LAILAH
THIRTY-FIVE
Seeing the boys in their tuxedos took my breath away, and my body heated up at the same time.
My instinct was to keep them all home, because I didn’t want any other woman seeing them—they were mine.
The possessiveness caught me off guard, but I swallowed and gave them each a brilliant smile after Brayden stepped to my side, tucking my arm through his.
“Who knew you guys pulled off the James Bond look so well? It’s almost a crime to take you to a party where you’ll put everyone to shame,” I said, deciding to really share what I was thinking.
Parker’s grin got wider, if that was even possible, and he sauntered up to me. “Is our little Trouble going to get jealous tonight?”
“Of course not, because you wouldn’t do anything that would make me need to be jealous, right?” I teased, deciding to play along.
Parker laughed and kissed my forehead before stepping back from me.
Hudson walked up to me, and a soft blush graced his cheeks as he took me in. “Lailah, you are truly radiant. I am honored to accompany you to this party with the others.”
A finger trailed along my shoulders making me shiver as lips brushed against my ear. “Look what you do to us with a pretty dress and a simple blush,” Jay whispered.
Micah let out a loud groan, walked up to me, grabbed my hand, and yanked me after him. “What is this, prom? Come on guys, we have bigger things to deal with.”
I really shouldn’t have been shocked by how Micah acted; the moment things got emotional, he bailed. Out front was the limo Brayden’s dad had sent for us to ride into the party. The driver held open the door, and we climbed in and shifted to the far end so the others could sit.
Once settled, Micah leaned over, and I could feel his lips brush against my ear as he spoke. “You always look beautiful, but tonight you outdid yourself.”
The butterflies that fluttered in my stomach at his words made me giddy. Micah would always be Micah, but seeing the glimpses of this softer side of him made me crave it, wanting more.
“Looks like you managed to get all the orange dye off your skin,” I teased, not wanting him to know how much his words affected me.
Micah grunted. “My date told me she wouldn’t go with me unless I got rid of it. Selfish request, don’t you think? Who doesn’t want a sun-kissed-looking date?”
I let out a bark of laughter. “God, she sounds awful. Why are you going out with her? I would have just ditched her and done my own thing.”
“See, the thing is, I don’t think that she really knows how much she means to me. Figured I would take this chance to be able to show her,” Micah whispered and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.
My body froze as the meaning of his words hit me.
Was Micah trying to tell me that he wanted this to be a date?
What about rejecting the Oath? I turned to look at him, and my eyes widened as I took in his face.
He had a gentle smile on his lips, and I could see his affection towards me in his gaze.
Never had I seen him so vulnerable before, and it thrilled and terrified me at the same time.
“What are you whispering about over there?” Parker called from the other side of the limo.
Micah’s soft expression instantly changed to one of irritation, and his normal scowl was back on his face. “Isn’t the point of talking quietly that no one else hears what you're saying?”
“Yeah, but that always makes me want to know what they are saying more,” Parker grinned.
“Idiot,” Micah mumbled.
Parker leaned forward, cupping his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
Just as Micah opened his mouth to share, I butted in. “Will there be any dancing at this gathering, or is it more of an eat fancy food and talk shindig?”
“It’s been a few years since I’ve gone, but typically it’s pretty formal with stuffy rich people that like to rub elbows with my parents,” Brayden said, his head tilted back with his eyes closed.
“That doesn’t mean that we can’t start some dancing, maybe they just need someone to take the lead!” Parker said, wagging his eyebrows. “If there’s music, dancing can always happen.”
“This isn’t some frat party, Parker,” Micah grumbled. “Can you really dance, or is the bump and grind all you got?”
“Oh, because you know how to dance there, flame boy?” Parker said, baiting Micah.
Micah leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “I was classically trained when I was younger. My parents found it was a valuable skill and helped with learning control.”
Parker busted out laughing and almost fell out of his seat at the force of his laughter. “Oh God, I could just picture little Micah learning to ballroom dance.”
Micah lunged out of his seat to tackle Parker, but I grabbed his arm.
“Enough, Parker!” I snapped. “This is not the time or the place to be picking a fight. We are going to a party, yes, but let's remember why we are at this event. Now knock it off before we leave you both in the limo.”
