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I haven’t asked himwhy,because then it might invite questions my way where alcohol is concerned. Questions I haven’t faced myself let alone explained to anyone else.
He passes the flask of Macallan along and shifts closer with his movement, the warmth of him heating my entire right side until it’s all I can feel, seeping through my skin and heating every bit of me. My heart hasn’t stopped racing, but still, its beats spike even higher, my…everythingtoo aware of his proximity. And the smell of his cologne. And the veins traveling through his sturdy hands. And his full lips pursing as he pushes out a breath, frowning down at his phone, his arm still slung around my shoulders.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, and it pulls his attention to me.
“What—oh, yeah.” He slides his phone into his jeans and shifts even closer, tipping his head toward mine as he speaks softly enough not to be heard by anyone else. “Just making sure the guys have a ride secured. They’ll all be drunk off their asses by the end of tonight, so I have to—” he cuts himself off with a shrug, but the look on his face tells me he doesn’t say that out loud very often, if at all. That he feels responsible for securing designated rides for his drunk friends.
I heard him mutter something about it at that first party. And again, at Club Vee. Before he drove me home himself, he’dordered Parker to share an Uber with Jameson and Williams back to the Masons when they were ready to head back, and Parker had reluctantly agreed with an exaggerated roll of his eyes—like he was all too used to the request.
I’ve wondered what that’s about, along with his lack of a need to drink any alcohol himself. If it has anything to do with the shadows that tinge his gaze, or more likely, with the loss of his girlfriend who got behind the wheel while intoxicated and didn’t survive it.
It’s none of my business.
So why do Iwantit to be my business?
Lucky for me, the back door swings open before I can think on it further, and we’re all ushered inside. We’re led upstairs, up onto a private balcony that overlooks the club, courtesy of Boss and his parents. Rainbow-colored lights flash and dance from above, painting the faces on the dance floor in brilliant streaks of color, and loud music vibrates the floor beneath my feet.
When shots of tequila are passed through the group of us, I refuse again, having decided sometime in the last twenty-four hours that I can’t keep doing this—letting alcohol numb the feeling of walls contracting around me, of more and more bodies filling the space, stealing more and more oxygen from the room.
That, and I’m still mildly hungover from this morning’s adventures. Instigated by Addy, of course.
The more boxed in I start to feel, though, the more I begin to regret my decision. But the surrounding excitement as everyone waits for the performance to begin is still palpable—Williams’ performance, specifically—and I grasp onto the feeling, ignoring the others poking and prodding at me and attempting to flood into my psyche.
Jude scoots closer beside me at the balcony ledge, deep in a conversation with Jameson and Parker about what sounds like gaming strategy, and Addy sidles in on my other side with a tipsysmile. She bounces on the balls of her feet, entirely giddy as the minutes tick by.
Parker’s voice raises above the commotion, insisting Jude is wrong—that the bloodstone inNevernightis not, in fact, excavatable, though Jude stands firm on the fact that it is, that he’s done it himself. They argue back and forth, before I cut in with, “Sorry, Parker, but it totally is. I’ve done it, too.” I shrug.
“I’m the one that showed you that little trick, you know,” I say, quieter, lifting onto my toes to say the words in Jude’s ear, nudging him in the ribs with my elbow.
“Bullshit!” Parker bursts out. “Declan, honey, you’ve got all the best secrets, but you’re playing favorites, and it’s not fair.” He mock pouts, but it shifts into a bright, wicked smile. “Come whisper sweet nothings into my ear, too. I’m feeling a little left out.”
I bark out a laugh and feel my blush blooming beneath my cheekbones.
Jude grumbles beside me, angling himself closer. It could be my own imagination running wild, but the move feels possessive, proven further when he drapes his arm over my shoulders. Heat curls through me, sprouting vines of awareness through my limbs.
Parker’s hands fly up in surrender. “All jokes. We wouldn’t dream of touching what’s off limits, would we, Jude?” The former gives the latter a pointed stare. “Not that some of us have been touching much of anything lately,” he mutters under his breath, and my heartbeats amplify at once. I can feel them everywhere.
Is Parker implying what I think he’s implying?
No way. There’s no way. Jude is a warm-blooded male. So, of course, he hooks up. He must.
The thought puts an awful taste in my mouth. But if I’m being honest, Jude hasn’t once seemed interested in flirting orhooking up with anyone—or anything of the sort, really. Not since that last party where I stepped in when that girl couldn’t keep her hands to herself. At least not when I’m around. Not that we spendallof our time together. But the majority of it, I guess, we do.
“Shut the fuck up, asshole,” Jude growls, and the rumble of it penetrates my side, sending a vibration skittering across my skin.
His eyes darken, and his jaw clenches, and his entire body tenses with wild agitation. His demeanor goes from playful to nearly lethal just like that.
What the hell?
“Jesus! I’m just fucking with you, bro!” Parker acquiesces.
“Yeah. Well. I’ve had enough of your fucking jokes where this is concerned, Parker.” He slides a forceful hand through his hair, willing the tension to recede from his body.
Parker throws his hands up again. “Note taken. Fuck. My bad.”
Jude simply offers a grunt in reply. But Parker drags him into a reluctant hug, and they exchange a few quiet words between them before all seems to be forgotten. Even more so when the lights in the room darken, and the stage brightens, and the emcee finally graces the stage.
We all collectively shift closer to the balcony for a better view, Addy scooting in at my right side and pulling Boss with her, Jude pressing in closer at my left.