I sway my hips, closing my eyes and letting my hair fall down my face after I pull it out of the ponytail. I roll my head back, feeling the bass. I needed this so fucking bad.
Then Thea tugs on my jeans.
And I’m back to reality. “What?”
She points toward the door.
I follow her gaze, expecting to see Koa. My stomach tightens.
But it’s not Koa.
It’s Axel.
He’s hanging on some girl, stumbling, clearly wasted. His eyes are glassy, unfocused. The girl looks annoyed, trying to prop him up.
My stomach churns at the sight of my loser brother, drunk as ever and probably high as a kite. If there’s one thing I never imagined, it was this…watching my brother choose drugs over his well-being. Tears threaten to spill, but fuck that, I’m not going to cry. I suck it up and another big emotion replaces it. Rage now simmers under my skin at the sight of him. The fucking audacity he has to waste his life when he was good at football, smarter than me in math, and had a good heart. Ourparents fucked up big time with him. I don’t think he’ll ever be normal now. It’s been years of this bullshit. Hell, he’s even gone to rehab! He knows what he has to do but still doesn’t do it.
“Let’s ignore him,” Thea says, her voice hard. “Like how he’s ignoring you.”
I nod. “If I wasn’t sober, I would be screaming at him right now.”
She laughs. “Good thing you’re sober then.”
We keep dancing. I try to focus on the music, on Thea’s laugh, on anything but my brother making an ass of himself across the room. My moment of not feeling the world on my shoulders is gone now. Suddenly, it’s crushing my chest. I just sway and bounce to the beat, even though my night is thoroughly ruined.
But I can feel eyes on me.
I glance around, scanning the crowd. Axel must’ve noticed me.
But No.
It’s gray hooded eyes. He’s tall, massive. His lips twitch.
He’s leaning against the far wall, arms crossed, gray eyes locked on me. He twirls his finger—a slow, deliberate circle.
My stomach plummets to another dimension.
What the hell does that mean?
I turn to Thea, grab her arm. “Can we please move to the other side of the dance floor? Koa’s staring.”
She doesn’t hesitate. Just grabs my hand and leads the way, weaving through the crowd until we’re on the opposite side of the room.
Once he’s out of sight, I relax. Just a little.
“You need to not entertain him,” Thea says.
“I’m dropping him. For sure.”
“Good. He’s bad news, Lex. Like, worse than I thought.”
“I know.”
Then Thea looks up, over my shoulder. Her face shifts—not terrified like it should be. Mesmerized. Maybe even some drool at the side of her mouth.
“Lexi.” The voice behind me is smooth, cold, familiar.
I turn around slowly.