Both boys stopped and looked at me, a little shocked.
Parker picked himself back up and slid into his seat without another word.
Micah settled back and turned to look out the window, resting his hand on his fist. The mood in the limo definitely dimmed, but I didn’t really care; we needed to act like a team, even if we weren't.
The rest of the ride was quiet as we all turned to our own thoughts.
I ran through the plan again, trying to look at it from all angles.
I just didn’t know enough to figure out what I might have missed.
This was my first battle with a demon, and I had little else to go on other than faith and trust in myself and the boys.
As we pulled up to the hotel, everyone seemed to come back to life as we exited the limo.
I made to get up so I could exit, but Micah stopped me, grabbing my hand.
“Would you really have left us in the limo?” Micah questioned.
I leveled him with a look. “Without hesitation. We can’t afford any more unknowns in this.”
Much to my surprise, he grinned at me and pecked me on the lips. “That’s my girl.”
Flushed, I maneuvered my way out of the limo to where Brayden was waiting for me. He smiled at me and wrapped an arm around my waist as we headed into the hotel.
The Hotel Das Weitzer was beautiful, set right in the older section of Graz and overlooked the Mur river.
The inside was very rustic-chic, decorated beautifully for the holiday seeing as it was only a few days before Christmas.
A hotel staff member walked up to us, and Brayden spoke to them in fluent German before being led in the direction of the party.
I gazed at the beautiful architecture of the hotel until we came to the ballroom filled with people dressed to the nines.
I gasped at the sight; it seemed like something out of a Christmas Hallmark movie.
The ballroom had light wooden floors that shone in the light of a large glass chandelier.
Fresh evergreen garland was draped along the ceiling, making the room smell wonderful.
Beautifully decorated Christmas trees were set up around the room, adding to the festiveness.
Cocktail tables were scattered throughout, with people standing by them chatting.
Smartly dressed servers filtered through the crowd with food and drinks of various kinds.
“Holy crap, I wasn’t expecting this,” I whispered to Brayden. “This is so out of my league.”
Brayden looked down at me and gave me a squeeze before he took my hand to lead me into the room. “Trust me, you’ll be great; everyone will love you.”
Taking a deep breath, I plastered a smile on my face and followed his lead. The other boys were at my back, lending me their support by sticking close. Brayden led us to the back of the room where some couches were set up, and I spotted Adriana and Oliver with a few gentlemen and another couple.
“Shit,” Brayden said under his breath. He stopped and looked at me with worry showing in his eyes. “I totally forgot that this might happen.”
“What?” I hissed, fear building in my chest at what he might be telling me.
“Parker, what on earth are you doing here?” a woman said, standing up, joy lighting up her face in a familiar way.
“I hope you don’t mind meeting everyone's parents tonight,” Brayden said with a sheepish smile.
My shoulders sagged in relief that it wasn’t something demon related, but then his words hit home, and I jerked my head over to the people sitting with his parents. “Oh God, that’s them, isn’t it?”
“Yes, all but Hudson’s mom. His parents can’t be in the same room together,” Brayden said in a hushed voice.
“Mom! I didn’t know you guys were going to be here,” Parker said, catching his mother up in a big hug that seemed to engulf her small body.
Parker’s mother is where he got his looks from, but his height and build were all his dad. His mother had red hair as well, but hers was a deeper red whereas Parker’s was more orange-red. Her warm brown eyes matched her son’s, along with the smile that was lighting up the room.
“Well, son, it’s nice to see you taking an interest in the business side of things,” Parker’s father said, giving him a side hug and slapping him on the back, rather hard by the sound of it.
Parker’s dad was just as tall but bulkier than Parker.
I could tell back in the day he had a more fit physique like his son, but age caught up to him and made him a little softer.
His brown hair was graying at the hairline, but it was still thick and healthy.
His hazel eyes were filled with humor, and smile lines were prevalent around them.
“When half my friends were going to be here, I figured why not. Oh, and I couldn’t pass up seeing Lailah all dolled up. Speaking of…” Parker turned and beckoned me over with a hand.
Brayden gave my hand a squeeze before he let go with a little shove on my lower back. Once I was close enough, Parker snaked an arm around my waist and yanked me in front of him. “Mom, Pop, I would like you to meet Lailah!”