Just when I’d taken my phone out to take a photo of the scoreboard, there was a series of knocks on the door.
“Who’s that?”
“How the fuck would I know?” my brother muttered in reply to my pointless question, all sighing and sulky, stomping over to the door to open it. He seriously needed to get laid or something. His brooding anger was on a hair trigger, even more so since Winter had shown up in our lives.
Lena appeared in the room, and I forgot all about the game as I took her in. Dropping her phone to the sofa next to Cassius, she glanced around the room. “Can someone take me home?”
Cassius said something that I didn’t hear as I stood rooted to the spot, staring at her, trying to work out what the fuck I was feeling when I looked at this girl. I needed another drink. Lucky for my dart game, but unlucky for me, I’d only had one beer back at the beginning of the night.
“—He can’t take me home since he’s had a drink. Mum and Dad left ages ago, and I just tried to get an Uber, but they can’t come for another forty-five minutes,” Lena was saying when my brain finally decided to tune back into the conversation.
I was already moving towards her. “I’ll take you.”
“No, I’ll take her.” Zayde appeared next to me, his tone threaded with ice.
I gritted my teeth. “I already offered.”
He turned the full force of his icy gaze on me. “I’m taking her.”
I glared right back at him, refusing to be the one to break our stand-off.
The stand-off ended with Lena’s words. “Sorry, West, but Z has a bike.” She stared at me with an unreadable expression on her face, before she twisted the knife by adding, “And I need to feel the power between my legs, if you know what I’m saying.”
Then they were gone. Unreasonable jealousy and anger raged inside of me, and I didn’t even know why.
“What was all that about, West?” My brother gave me a curious look.
“Nothing.” Stalking back over to the dartboard, I grabbed a handful of darts, launching them at the board.
I couldn’t shake the haze of anger. “I’m out of here.” I threw the final dart, uncaring, and it clattered to the floor.
I needed a drink. Now.
THREE
PRESENT DAY
I glanced up at my brother, Cassius, as we headed into the bowling alley with our friends Winter and Caiden. “Where’s West?” My voice was casual. “I thought he was coming bowling.”
“He is.” Cassius scanned the large open space. Colourful lights played over the lanes, and music pumped from the speakers, accompanied by the sounds of falling pins. “There.”
I followed his line of sight to see Weston propped up against the bar, openly flirting with a gorgeous girl with short, jet-black hair who was waiting to be served. She laughed at something he said, placing her hand on his arm, and I pushed down the unwanted spike of jealousy at her actions.
Weston wasn’t mine.
And I had to remember that.
I’d perfected the art of pretending over the years. Pretending I only saw Weston as a friend. Pretending that he didn’t affect me. Pretending it didn’t cut me up inside every time another new conquest ended up in his bed. Pretending I hadn’t been in love with him ever since I was eight years old. Pretending that he’d ever look at me as anything more than his best friend’s sister.
Always pretending.
I’d pretended for so long that the pretence had become real.
Almost.
With an effort I turned my back on the bar and faced the bowling lanes. “Ready to be beaten?”
Cassius laughed next to me, then reached over and ruffled my hair. “You wish. I’m unbeatable.”
I threw him a warning look, smoothing my hair back down. “We’ll see about that.”
An hour later, we were about to start a new game, and Cassius and Zayde were tied for first place. Even though Zayde had arrived late, he’d somehow managed to catch up and move into the lead.
Everyone was in a great mood, happy to just be having fun without anything hanging over their heads. Winter and Caiden, especially. Winter had spent months investigating her dad’s sudden, suspicious death, and it had led her to Alstone, where it had turned out that her own mother was the one behind it. Add in betrayal from Allan, a guy that had been really close to the entire Cavendish family, and involvement with a Belarusian gang…let’s just say, we could all breathe more easily these days now that it was all behind us.
And another bonus? I had a new friend, Winter, and Caiden had finally stopped acting like an angry, moody bastard now that he was all loved-up with her.
“I’ll be back.” I waved my hand in the direction of the toilets. “Anyone want more drinks while I’m up?”
“I’ll get them.” Winter smiled at me. “Meet you at the bar in a few.”
Exiting the loos, I headed back down the corridor, taking the chance to check my phone in case there was anything that needed my attention. Clearly, I wasn’t paying attention, because I ran straight into someone, my phone falling from my grip and clattering to the floor.
Not someone.
Weston.
His arm shot out, his hand gripping my elbow to steady me. “Fuck, sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Dipping down, he swiped my phone from the floor before straightening up.
“Doesn’t look broken.” He turned it over in his grip, smoothing his thumb over the screen, then handed it back to me.
His sudden presence had flustered me, and I stood there mutely like an idiot, just staring at him. As the silence stretched, his lips curved upwards in amusement. “Everything okay?”
“Um.” I licked my lips, and his eyes darted down, following my movements. “Yeah. I’m fine,” I managed to say, my voice coming out all hoarse for some stupid reason.
Now it was his turn for silence. He continued to stare at my mouth through lowered lashes, and my skin grew hot as I realised that he was still holding on to my arm.
The sound of footsteps coming down the corridor broke the spell, and he blinked, dropping his grip on me. He turned away without another word, leaving me staring after him.
What was that?
Back in the bowling alley, I joined Winter at the bar, where she was ordering large jugs of beer to share, plus Coke for the drivers. “Should we get snacks?” she mused as I came to stand next to her.
I shook off the weird moment I’d just had with West and attempted to act normal. “Yeah. Everyone always wants snacks.”
“True.” With a laugh, she glanced over at me, then frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” My voice came out more defensive than I’d planned, and she raised a brow.
“Just asking. You look a bit…flushed. Are you feeling okay?”
I forced a laugh and repeated the words I’d just spoken to Weston, not meaning them this time, either. “Yeah, I’m fine.” As Winter eyed me, unconvinced, I added, “Just a bit hot. I could do with a cold drink.”
She seemed to accept that as an explanation, indicating her head towards the beer that the bartender had just placed in front of us. “I’ve got you covered there. I’ll just order some snacks, then you can help me carry the drinks back over.”