Page 36 of Pixie Problems

So I leaned in, close to his ear. "I prefer actions. They say more about a person."

Slowly, he turned, meeting my gaze. "Good, then just know that if you hurt Rain, I will let Hawke rip your balls off."

"Not Aspen?"

"She'll cut 'em off herself."

So I nodded. "Good to know. Seems Rain doesn't need me to protect her after all."

"Oh, but she does," he said. "She really does, Keir. Or at least she will. Just don't fuck it up when it happens."

"That's a vow I've already made."

Chapter Eleven

RAIN

Torian had hip hop playing this time. The bass was intense, and the woman's voice was making everyone around us want to bounce. Needless to say, that was all the excuse I needed. Grabbing Aspen's hands, I joined in, with her following only a split-second later.

"Thought you said this wasn't like last time," I teased.

She rolled her eyes. "This is the early crew. Most are going to be fashionably late. Trust me, last time there were only a handful of people compared to the ones who'll come tonight." Then she grinned. "And most people who left for the holidays came back today."

Ok, now that would mean alotmore people. A huge chunk of the student population had gone to visit their parents - real or foster - for the holidays, so it had been rather relaxing around here lately. School started soon, so that was an excuse to come back. Considering no one wanted to spend New Year's Eve with their parents?

I looked over in time to see a stream of people coming in the door on the boys' side of the atrium. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be much different on our side either, but there were too many bodies for me to see for myself. Hell, I'd even lost track of Keir and Wilder in the crowd, which already looked to be twice as big as when we'd arrived.

Then the music changed to a slow song. Aspen tilted her head back and laughed before offering me a hand.

"Shall we?" she asked.

"Definitely," I agreed, pulling her up against me so I could wrap my arms around her neck. "But I missed the joke."

She tilted her head, making my eyes follow. Over by the pond, I could see Torian messing with his phone. But just as my eyes landed on him, the guy paused, looking over.

Those spring-green eyes of his slammed into me like a force of nature. His gaze flicked to Aspen, then back to me. Almost belatedly, he smiled - and then pulled his eyes back to his phone.

Clearly, he was the one controlling the music - again. That meant he'd picked the slow song because he knew Aspen and I were here! Ok, that was the "joke" I'd missed. She'd laughed because her brother had just given her an excuse to dance with me.

"So," I said, leaning in to put my mouth close to her ear, "I guess this means he approves of me?"

"Shit!" she said around a laugh. "Rain, he's trying toimpressyou. Or didn't you stop to think about why he kissed you?"

"To piss off Harper," I insisted.

She leaned back to give me a scathing look. "You're smarter than that."

Ok, maybe, but I didn't want to admit kissing her brother had rocked my world. Never mind that I refused to admit it to him! Torian was an arrogant piece of work, and I definitely hadn't expected him tokissme! I'd just been trying to help - or at least that was the story I was sticking to.

So I replied, "I'm not about to mess around with your brother!"

"He doesn't seem to agree," she countered.

"And," I went on, "I really don't care if he thinks he deserves everything. I am not a thing. Nor are you, Aspen." Which was really my bigger issue.

"Good," she breathed, hugging me a little closer.

I went with it, wishing she was just a bit taller so I could rest my head on her shoulder. This was that sort of song, and I was used to dating guys who were taller than me. Not that I cared - about the guys or the taller parts - but I was used to it.