Page 80 of Wicked Dove

“Are you okay?” I ask, leaning back to check on him, and he shrugs, his eyebrows pinching slightly as he rakes his gaze over me.

“Never better, why do you ask?”

I frown. Is he insane? I blink at him, waiting for the joke, but he looks confused. It’s like he forgot what happened earlier. Shaking my head in disbelief, I glance past him to Thorne, who remains as silent as ever, but I don’t miss the way he glances down at my gloves.

They definitely don’t go with my outfit, but I’m wearing them regardless. I’m too scared of what I might do if I don’t.

Daring to look at Kael, I find his eyes already fixed on mine. Without looking at Ocean, he hints for her to move, and she does. I try to grab her arm to stop her, but she moves too quickly, stepping into the space he vacated so she’s nestled between Thorne and Rion, grinning at me like a maniac while Kael looms over me.

“Elodie.”

“Kael.”

The tension from earlier feels thicker now, consuming me just as it did then, and I instinctively take a side step toward Rion, but the vampire follows me.

“We should play pool,” he blurts, making my eyebrows rise to my hairline in surprise. But before I can say a word, Ocean pats him on the arm.

“Ladies don’t play, they dance,” she insists, and Rion grins.

“I don’t see any ladies around here,” Rion mutters with a growing smile.

I glare at him as my lips twist, but that only seems to make him grin wider. Instead, I dig my elbow into his stomach, but that only gives him the opportunity to drape his arm over my shoulders.

Surviving them won’t be an option if we stay here. I’m already breathless. Glancing around the room, my eyes latch onto the archway that leads into the separate area, which looks a lot quieter and seems to have more space for me to breathe. “Actually, pool sounds like fun.”

I nod in that direction, but when I try to side-step them all to get a head start, Kael reaches for my waist, stopping me before I can go anywhere. With his hand on my side and Rion’s arm around my shoulders, combined with Thorne’s forever-intense stare, I feel like I’m going to self-combust.

“Before we start, we should make a wager,” the vampire says, and my eyebrows pinch with uncertainty as I look up at him.

“Why?” I dare to ask, and he shrugs.

“Because it’s fun. You and me. Each of us gets a prize on the line if we win,” he offers, the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him. It must be a disguise, but even if it is, I’m intrigued enough to want to know more.

“Like what?” I breathe, but before he can answer, Ocean slaps her hand on the table.

“If Elodie wins, she gets a new cell phone,” she hollers, and my back stiffens as Rion strokes his hand over my bare shoulder.

“What’s wrong with the one you’ve got?” he asks, tilting his head at me, but Ocean beats me to a response again.

“She hasn’t got one.”

I glare at her, but she only smiles proudly back at me.

“You don’t have a phone?” Kael asks, his jaw ticking as his eyebrows furrow, and I sigh.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” I murmur, trying to worm my way out from between them, but Kael’s hand flexes at my side.

“No, it’s a great idea,” he insists, and I rub my lips together nervously.

“And if you win?”

Something shifts in his eyes, but it’s gone before I can decipher it. “I get to take you for a ride on my motorcycle.”

I frown. “Why would you need one of those here?” I ask, but he shrugs.

“Are you in?”

His question hangs in the air as I consider my options. All I have to do is play a game of pool. If I win, I get a cell phone; if I lose, I get to take a ride on his motorcycle. Both options sound fun.