"Elaborate, Sherlock Giovani," I encouraged as I downed my drink just as the bartender came with another bottled beer and whatever special concoction he'd made for Connor.
"Well," he began as I took my beer, and noticed the paper beneath Connor's drink. I tried to hide my frown as he took his drink and noticed the folded white sheet. Connor reached for it before tossing it into the ashtray that was resting to my right. The group of guys talking next to me were far too focused on their intense discussion about the stock market and bets being put towards the approaching Witchling Games to notice.
It took me a moment to realize the very paper was already a tower of ashes, and I looked back to Connor as he merely gave me the biggest smug smile while I rolled my eyes.
"What?"
"Well, that for example."
"What as an example?"
"The paper."
"The paper you didn't even open and discarded into the ashtray."
"Yes," he replied. "The folded paper with that guy's number on it that you destroyed with a spark of a flame."
"You have no proof," I voiced and reached for my beer.
"Maybe, but the fact you’re defensive only means you're being rather suspicious," he acknowledged. "Or the fact that your hair is glowing ever so slightly, and the candles over there have been burning like they're the flames of a fireplace to the point the staff had to assign someone to keep watch over them. And I can sense when your arousal for me goes up and down."
I merely stared at him as he took a gulp of his drink and gave me a wink. "So are you going to take me up on that offer to dance or are you going to be a jealous prick until I take your ass home?"
"Sometimes you're a bit dangerous," I muttered and chugged down my beer.
"Sometimes?" His whole expression showed his amusement as he slid off the stool. "I think you're underestimating me."
"Nah," I muttered as I placed the empty bottle down and slid off the stool to follow his lead. I may have been a bit too drunk, but no way was I going to miss this chance of dancing with Connor. "I know how dangerous you can be if you're in the right environment, and this place seems pretty damn right."
We made it to the dance floor, the music popping, a Latin hip-hop remix that made the beat work perfectly if you wanted to simply move your hips and not think.
Dancing was where I could be in the spotlight, let all my thoughts retreat into a chest and throw away the key until the last beat of the song. The less I thought, the better I could dance and vibe on the bumping energies around me.
I was sure Connor knew that and that was why he brought us here. A place where no one cared if we were the poster reps for the Witchling Games or wondered what we were aiming to do after graduation.
Connor took his place behind me, his hands already on my hips that were moving while his body pressed against me. I was trying not to acknowledge how surreal this felt. Whenever we'd previously danced, it was always with someone. Whether it was Brianne who danced in between us, or with Finnick and Kaito when we'd dance at parties.
This literally was our first time that it was just us, and my elation from that realization was only pumping loads of blood down to my erect cock that was pressing against my tight pants.
I was going to regret wearing these. I knew it down in my gut that I would, but for now, all I could do was dance to the beat and enjoy Connor's closeness. He wasn't wrong with his observation. I was being a jealous prick because I seriously didn't like the way people looked at him like he wasn't next to me.
He was my date for the night - my boyfriend for the evening, and yet people had the nerve to check him out like he wasn't mine. I seriously was going to just blame the alcohol for my slight impatience, but it also could have been because I missed spending more time with Connor and the others.
Jaxsin had been nagging me for days now because we'd barely spent time with Brianne. I knew she was busy, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting an odd vibe that she was hiding something. I'd brought it up with Connor the other day when we were working out, but neither of us was super worried about it.
Brianne wasn't one to keep secrets unless she deemed it important to not share at a certain time. We all trusted her, and her attention was solely on us, which was obvious, but fuck, I missed her.
Missed holding her in my arms, kissing her whenever I could. Feeling her warmth and making her cry out my name beneath the sheets.
Because of our schedules from after-school activities to the further training, we'd all been going the moment we returned to the dorms. We barely had enough time to sleep. It was getting to me for sure, but none of us were going to get six to eight hours of sleep this semester.
Everything that was important to us was wrapping up, and we had to make this semester count. There were no shortcuts, mishaps, or interruptions this semester. We were going to conquer every competition, obstacle, and final exam with the Witchling Games as a sweet bonus to the ultimate finale: the graduation stage.
This was why I wanted this moment to be focused on me and Connor. We weren't going to have another opportunity to do so until we held our diplomas.
As the music continued to boom around us, we moved in perfect synchronicity. The world around us grew hot, which was expected when all of us were moving our bodies to the hype sounds of the dance playlist. Adding the alcohol that already increased one's temperature, we were sweating with ease.
It didn't matter at this point. Nothing honestly mattered. I was with Connor and that's all I cared about.
The music finally went to a slow song, and we moved to a smaller bar across the dance floor to get some glasses of water.
"I need to piss," Connor voiced. "I'll be back quick."
"Okay," I replied and drank more water to calm my parched mouth. I requested another glass as I decided to lean back against a pole right next to where I stood, my eyes looking through the crowd in absent wonder.
It felt good to shake it out for a hot minute, but standing here alone also made me feel like I didn't belong. Sure, I had money like these people did. My family was loaded, and I certainly could afford to attend this club whenever I wanted, and yet I somehow felt a tad below them.
Maybe it was a feeling that was quietly shimmering since we discovered how rich Connor's family was. Megumi, his mother, was loaded, from the successful hotel that was once a run-down wasteland and the number of investments and other successful businesses she'd launched to grow the wealth under her name.
With Connor rekindling his relationship with his mother and the takedown of his father's mafia madness, he was literally set financially. I knew money didn't matter between us, and yet it felt like it did here and now among these peeps that didn't give off the typical business vibes.
Sure, they all wore suits from luxurious brands, but their auras felt more tainted in comparison to ours. They did business in a way that didn't allow for failures, and probably carried big pockets - some of them probably bottomless pits.
It was such a random thought in my mind, and yet it seemed to dampen the mood as I continued to wait patiently. It led to me thinking if Connor would stick around in the future. If he'd be getting offers to join the business world.
He was good with reading people thanks to his gift, which in the areas of business could make bank because he'd know how to gamble the proper cards with any deal. Adding his family background - particularly his mother who was really good in the business side of things, he could easily walk in her footsteps and travel the world while earning all he needed to support such a lifestyle.