Chapter 3 #3
I smile against her mouth, enjoying the tension, the control, the way she’s trembling just a little now.
“Kross.”
Fucking Kade. Of course.
His voice is flat and fucking final. The party's over.
“This ends now.”
She glances between us, clocking the dynamic instantly. Me, clearly having the time of my life. Him, ready to shut it down.
“Wow,” she says, smirking. “You’re definitely the no-fun one.”
I snort. “Told you.”
“Aeri?”
The name cuts through everything like a record scratch.
She stiffens instantly.
Her whole mood flips on a dime—smile gone, body going rigid like someone just dumped cold water down her spine. She turns toward the voice with a tired little exhale that says she’s already over this shit.
“Oh my god,” she mutters. “What do you want, Mark?”
The guy steps closer like he thinks he’s allowed to.
Average height and build, definitely at least a few inches shorter than myself and Kade.
Clean-cut in a way that screams I think I’m the good guy.
Hair too neat for a fucking rave, and his jaw is clenched like he’s rehearsed this confrontation in the mirror.
His eyes rake over her outfit, lingering too long for my liking—judgmental and possessive all at once.
I don’t know him.
But I already don’t fucking like him.
He talks at her, not to her and it instantly rubs me the wrong way.
His voice raised just enough to sound offended instead of embarrassed, like she’s the problem here.
Like, he didn’t show up uninvited to a rave full of knives and bad decisions to run his mouth at a girl who clearly does not give a fuck.
She crosses her arms, chin lifting, fire flashing back into her eyes. Oh yeah. That look? That’s the good stuff.
Whatever history they’ve got, it’s ugly. And judging by the way he keeps stepping into her space and the way she keeps bristling, he’s about to say something that gets him killed. Literally.
She stiffens under my shadow, shoulders tight against the wall, my switchblade still angled low between us. Red light flashes over her face, over the way her jaw clenches like she’s already choosing violence with her words.
She rolls her eyes hard. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Mark pushes closer, jaw locked, eyes bouncing between her and the knife like he doesn’t know which one to be scared of. “What the hell is this?” he snaps. “You couldn’t even wait, huh? Just throwing yourself at random guys now?”
She laughs. Loud, and mean as hell.
“Oh my god,” she says. “Are you seriously slut-shaming me right now? That’s your move?”
“Look at you,” he sneers, his eyes crawling over her like something sticky and unpleasant. “Dry-humping strangers in a crowd like this is all you’re good for, huh? Guess I shouldn’t be shocked. After all, that’s how you got my attention in the first place.”
His mouth twists with disgust. “I almost thought you might pretend to have a shred of self-respect. Maybe wait longer than five minutes before throwing yourself at the next warm body. But I guess that would require standards.”
He flicks a dismissive glance at me and then to Kade. “And that’s what you picked? A dude dressed like a bargain-bin Cupid with fake blood and a mask?” He scoffs. “Jesus. You just give it away now, huh. Discounted pussy for every lowlife you come across.”
Fire snaps to life in her eyes, sharp, reckless and pissed, and fuck if that doesn’t hit me right in the chest.
That look on her?
Yeah. I fucking like that one. I like it a lot.
“Careful,” she says coolly, even as her pulse jumps under my palm. “You’re getting real bold for someone who fucked not one, but two random girls on my couch.”
I grin behind the mask. Jesus, of course, she goes for the throat.
Mark scoffs, face twisting. “That was different.”
Different?
Sure, it was, buddy.
Aeri doesn’t hesitate. She breaks free of my grip on her hip like it was never there and steps straight toward Mark without a second fucking thought. All sharp edges and attitude.
Holy shit balls.
My body reacts before my brain catches up. I reach for her without thinking—protective, and automatic, my fingers closing around her arm like I’m about to pull her back, but she shrugs me off.
Instead, she catches my hand in hers as she keeps moving, threading her fingers through mine like it’s a choice. Like she’s saying, I’ve got this—stay with me.
That simple, reckless little move does something dangerous to me.
My pulse jumps, and my grip tightens, not to stop, but to stay connected. To let her know I’m right there if this turns ugly. Because it will. I can already see it in Mark’s stupid fucking face.
It’s not like I don’t think she can handle herself.
Because, unlike Marky boy here, I fucking knew the moment I saw her, she absolutely can, and she’s about to prove it to us all.
“Different how?” she snaps, chin tipped up, daring him to try something. “Because you think your dick’s so godly it comes with rules?” She scoffs. “News flash—when you’re that unimpressive, the only thing you come with is regret.”
For half a second, it’s quiet.
Then I laugh.
Not loud. Not friendly. Just a short, sharp sound like I can’t help myself. Kade lets out one too, low and amused, the kind that says, yeah, she nailed it.
That’s what does it.
Mark’s face goes red, jaw tightening, pride bruised and bleeding out in real time. His eyes flick between us, pissed now, humiliated, desperate to grab back some control.
He steps forward and reaches for her arm.
That’s fucking it.
I move the second he does, but Kade’s already there. His hand clamps down on Mark’s arm, iron-hard, shoving him back a step before he can even process what he’s done.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. This is where you walk away,” Kade says flatly.
Mark jerks against the hold. “Get the fuck off me—”
“Walk. Away,” Kade repeats, voice calm in that way that means this is the last warning he’s ever going to get.
Aeri just laughs.
Not nervous. Not forced. A short, smug little sound like Mark just said the dumbest thing imaginable.
“You should listen, Mark,” she says coolly, eyes dragging over him like he’s already beneath notice. “They’re not the kind of guys you want to mouth off to, and you lost the right to touch me the second you stuck your micro dick in half the city.”
That one lands.
She tilts her head, smiling like she’s enjoying how badly it hits. “You don’t get to act territorial now. That ship didn’t just sail—it sank, burned, and took your dignity with it.”
Mark opens his mouth, scrambling for something to say, but she steamrolls right over him.
“And honestly?” she adds, rolling her eyes. “You’re killing my fucking high.”
She flicks a glance at me, amused, then at Kade, then back to Mark like he’s already a waste of oxygen.
“Congrats,” she laughs. “You managed to make me regret you and disappoint me retroactively.” Her eyes rake over him. “Hmm. Didn’t think that was possible, but here we are.”
Then she laughs again, turns on her heel, and disappears back into the crowd like this was just a pit stop. The red of her outfit flashes once before she melts into the music, already moving, already dancing like nothing touched her.
I watch her go, pulse still buzzing, smirking behind the mask.
God. She’s a goddamn menace, and my cock fucking loves it.
Mark’s still standing there, stunned, ego bleeding out in real time.
I don’t even look at him.
My eyes are already tracking red through the chaos to the dance floor.
Because I know she’s not done, and neither am I.