Chapter Seven #3
“Congratulations,” he says. “You earned it.”
The second James walks away, I turn on Revel.
“Boyfriend?”
His grin spreads like he’s proud of himself. “Yeah, Mama?”
“Do not ‘yeah, mama’ me.” I shove his arm off my waist. “What the fuck was that?”
“What?” He takes a drink of water, way too calm. “Sounded better than introducing myself as the guy you fucked earlier and clearly want to fuck again.”
“He was just complimenting my set.”
“Nah, Mama. He was flirting with you.”
“He was offering me a festival slot.”
“Yeah, after flirting with you.”
“Ay, Dios mío.” I press both hands to my face, trying to process the fact that I just got offered Sol Fuego while also resisting the urge to strangle him. “You cannot just introduce yourself as my boyfriend.”
“Why not? You went with it.”
“That isn’t the fucking point.” I drop my hands and glare at him. “And the song comment?”
His mouth curves. “What about it?”
“You made it sound like we already fucked to it.”
“Not yet.” He leans in, smug as hell. “But now that I’ve heard the build, I’ve got plans.”
My stomach flips.
Revel’s thumb drags slowly over my hip. “Next time it drops, I’ll show you exactly why it’s the perfect song for it.”
I smack his chest, but there’s no heat behind it now because the excitement is starting to take over everything else.
“Okay, but did that really just happen?” I ask.
His whole expression softens, the jealousy fading into something warm and proud. “Yeah, Mama. That just fucking happened.”
“Oh my God.”
I put my drink down before I spill it and press both hands to my face again.
“I got Sol Fuego.”
“You got Sol Fuego.”
A laugh breaks out of me, half shocked, half losing my mind.
Then Revel catches me around the waist when I practically launch myself at him.
And this time, I let him.
His hands stay at my waist.
For one second, I forget the crowd. The secret. Every rule I made two minutes ago.
There is no teasing in his face now. He looks genuinely proud of me, and that feels more dangerous than every filthy thing he said in his bedroom.
“You did that,” he says. “Nobody handed you shit. You got yourself there, Mama.”
My chest goes tight.
“Ay, don’t make me emotional in the club. My makeup is too expensive.”
He smiles and brushes his thumb over my side. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
I become painfully aware of his hands again and step back before someone else notices.
I grab my drink. “Come on. Let’s get back to them before they send a search party.”
We head back toward the others, and the second Bexley sees my face, she grabs both my arms.
“What happened?”
“I got offered Sol Fuego.”
The scream that comes out of Bexley turns half the heads around us.
Within seconds, everyone closes in. Echo throws her arms around me, Bexley starts jumping, and Sayshen nearly spills his drink trying to celebrate and hug me at the same time.
For a second, I just let myself get swallowed by them.
By the noise, the excitement, and the way every single one of them acts like this win belongs to all of us.
They might not be blood, but they’re family through and through. I never have to wonder who has my back because I already know the answer.
All of them.
Just like they have me.
I thread my fingers through Bexley’s, and she pulls me deeper into the crowd. We fall into the beat together, hips moving while Echo dances beside us and Sayshen attempts something that almost ends with him on the floor.
I laugh so hard I nearly lose the rhythm.
A few feet away, Revel stands beside Draygon and Talon with his water in one hand, watching me through all the chaos.
Every time I look over, he smiles.
And for once, it isn’t the filthy one.
It’s the proud one.
Which is deeply fucking unfair.
The music gets louder, the crowd tighter, and little by little, Revel starts finding his way closer without making it obvious.
His hand brushes my lower back when he passes behind me.
His chest catches my shoulder when the crowd shifts.
His fingers find mine for half a second beneath the movement of everyone around us before slipping away again.
Private.
Physical and no one’s business.
Except every hidden touch feels louder than if he grabbed me in front of everyone.
Bexley turns toward Echo, and Revel slips in behind me, one hand settling low on my hip where nobody can see it.
“Still set on this being a one-time thing?” he asks near my ear.
“Yep.”
His laugh brushes over my skin. “Shame.”
“Why?”
“Because the way you’re moving right now?” His grip tightens as he pulls me back against him. “Fuck, Mama. You’re making it hard to believe you.”
He rolls his hips once, slow enough to let me feel exactly how worked up he is.
Ay, cono.
My whole body reacts before I can stop it, and of course he notices.
“Never again,”
He laughs and lets me go. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Then he disappears back into the crowd, leaving me hot, annoyed, and way too aware of how badly I want him again.
That is exactly why I have to keep fighting it.
It is easier to stop this now than let it become something real and have him break my heart later.