Chapter 3
After the director shouts for the scene to end and releases us to review the footage, I’m immediately bombarded by an ocean of people.
I can’t seem to pick out any one person’s voice—they’re all too loud and too jumbled together.
I can feel nefarious eyes on me and the room starts to spin.
A phantom hand reaches for me and my flinch goes unnoticed by the crowd.
I have to get away. I inhale sharply through my nose, not even feigning a smile as I consider my plan of escape.
My eyes search the distance for Joseph, but I can’t find him.
Instead, my eyes catch on Miles. He’s watching me too and a relieved smile creeps over my lips.
An arbitrary excuse slips off of my tongue and I bolt from the crowd toward him.
“Here.” Miles hands me a paper cup of water and I down it in one go, soothing the burning dryness in my throat. My eyes continue to linger on him, to see if I can get that adorable blush to emerge over his cheeks again.
I’ve always been into women—if it wasn’t obvious.
I’ve never met a man I was attracted to, but I’m not repulsed by the idea of this one.
Maybe it’s just curiosity. I’ve felt ‘attraction’ before, I’ve felt ‘lust’.
This feels different. Some unusual sort of pull keeps forcing my focus back to him.
I can’t imagine myself having sex with him, no, but I’m not opposed to the idea.
Maybe doing so would satisfy this curiosity.
But I don’t think I could be the one to make the first move this time.
Only when he tries to escape my gaze do I notice I’ve been staring this whole time. “Your performance earlier was pretty great.” He steps around me, but my eyes continue to follow him.
His poor attempt at a compliment humors me, pulling a smile to my lips.
I nod. I want to say something back, but I’ve never been great at socializing—not since I was a kid at least. After the accident, I never wanted to get close to anyone.
Maybe that’s why I still tell myself that Joseph is only a colleague and acquaintance—fearing that if I call him anything more, he’ll die too.
I’ve gotten good at keeping people at arm’s length.
If they’re disposable, there’s nothing to fear.
If something were to happen to them, I’d only have to feel baseline empathy.
There are days when I consider letting people in, allowing someone into the darkest parts of me, but in the end, I just end up deciding that it’s too risky.
“Kane!” A grating, sing-song voice calls out my name and a chill runs up my spine.
She smiles that smile that sends a surge of annoyance through my bones.
I had been enjoying myself mere seconds ago before this beastly woman made her appearance.
Don’t get me wrong. She’s nothing short of beautiful—that’s why I set my sights on her so long ago.
I reckoned she was like me. That we could hook up once and be done with each other.
But, boy, was I wrong. Since then, she’s found me at every event, every opportunity.
To the point, now, where just the sound of her voice makes my skin crawl.
She wraps her spider-like fingers around my bicep and smiles at me with a vile grin, “you’re coming to dinner with me tonight, right?”
My face twists. Anger surges through my veins. I knew she’d find me and bring this up at some point, but it vexes me even more that she did so in front of him. “You know I don’t eat at the same table twice.” I reply sharply.
She doesn’t falter but continues to double-down, “make an exception…” she winds her spindly finger up the buttons of my shirt, “for me.”
The look on her face irks me and my body begins moving on its own. I take her wrists gently in my hands and hold them up beside her ears. I lean in closely and she beams.
“You’re being pathetic, Miss Carter.” I whisper lowly in her ear. Her smile morphs into a hateful scowl and I drop her wrists. Her arms fall heavily to her side as she slaps them against her thighs like a toddler throwing a tantrum. She stamps a heeled foot on the concrete and storms away.
I look back to find Miles still standing exactly where he’d stood before, a baffled look in his eyes, a witness to the whole fiasco.
Now, where were we? I ask myself and motion for him to follow me to the dressing room.