My hands curl into fists in my lap, the urge to reach out and be violent causing a low hum in my fingertips.
With my hands balled up, I can’t tap out of the intrusive thoughts, so instead I focus my gaze on the centerpiece, reminding myself of how I fixed it moments ago and the relief it gave me.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have taken up smoking in the first place.”
Poof. Just like that, my relief vanishes, leaving me a time bomb, slowly ticking its way to explosion.
I scoff, unfolding my hand and flipping him off with one manicured finger, the pink nail pointing outward. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, you know. If all of us could go back and not make mistakes, we’d be in much better shape. But we don’t exactly get that option.”
Still, my words ring hollow as his mind travels elsewhere, landing on Juliet as she sits at her table. I huff, crossing my arms and slumping in my seat, feeling scorned for no reason by a psychopath with more mistakes in his past than good decisions.
My cheeks heat as I sneak a glance at Boyd, who watches me with a thoughtful expression despite Mel practically sitting in his lap.
He doesn’t drop my stare, even as she tries to cajole him into making Kieran jealous, and the intensity in his gaze makes me uncomfortable.
Stretching my fingers, I tap the tip of one on the outside of my bicep, the rhythm slightly soothing.
Tap, tap, tap.
Without another word, I push back from the table and excuse myself, on the hunt for my second cigarette of the night.