Waving the bottle, it’s empty. Luck must be on my side. I use that as my excuse to ditch Cole’s attentiveness from his stoop.
I was burning up and it had nothing to do with dancing for hours.
Finn doesn’t seem to mind. Pulling Hailey to him, unbashful, when a slow song comes on. Her eyes widen slightly, hesitating at first but she gives in. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
The relief in Finn’s eyes is like seeing spring after a long winter. Speaking of some fresh air sounds perfect right about now. Something, anything, to distract me from dull pressure building in my core.
Shoving the empty bottle into the trash, I plop down on a lounge chair outside. There are handfuls of groups lingering around the pool but it’s nothing compared to inside.
Everyone keeping to their friends and ignoring me. Exactly what I needed to calm my racing thoughts. Them drifting back to that night on the hood of his car. Those strong arms on the back of my neck, pulling me closer. His mouth consuming my own.
God, and those eyes tonight screamed that he was thinking the same thing. Just as hungry, if not more, for another round.
Iceman was making me weak for him, and I was beginning to question whether I cared if it was meaningless to him or not. This boy was bad for my healthandmy sanity.
“Hey, new girl,” Xander says, taking a seat on the lounger next to me. “People watching?” he jokes cheerfully.
Someone had been watching me alright. I’d caught the attention of the deadliest beast of them all. A hellhound, with hair as black as night, ocean blue eyes, and the cruelest of gazes.
I could admit I liked it too. That I had his attention. I was turning into one of those weak spineless girls that I’d hated.
I lean back in a huff.
“Or aretheywatching you?” he muses, taking a drink.
“What are you talking about?”
“Aside from the fact that you’re hot, you haven’t noticed you’ve had everyone’s attention for a while?”
I snort. “You’re joking.”
“About you being attractive?” That perfect, white-toothed smile grows. “Not a chance, new girl.”
My cheeks turn warm. That was the second time in a matter of minutes he’s complimented my appearance.
I shake my head. “That’s not what I was talking about. I meant about everyone else.” Clarifying.
“Oh yeah, you’ve been on everyone’s radar pretty much since you arrived. Then the hellhounds started sniffing around more and more and…” He pauses. Not finishing his thought. “You haven’t noticed?”
What’s there to notice? Okay, so maybe, I had seen a few more lingering faces recently, but I didn’t put a whole time or effort into thinking about it. I kept moving. If they wanted to stare, then let them. Years ago, I may have cowered under the pressure but that wasn’t me anymore.
Too much had happened to grovel under the burden of some curious gazes.
“What’s there to notice?” I ask, staring straight ahead.
“I don’t know, the fact that Eli brought you a bagel from the cafeteria the other day.”
“It was the last one,” I defend. “And my favorite.”
“What about when Peter Cavanagh was spotted around town driving Finn’s car the day after none of you showed up to school?”
That part was news to me, but still, I refrain. Unconvinced.
Sure, my brother was obsessed with his car. Washing it himself once a week, using only synthetic wax paste, but who was I to decide what he did with it.
“Or what about Cole—”
“—I don’t want to talk about him,” I say, butting in quickly. I’d come out here to distract myself from him. Not bring him into the conversation.