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Declan’s deep blue eyes meet mine, piercing, and her quick intake of breath is visible from where I sit. A soft blush washes over her cheeks as my eyes rake over her face, and an intentional, cocky smile pulls at my lips. Contrary to my shit attitude lately, I don’t mind if she knows I’m attracted to her—as long as she understands I don’t plan on doing anything about it.
“Hey, Mr. Bad and Broody,” Parker jokes, cutting through my line of sight as he parks his foot on the couch beside me, leaning down and resting the weight of his body with his elbow digging into his propped-up knee. “Want to come take a breather with me while I smoke?”
Though I’m not a supporter of his cigarette habit, I easily take him up on the offer, taking the out as I follow on hisheels through the club and out the main doors, ignoring Addy’s request altogether.
______
Not fifteen minutes later, the modicum of calm I’ve managed to attain is shoved aside by none other than a fuming Addy. She tears through the club doors, charging into the parking lot.
Boss is quick on her tail. “Addy,baby!Wait up!” he shouts, voice booming.
With an annoyed grunt, I lean back against the brick wall of the club and fold my arms across my chest. It’s not the first time these two have gotten into it, and it won’t be the last.
One thing I can almost guarantee, however? Is that whatever it is that has them riled this time, Boss is more than likely at fault. Addy has a good head on her shoulders, and for having only recently graduated high school, she has more maturity than most of the girls we go to college with. But dealing with Boss’s legacy—his decent level of fame in this town and the number of girls who want at him as a result, paired with his too-friendly demeanor and inability to turn someone away who claims to be a genuine fan—isn’t always as easy on her as she claims it to be. Rightfully so. All they need is a few minutes and everything will be sorted, though—if their last handful of fights have anything to show for it.
Declan comes rushing through the doors a few seconds later. She halts her steps, uncertainty weaving through her features before she stalks off in their direction without another thought. I catch her around the middle with an arm as she passes, her back meeting the hard plane of my chest.
Releasing her as quickly as I caught her, I take an intentional step back, as if the feel of her body against mine has singed every inch it’s touched.
But it does the trick, stopping Declan from going after them.
She peers at me from over her shoulder, the rest of her body following the movement until she’s facing me straight-on, and a questioning look tugs at her brows.
“Give them a few minutes and everything will be sorted,” I explain, my tone low and calm, straightforward. “Trust me.”
She draws in an unsteady breath, brows pinching further. Craning her neck to steal another glance of her friend across the lot, she finds her leaning against Boss’s SUV, the two deep in discussion. One a lot less heated than when they first tore through those doors. And with the sight, a breath of air is released from Declan’s lips, and her worry seems to dissipate with it.
She steps toward me—toward the wall,I realize a beat too late, my pulse kicking up too many notches at her proximity. Falling against the brick beside me, she taps her booted foot against the asphalt. Parker smirks from where he stands opposite her, facing us both.
His eyes raking over her from head to toe invites a wave of irrational anger to push through me.
“Parker,” he introduces, stepping forward and thrusting a hand in her direction.
She glances up at me before returning his shake, as if searching me for reassurance, and it causes the tension in my chest to ease. “Declan,” she offers, voice smooth and laced with a softness brought on by her obvious buzz.
My attention narrows on the sound. And Parker—the fucker—doesn’t miss my reaction to it.
But thankfully, our attention is brought back to the parking lot. Addy shrieks as Boss hauls her over his shoulder, his raucous laughter echoing loud and clear.
“There you have it,” I say. But my words fall flat, gaze following Boss as he helps Addy into his SUV before settling into the driver’s seat himself. His engine revs to life, headlightsshining over asphalt as he pulls out of his spot and draws up beside us.
“I’m taking this one home with me!” he hollers over the music rattling his speakers, and Declan immediately pushes off the wall.
“Wait, what?” she says, incredulity lacing her tone. Can’t say I blame her.
“Jude can give you a ride—if that’s okay?” Addy interrupts with a hopeful look cutting through her features.
Declan’s mouth snaps shut in response, eyes widening in a pleading gesture. “Addy—”
“Please?” the latter lays it on thick, gaze bouncing between mine and Declan’s. “You’re heading back to the same place, and I promise, Jude is completely trustworthy. I would never even ask if I didn’t trust him to get you home safely.”
“Yeah, please,” Boss parrots, and I part my mouth on a response, but the asshole chuckles through a smirk and peels out of the parking lot, rendering my response fucking pointless.
I push out a short, unamused breath of laughter.The asshole actually did that. Just fucking took off, and left Declan in my—a groan slips from her mouth, and I’m torn from my own rising irritation, the sight of her head thumping against the wall behind her helping to cool my simmering frustration further.
Our gazes catch, and they snag and hold. Something passes between us. Something just out of reach. Our shared annoyance is my best guess, but it feels as if it nags at something deeper.
I clear my throat and tilt my head toward the lot as a resigned breath flees from my lungs. “You want that ride?” I offer.