BRAM
“This is the last thing I want for my birthday.” I glare at Ambrose, who’s gyrating and dancing in front of me. We’re in the VIP area of one of his family's clubs in Mystic Hollows. Anything even vaguely related to entertainment in this town is owned by the Roth family. The local theater, the one music venue, the only decent nightclub, a handful of restaurants–all owned by the Roths.
“Oh please. If we never forced you outside of your house, you would just sit in a dark room brooding and grunting at things.” Ambrose raises his glass up to salute someone on the other side of the bar.
The name of the club is Scarlett and everything inside feeds into the vibe. The lighting is red, the couches and chairs a deep burgundy leather. It’s like someone from the fifties took their concept of what they thought the sexy future would look like and threw it into this place. There’s seating and a dance floor, and a chrome circular bar with glowing red lights that make everyone look slightly evil.
“I leave my house,” I half-heartedly defend myself.
“Work and going for a run don’t count.” Odie signs next to me. She checks her phone and then points to the entrance. My brother is headed our way along with Josephine, Stellan, Piper, and Ava.
My heart seizes and then works overtime to catch up when I take in what she’s wearing. Compared to some of the outfits in this place, it’s tame. No sparkle or frills, but my breath catches. A pair of jeans hug her curves and a fitted top that shows off her incredible tits. I didn’t look the other day when I was undressing her, but holy shit. She’s been hiding a whole fucking lot under her baggy, ugly-ass sweaters.
Her skin glows with vitality and her lips are full and red. Her brown hair tumbles over her shoulders in a fall of silk. My fingers itch to feel the strands slip between them.
“Damn,” Ambrose groans next to me. My head snaps around, and I’m ready to bite his head off.
“Keep your eyes to yourself.” My words are sharp. I want to pluck his eyeballs out for even looking at Ava.
Except he's not.
I follow his gaze to where Piper’s tentatively pushing through the crowd. Her normally blood-red hair looks darker in the club lights, her skin somehow paler. She could be a vampire from another time.
“Don’t fuck around in the friend group.” I ease up on my snarl, but still dole out a warning. Ambrose doesn’t know how to keep it in his pants, and the last thing we need is tension in this newly formed group because he fucks Piper. If it would even get that far. Piper’s so quiet I can’t imagine Ambrose seducing her. She’d probably blush and hide if he even tried.
Ambrose sips his drink and raises a brow at me. “Does someone need a dose of their own medicine?”
“What are you talking about?” My eyes are back on Ava as she weaves through the crowd. Her brother’s basically glaring at people to form a path through the busy club.
Odie slaps my shoulder and gives me a look. “Please.” She signs and rolls her eyes.
“What?”
“Okay, we can all pretend that you don’t look at that little witch like you’re about to eat her. And yes, I mean that exactly the way it sounds.” Ambrose chuckles.
No, I don’t look at Ava that way. Sure, I may have accidentally kissed her, and she does occasionally make me laugh. And fine, it’s way more than anyone else. And our strange little prank war has brought me more enjoyment than just about anything in my life in the last decade, but I don’t see her like that. She’s a fellow coven member who I’ve been paired up with to plan a party, regardless of my feelings on the matter. So what if we get along? That’s not a crime, and it doesn’t mean anything.
“You two are seeing fire where there’s no smoke.”
“Sometimes lightning strikes and starts an inferno with a bang.”
Before I can reply to Ambrose’s idiotic metaphor, Ava breaks through from the crowd and punches my arm. “Happy birthday, bitch.”
My eyes drift down her body without my permission. “You’re looking good, Vandenberg.”
“Thanks.” Stellan fluffs his beard, batting his eyes as he hip checks his sister, knocking her to the side so he’s standing in front of me. Ava stumbles and my hand shoots out to grab her elbow to steady her. A spark zips from her skin to mine that reminds me of Ambrose’s stupid lightning comment from moments before.
Ava shoves her brother back and calls him an idiot. The others circle around us, offering up birthday wishes. Ambrose pops up with a tray of shots from who the fuck knows where.
“Oh, so it’s going to be that kind of night?” Odie signs. She holds up the shot in a cheers in my direction before throwing it back. The rest of us follow her lead. After that, the night is a blur of drinks, loud music, and laughter.
The dance floor steadily gets busier until the people are crushed together in one gyrating grind of humanity. Ava is standing at the end of our table, her eyes closed as her body sways to the music. I’m not even sure she knows how she’s moving. Her body writhes to the rhythm in a way that’s so fucking primal I’m hard just watching. This woman, who normally wears clothes a grandmother wouldn’t touch, should not be able to move like that.
“Let’s go dance.” She opens her eyes and grins at Josephine. She grabs Piper’s hand and tugs, pulling her to her feet. Ambrose hops up after her, his eyes fastened to Piper’s ass. Josephine drags Roman with her, and I’m surprised when he goes willingly. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen my brother dance.
Stellan and Odie are already out on the dance floor, which just leaves me at our table. When I settle back in my seat, Ava winds her way around the low table and stands in front of me, her hands on her hips. “Get moving, birthday boy.”
“I don’t dance.”
