His fingers travel to my face before lightly running across my cheekbone, his eyes gleaming with a smile.
“You can’t even call them family.”
“No, I can’t. I no longer consider them my family.”
He suddenly wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a hug, glancing over my shoulder at the same time.
“What are you doing?” I ask quietly.
“They’re looking at us. I thought we should play our roles,” he murmurs in my ear.
My skin gets scorchingly hot from his touch.
“Who’s they?” I ask in a quivering voice.
“For one... The women. They all look at us. And then, there’s an older couple. Those two people are glaring at us. I imagine they are your parents, and then...”
He pauses.
“Yes?”
“There’s a man who can’t take his eyes off you. My competition, I suspect,” he says, entertained.
“What’s so amusing?”
“He has no fucking idea who you really are,” he says, tearing away.
His expression changes again, and I brace myself.
“We need to go. Ready, darling?” he asks in a different voice as he dials into his character.
He takes my hand and walks me toward the table.
“Oh, by the way...”
He stops again, and I almost break a heel, swaying as I come to a swift halt.
“Where did we meet?” he asks.
“A bar. We’re both avid readers and love motorcycles,” I say, pulling the answer out of my ass.
“Are we?” he asks, smiling pleasantly surprised.
9
SENNA
Thank God,it’s a public place with a lot of guests and plenty of spots to hide.
The first hour, I struggle a lot.
I drink more than I normally would, just to be able to socialize, face Nick’s questions, and pretend I’m not bothered by the success Jaden’s having with the ladies.
My father rolls his gaze over me as if I’m nothing, while my mother is still keen to give me a piece of her mind after all these years.
It doesn’t surprise me that she takes a jab at Jaden.
No, no. Of course, not.