“Are you spying on me, Daddy’s girl?”
Oh, no. No, no, no, no.
The drawl ripped me from my trance. And when I gazed into the brooding eyes of the tall one, a wolfish smile took over his face. I wanted to run. I wanted to drop my drink, race back for the door, and get away from them all. That’s what my gut told me to do. That’s what my brain told me to do.
But my heart told me not to be such a pushover.
“Danika,” I said.
The man shrugged. “Whatever. You’re a curious one, aren’t you?”
I shook my head. “No.”
He chuckled. “Said that pretty quick, didn’t ya?”
“Maybe I just talk this quickly.”
I stepped into the doorway with my drink clutched tightly in my hand. His eyes fell to it before that wolfish smile of his grew into something akin to the Cheshire cat. It unnerved me, how his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. How his stare still inquired what I was doing, even though I claimed to be doing nothing. His eyes locked with mine as he walked forward, towering over me with his shadow as the smell of cigarette smoke hung between us.
As he came to close to me, I caught a whiff of his cologne. Or his aftershave.
Whatever it was, it had my head spinning.
I felt my grip weakening around my drink. My knees trembled as he stood in front of me. My eyes slowly slid up to his, drinking him in as he looked down at me. There was indifference in his eyes. Worry in his brow. And confusion in the turned-up corners of his lips. He was easy to read. At least, up close he was.
He bent toward my ear, gracing my skin with the heat of his breath.
“Liar,” he growled.
I flinched at the sound before another chuckle fell from his lips. Then he stepped around me, pushing me against the doorway as he walked past. I let out the breath I had been holding. I watched as the man with the beanie and the red hair walked by me. His eyes fell down my body, as if he were studying me. And not too far behind was the lanky guy who didn’t understand personal space.
“You’re a terrible spy,”
he said, almost giggling.
“Benji. Shut up.”
I nodded. “Benji.”
He winked. “Danika.”
I grimaced at him as he slipped beside me, his hand running along my thigh. I jumped at his touch, and not in a good way. And as the three of them walked down the hallway, I whipped around to take them in. Benji was much shorter than the other two. Younger, as well. They all lumbered down the hallway with rolled-back shoulders and leather jackets. Probably thought they looked cool, too.
Idiots.
“Girls,” the leader said.
How in the world did I still not know his name?
The giggling of girls came from the other hallway before they dashed out. Two girls with lanky legs and hair down to their waists jumped out from the alcove that connected one hallway to another. I tossed my drink mindlessly into the hallway trash can. I watched as the confusing, intimidating man draped his arms around both girls, pulling them close as he slid his hands down to their waists.
He peered over his shoulder at me.
Disgusting.
The man chuckled before he turned his head forward. Together, the hoard of them stormed through the door, making their way down the stairs. Something swirled in my gut as I stood there, rooted to my place. Something unfamiliar. Something that made me sick.
Something that made me resent those girls.