“You were supposed to,” Adley shot back with a laugh.
Star covered her mouth, and her shoulders shook as she laughed with her.
And me?I couldn’t take my eyes off Adley.
Adley belonged here.She wasn’t an outsider.She wasn’t trying to figure out her place.This was her world, her family.She moved through the chaos with ease.The kind of confidence only someone who grew up in these walls could have.She made people laugh.She made strangers feel like they weren’t drowning.
And it gutted me, because all I could think about was how I was forcing her to keep the best parts of herself hidden when it came to me.
Everyone else got to see her like this, out in the open.Me?I got shadows, stolen minutes, kisses that tasted like secrets.
I set my cup down too hard on the counter.The clink drew Raven’s eyes, but she only arched a brow and went back to her grapes.
Star asked Adley another question, and Adley leaned back against the bar, laughing as she answered.Her hair slid over her shoulder, catching the light.
My chest tightened.
I dragged a hand down my face and willed myself to look away.The last thing I needed was for Adley to catch me staring like a lovesick fool.
But even as I turned, I knew the truth.
The walls around our secret were closing in, and I had no one to blame but myself.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Adley
Every table was full, pool leagues in the back were loud enough to shake the walls, and Thorn was working double speed behind the bar with Mason.I’d been running my ass off since the doors opened at four, and by ten, I was sure my feet were going to mutiny and walk me straight out the door.
But it wasn’t the crowd or the chaos that weighed on me tonight.
It was the secret.
The way Mason’s eyes burned into me when I crossed the room, only to flick away the second anyone else might notice.The brush of his hand when we passed each other behind the bar.The weight of his gaze when I leaned over a table.
I wanted to scream it to the whole damn room, Mason is mine.I wanted what the older ol’ ladies had.That easy claim and the way their men touched them openly and proudly.Instead, I was ducking into shadows for stolen glances.
By the time I carried a tray of empties into the back, my chest was tight with it.
The door shut behind me, muting the roar of the club, and before I could take a breath, I felt him.
“Mason-”
He caught me by the wrist and pulled me into his office, shutting the door with a hard click.The second the lock turned, his mouth was on mine.
I dropped the tray on his desk with a clatter and let him devour me.His kiss was rough, claiming, and his tongue slid against mine like he needed me to breathe.My back hit the desk, papers scattering under me as he pressed me down, his body covering mine.
“You drive me crazy out there,” he growled against my lips.“Watching you smile at everyone else when all I want is for you to look at me like that.”
“I do look at you like that,” I panted, and tugged at his shirt.“You just don’t let yourself see it.”
His hand slid up my thigh, fingers gripping, thumb brushing the seam of my jeans.Heat pooled low in my belly, sharp and desperate.
“Mason,” I whispered, my voice catching when he pressed harder.
His jaw clenched.“This is insane.I swore I wouldn’t-”
I pushed at his chest until he leaned back just enough for me to slide off the desk.My knees hit the carpet, and his eyes went wide.
