Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Dean
Mystical Magic
Benson Boone
Mikey and I step into the club just after ten, and the place is already pulsing.
Lights strobing, bass thudding like a heartbeat determined to bruise something inside you, and bodies already littering a bulk of the dance floor.
Lincoln, Nebraska might not be L.A. or New York, but tonight it’s loud enough, wild enough, chaotic enough to keep me from thinking too much.
Or at least, it should be enough. But my head’s been somewhere else since lunch. Or to be more concise, on someone else. Mikey elbows me as we’re led into the VIP section overlooking the dance floor.
“Dude, try to look like you’re happy to be here. You’re killing my vibe.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I scowl over at him.
“Barely,” he grumbles, then adds with a grin, “Maybe you need a distraction. Plenty of options. This is definitely a target rich environment.”
Girls notice us immediately. Eyes trail.
Smiles sharpen. The usual. And I feel… nothing.
Because she isn’t here yet. I hate myself for what I find myself doing; scanning the crowd like a lunatic, but I can’t seem to help it.
It’s stupid and weak and exactly the kind of shit I’ve avoided my whole life.
Mikey leans close. “You looking for someone in particular, lover boy? Someone with brown hair and blue eyes? Camera strap around her neck?”
I flip him off. He howls with laughter as he disappears toward the bar, leaving me alone with the crushing fact that I’m turning into a cliché.
I need a drink, possibly six. Then the air shifts.
It’s so subtle that it’s almost indescribable.
Like when the atmosphere rearranges itself before a storm.
I don’t even hear her footsteps. I just turn.
And there she is. Sadie. Loose tendrils of hair frame her face, catching the soft gold of the overhead lights.
Skin warm and glowing, her cheeks flushed a light pink.
A short black skirt hugs her hips and a shirt that’s even shorter, reveals her bare midriff. All that skin makes my throat go dry.
She’s not flashy. Hell, she’s still wearing those damn combat boots of hers. She’s not even trying hard, but she looks fucking lethal. She glances up, sees me, and her lips, shiny and red, curve up into a smile. It’s small, it’s nervous, and it lands like a punch to my chest.
Mikey materializes beside me like he teleported, a low whistle sounding from him. “Holy shit. Is that Sadie or does she have a baddie twin we don’t know about?”
“Shut up,” I grunt, not daring to look away.
“No seriously.” Mikey tilts his head as he assesses her from head to toe. “She looks, yeah, damn hot, man.”
“Shut. Up.” I grind out through clenched teeth.
“I might have to try and hit that up if you’re not going to go there.”
He torments me with the suggestion, a growl rolling up from my chest unannounced. “She’s off-fucking-limits.” My gaze narrows as it locks on him. “End of.”
He grins and laughs like he knows exactly what’s happening and is going to make sure he enjoys every minute of my torture.
Sadie joins our group, which now consists of Lily, Luc, Cherry, Hayden, and a couple of the crew guys.
She’s laughing, completely at ease, asking Mikey what trouble he’s gotten into today.
She doesn’t look at me again. I hate it. I love it. I want to drag her away from everyone and ask her if she meant it - if she meant everything she said this afternoon.
But I stay put, hands in my pockets, pretending I’m not two seconds from combusting. Luc strolls over and hands me a beer. “Looks like you need this.”
I cut him a quick glance, take the offering, and gulp down a long, much needed swig. It doesn’t do much to tamp down the burn I’m feeling, but it’s a little better.
“You like her.” Luc tilts his chin in her direction, arching a single brow. It’s not a question but an observation he’s voicing.
“She’s just the help,” I drone out, trying harder than I should to make her seem unimportant.
“You fuck with that and things go sideways, we’ll all pay the price.” He takes a pull from the glass he’s holding, ice cubes clinking.
“You know I don’t do feelings,” I state, my tone hard.
“No one does feelings.” Luc scoffs. “Feelings do you.”
“Think everyone’s gonna go and fall in love now that you’ve got your happy little family with Lily and Larkin?” I’m being an asshole. I’m deflecting and we both know it.
He blinks lazily, one corner of his mouth quirking down. Not in a frown, but more like he knows I’m so full of shit that he isn’t going to bother fighting me on it. He sighs heavily. “It wouldn’t be the end of the world to open yourself up again, but just be careful man.”
