“You look beautiful,” he said over the music. At least I was pretty sure that’s what he said. I was mostly relying on my mouth reading abilities.
“Thanks. You look good too.” I half-shouted back.
He grinned, and I took that as a good sign.
The music changed, and he placed my hands on his shoulders, then lowered his to my waist. I giggled, feeling completely out of my comfort zone. Why was I so awkward?
Hannah and Daniel were a few feet away, and I winked when she caught my eye. Her smile was brighter than the fire, and she looked like she knew what she was doing. I mirrored some of her moves, twisting my hips and slipping my fingers up into Sai’s hair.
His eyes heated as he looked down at me, and I nearly melted. He liked that? Good because I really liked it too. I stepped a bit closer, and he met me, closing the distance until we were nearly pressed into each other.
Oh, man. He smelled so good. Like pine and apples? It didn’t matter right now. I just wanted to stay here in this exact position forever.
“Mind if I cut in?” a deep voice came from behind me.
Sai’s eyes changed into a burning fire in an instant. “Yeah, actually I do.”
Theo glared at Sai, but when he settled his attention on me, his whole face lit up, exposing those dangerous dimples.
Shit. This wasn’t good.
“Hi, Theo.”
What was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to turn him down, but I didn’t want to blow off Sai either. Just as my anxiety was boiling over into full-blown panic, another guy joined our group.
“Can I talk to you for a second, Saige?” Niall looked bored as he glanced from Theo to Sai. “If the brutes don’t mind.”
Before they could start arguing, I agreed. “Yeah, I’ll be right back,” I told Sai, then smiled apologetically at Theo. “We can dance later.”
Niall was already walking into the dark, so I hurried after him. He leaned against a tree, facing away from me, so I slowed down until I was next to him. “What did you need to talk to me about?”
He smirked. “Nothing. You just looked like you were about to have a breakdown, so I decided to save you.”
“Save me?” I huffed. “Since when do you care?”
How his bright blue eyes managed to look so dark was a mystery I’d never solve. “I don’t. I just happen to enjoy pissing those two off.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why? Why aren’t you friends with anyone?”
This was something I wanted to asked him since I first heard about him having friends and being nice once upon a time.
He glared back. “What are you talking about? I have friends.”
I crossed my arms. “Not from what I've seen.”
“Oh, since you’ve been here, what? Two weeks? You know everything?”
His Irish accent was out in full force, and I’d be a big ol’ liar if I said it wasn’t the sexiest thing in the world.
“I know a few things.” I refused to back down. He was probably used to people backing down but not me. There was something strange between us, and I was sick of ignoring it. “But I don’t know why you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.” His voice was much softer now.
“Really? Cause it feels like you do.”
He looked into the darkness of the forest. “Nah, it takes too much energy to hate someone. I don’t care enough to do that.”
Okay. That was a slap in the face I hadn’t been prepared for.