Chapter 8 #2
Iyla gestured for Bradley and I to take the lush couch. Addie sat on her knees on the other side of the coffee table while Iyla went back to the kitchen to finish the coffee.
I tried ignoring the fact that I was sitting on Zagan’s couch and mere feet away from three of my five celebrity icons.
Even more than that, I tried to not think about how seeing Dante again unleashed unexplainable warmth in my chest. I kept running into him, and while being around him made me nervous due to the array of emotions he brought out, he also made me …
happy. I just didn’t want him to make me happy in front of Bradley, because my boyfriend wouldn’t like it if another man made me smile.
I took a deep breath to calm my excitement and nerves before opening my folder.
I prepared to begin my second attempt at this meeting with Addie when a heavy body dropped down right beside me.
I gasped and whipped my head around to meet Dante’s gaze.
His muscular arm draped along the back of the couch behind me, and he spread his legs wide so that his leg brushed against my own.
“This is exciting,” Dante announced.
He leaned in close to me, peering over my shoulder to scan the mock-up house designs and portfolio. His face was so close to mine. If he looked up and leaned even slightly forward, our lips would meet. I swallowed hard as my face heated from the absurd thought.
“I can’t wait to see what you guys do for Addie,” Dante continued, oblivious to my internal freakout. I sucked in a hard breath when the arm behind me moved, and his fingers gently twirled a strand of my hair at the top of my back. “Maybe I should hire you to do some work at my house.”
“Dante,” I whispered in a warning hiss.
His gaze swung from the papers in my lap to my eyes. We were centimeters apart, the air between our faces charging with something hungry and magnetic. I stared at him while he stared at my parted lips.
Thankfully, alarm bells flared to life in my mind, and I ducked my head, averting my gaze and ending whatever strange connection had been forming.
“Serenity,” Bradley gritted out from my other side.
I peered up at Bradley through my silver hair.
I prayed he hadn’t noticed how close Dante and I had been just then.
I hoped he didn’t see the way Dante’s eyes went hooded with desire as they honed in on my mouth.
Because Dante hadn’t meant it. He was just a flirty guy, and I certainly hadn’t intended to be this close to the guitarist.
“Can you follow me, please?” Bradley asked through a tight smile before looking at Addie. “Will you excuse us for a second? I forgot my pen and some papers in the truck.”
That was a lie. I carried all of the papers for him, and his pen was in his pocket where it always was. Still, I followed under the pretense of grabbing forgotten materials with my coworker. In reality, the situation I was stepping into wasn’t between two coworkers but two lovers.
“What the fuck was that?” Bradley snapped the minute we rounded his truck.
We stood on the driver’s side so that the silver Ford separated us from the view of the home.
It didn’t, however, block the cold, so I wrapped my arms tightly around myself as he continued, “Why the fuck is Dante acting so close to you?”
I shrugged, even as my nerves ramped up. “We’re friends.”
“What?” Bradley roared incredulously. His eyes widened in spiteful disbelief.
“Well, I should say we’re becoming friends,” I quickly clarified. “We aren’t really close. We’ve texted a few times since the bar, and we bumped into each other on Saturday at the coffee shop. I recommended him some books.”
“Fuck, no,” Bradley hissed with a hard shake of his head. “You aren’t friends with him. Delete his number. Don’t talk to him. Don’t look at him. Do you understand me?”
My jaw dropped, and the pinpricks of panic began to morph into anger. Was he seriously trying to tell me who I could and couldn’t be friends with now? Was he trying to say he could have dozens of friends, yet I couldn’t have this one?
“What’s your problem?” I asked. “I’m allowed to have friends, Bradley.”
He scoffed and gave me a quick once over. “Don’t be dumb, Serenity. He isn’t your friend. Why would someone like that be friends with someone like you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
The two of us gasped as Dante rounded the truck casually and appeared behind Bradley. His ever-present cocky smirk was in place, but this time, I noticed an iciness to it. The corners of his eyes were narrowed slightly, and a sharpness framed his grin.
He wasn’t amused.
He was pissed.
Bradley glared at Dante before looking at me again. “Go back inside, Serenity. Addie’s probably waiting.”
“What? I—”
“Go!” Bradley yelled, his blue eyes lit with rage.
I took a jarred step back. Bradley had yelled at me before but never like that—never so desperate and furious. It conjured a ripple of fear in my stomach, causing me to swallow hard. I didn’t look at Dante. Instead, I bit my trembling lip and walked away.