to the Boston office makes me want to sleep the entire weekend. Hopping from city to city would be a big no for my tired old body.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not old. You’re like twenty-eight. Although watching ESPN every day before sleep does make you look very old.”
“Damn, I never should’ve told you that.” He shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. “Although, recently I might have started watching Attack on Titan as per your suggestion. I must say it’s pretty interesting.”
“What?” My eyes widened. “Really? But I was just saying that it was my favorite show. I wasn’t suggesting you watch it. That can’t be the way you break your anime virginity.”
“Why?” A frown of confusion marred his brows.
“Because it’s the greatest show ever. If you watch it first, it’ll ruin every other show for you, and then you can never watch anime again.” Glee piqued my attention. I loved talking about anything anime.
“Oh, is that so?” He chuckled. “With the way that you were raving about it the other day, I really wanted to check it out.”
Heat bloomed on my cheeks. “I rave about anime all the time. I’m obsessed. But tell me, did you like the characters? How far along have you gotten?”
“Not much, around episode six. ”
Excitement filled my blood. “OMG. That means you’re at the battle of Trost. Fuck, that’s one of my favorite arcs, but trust me, there’s a lot more to come.”
“Trost?” Jack flicked his brow upward.
“If you don’t know what Trost is, then you haven’t watched shit,” said a deep voice from beside me.
I stilled, my trembling heart skipping a beat.
I’d been so immersed in the conversation that I hadn’t noticed his consuming presence.
Now that I had, I could feel him in every fiber of my being.
My eyes snapped to his intent gaze. “Michael, to what do I owe the displeasure of you interrupting my dance with my date?” I enunciated the last two words with a sharp note
He smirked. “The pleasure of ruining it,” he said, before sliding his cool, unbothered gaze to Jack. “Mind if I cut in and have this dance?”
Yet again, my heart skipped another beat. I was so shocked that it took me a moment to formulate my words. Never, in any of the events that we had attended, had Michael asked me for a dance. What was he thinking? Was this about the kiss?
“Sure, man.” Jack pulled away from me before I could ask Michael to fuck himself. He brushed a soft kiss over my cheek, which made Michael’s jaw clench. “Lily, I’ll see you later,” Jack said softly while he walked away toward the bar.
“What are you doing?” I mumbled as Mikey occupied the space that Jack vacated, but this time, only a centimeter of air separated our bodies as we danced. My feet moved on their own accord as soon as I felt the burn of his touch flaming through the thin material of my dress, right under my breast. I was thankful for the padded bra containing my modest C- cups because Michael could never know how much he affected me.
“Dancing,” he said flatly as if it was obvious.
“I know that.” My gaze roamed over his chiseled face. The day-old stubble on his jaw, the piece of long blond hair falling over his piercing green eyes, and the hint of tattoos peeking from the collar of his dress shirt all made my head spin, but I fought through it. “I know I’m the last person on earth you want to dance with, Michael. So cut the shit and tell me what you’re actually trying to pull.”
“Nothing.” He lifted his shoulder nonchalantly. “Just felt like it.”
“I find that hard to believe. Do you know what I actually think? That you’re jealous. So jealous that you kissed me senseless the other night and cut in on the dance with my date, while yours looks a little lonely.” I gestured to his date standing near the bar, fiddling with her phone.
Mikey smirked as he brought his lips close to my ear. So close that I could feel his breath on my skin, and my mind lost focus yet again. “Oh, little mouse. I kissed a lot of people that day, so don’t think you’re special enough for me to get jealous, and don’t worry about my date. I’ll fuck her extra hard tonight so she won’t even remember the word lonely for the rest of her life.”
Fire hitched its way up my throat, and rage consumed my vision. “Let me go, you asshole. I might ask my brother to ruin your pretty face.” Since we started dancing, my brother had been watching us like a hawk while Evy stood beside him grinning. I anticipated any moment for him to stride over to us and bust Mikey’s lips open .
Mikey’s smirk only deepened; his eyes quickly darted toward Emmie before they locked on me. “I give zero fucks about your brother. But you think I have a pretty face, Liliana?”
Fuck me. My breathing notched up its pace.
A glittering glint coated his Cheshire eyes.
He knew.
He knew how much I liked it when he called me by my full name. He used to make fun of the pinks in my cheeks when he called me Liliana. I was pretty sure they were the same scorching shade of pink now.
“Stop fucking around, and let me go,” I said, but it came out more like a breathy whisper.
“Fine.” He grinned, doing a quick swipe of his tongue over his lips. Exactly like I did earlier. I knew what he was trying to imply. That fucker noticed everything.
I quickly turned away, my heart pounding as a sudden haze filled my blood. I knew it was not because of the champagne I had earlier tonight but because of the green-eyed creature behind me. I hurried off the dance floor like my feet had been electrocuted.
I had to get away as far as possible from him.
Just as I reached our private table around the corner, the dizziness returned, and my heart palpitated a beat I couldn’t recognize.
Uh-oh. What was happening?
The next thing I knew, blinding dark dots overtook my vision, and everything went dark as my gravity ceased.
My consciousness faded not before I landed on something hard yet soft, and a sharp curse cut through the air.
“Fuck, little mouse.”