“Don’t have to worry about me.” I suck back the rest of the beer. “I’m solid.”
He claps a hand on my shoulder. “I’m around if you want to talk.” Then he walks back over to Lily, who’s forehead to forehead with Sadie in deep conversation.
The music shifts to something darker and bass-heavy, and the group spills onto the dance floor. I hang back at first, but Mikey yanks me in.
“Stop being a wallflower.”
“I’m not-” He ignores my protest and doesn’t let go. And suddenly we’re in the thick of it; bodies moving, lights flashing, heat licking the air.
Sadie’s beside me. Not touching, but close enough that every breath she takes tugs at something low in my spine. I watch as our tech guy, a nice enough kid, and just drunk enough to not pay attention, spins her toward him with a grin.
Hand too close to her hip. His body angled toward hers. Nothing too inappropriate for what this is, a group of friends dancing together, but it’s just enough to make something primal and irrational snap inside me.
Before I even think, my hand is on the bare skin right above her waist. Warm. Firm. My grip possessive. She startles, then melts, actually melts into me, relief softening her shoulders as my other hand shifts to her lower back.
Her palms slide up my chest. Then around my neck. Her body presses into me and fits against mine like she was always meant to be here. We’re still dancing, technically. But it’s not a group thing anymore.
It’s us. Just us. Her breath hitches when my thumb brushes the hollow of her waist. I feel it everywhere. She looks up, her blue eyes wide, pupils blown, and for a second, the entire world blurs out.
“You okay?” I murmur against her ear.
Her voice is barely a whisper. “I am now.”
And God help me, I want her. I want her so fucking bad I’m afraid of myself.
There’s not an inch of space between us, her legs almost straddling one of mine.
Her chest is rising and falling rapidly, her heart pounding hard enough for me to feel it.
At least, I think it’s her heart. Maybe it’s mine.
The lines are blurred again, like they always get around her.
The song shifts again, something slower, dirtier, and that’s when I realize that if I don’t get her out of here, I’ll probably do something in front of everyone that we can’t walk back from. My lips brush against the locks of hair around her ear. “Let’s get some air.”
She nods instantly. We leave the floor, my grip still on her skin, now hot and slick with sweat. The group barely notices us go. She grabs her purse and jacket from a bench in our section.
We don’t talk as we exit the club, step into the cool night, or even when we start walking toward the hotel. We don’t have to. Everything we didn’t say in there is hanging between us like a live wire.
Her jacket slips from her shoulder. I catch it. My fingers brush her skin. She shivers. I want to stop walking. I want to push her against the nearest wall. I want more than I should.
We reach the hotel, enter the lobby, stride to the elevator, and I press the call button. We step inside. Doors close. Silence so thick you could cut it with a knife. Her chest rises and falls too fast. She’s looking anywhere but me.
Which is exactly when I move. Slowly. Deliberately. My hand slides up the bare skin above her hip. The other braces on the wall beside her head. I lean in, breathing her in and she smells like jasmine and something sweeter, something that is just her.
She lifts her eyes until they lock onto mine. And that’s all the permission I need. I’m done holding back, done wondering. I kiss her. Hard. Hungry. Like I’ve been waiting years instead of days.
She kisses me back with a soft, desperate sound that almost brings me to my knees. Her fingers tangle in my hair. My hand skims up her rib cage as she arches into me, like she’s been waiting for this too. It’s messy. It’s hot. It’s everything and so much more than I thought it would be.
The elevator dings. The door opens up to her floor. We freeze, our mouths separating, our foreheads still touching, breathing each other in, both of us wrecked. She whispers, voice trembling, “Dean… we can’t.”
Pain slices through me. It’s sharp like broken glass, and I force myself to step back slowly. Carefully. Every inch feels like something vital is being torn from me.
She slips out of the elevator, then turns to look at me, eyes soft, regret shining through.
“Goodnight,” she whispers.
“Sadie-”
“Don’t make this harder.”
The doors close. I stand there alone, heart pounding, wanting her more than I’ve ever wanted anything I can’t have. And I know, with sick certainty, this isn’t going away.