“It’s okay, really,” I assured her. “It was hard to watch, but I’m not threatened by her.” I swallowed down the lie, eyes flicking to where Maliyah was on the dance floor. “After all, it’s me he’s with. Not her.”
Acid bubbled at the base of my throat, and as if I cued her, Maliyah’s eyes slid to mine.
A snake-like smile curled on her red lips before she flipped her hair over one shoulder and turned back to her friends, and her body language was much more convincing than my words.
It didn’t matter if she believed we’d been dating, or if she thought Clay might actually have feelings for me.
She knew, regardless, that he was hers.
“Damn straight,” Riley said, tossing her arm around my shoulder as best she could for being three inches smaller than me. “Now, you should go find your man and remind her of that fact. Oh! Never mind,” she added with a coy smile. “Looks like he beat you to it.”
I followed her gaze to where Clay easily split the crowd, everyone parting for him as he moved purposefully across the floor and toward me. He walked with the swagger of a professional athlete, the tux he wore perfectly fitted, eyes heating more and more as he closed the gap between us.
“Make that twat cry into her pillow tonight,” Riley whispered, kissing my cheek and releasing me just as Clay made it to the table. She gave him a knowing look before dipping behind him, and Zeke pulled her onto the dance floor before she could make it more than a few steps.
When she was gone, my eyes slowly trailed up to meet Clay’s.
Those green wells were darker than I’d ever seen them, shadowed by something that seemed to be weighing down on every inch of him as he stood there in front of me. He swallowed, and without a word, extended his hand for mine.
I tried to aim for nonchalant and casual as I slipped my hand in his, letting him lead me through the curious crowd out to the dance floor. We made it just in time for the band to slow things down, soft melodies and a harmony of voices singing a rendition of “Without You” by The Kid LAROI.
Clay pulled me to the very center of the floor, then tugged me into him, his hands finding my waist easily. My own slipped up his chest, and he looked down the bridge of his nose at me, his jaw tight with words unspoken as we began to sway.
Just like any time Clay had his arms around me, we garnered attention from every set of eyes in the room. I felt the heat of them burning into the bare skin of my back exposed by my low-cut dress, and as if he could sense it, Clay smoothed his thumb over the very spot I ached.
“You look—” he started to say at the same time I blurted out, “Well, looks like it’s working.”
Clay frowned, tilting his head a bit.
“With you know who,” I said, making a very subtle tilt of my chin in the direction of where Maliyah was now gathered with her squad on the side of the dance floor. I didn’t want to say her name just in case she was watching us.
And I knew she was.
“We won’t have to put up the charade much longer,” I added, forcing a smile, hoping the words came out as light and happy as I wanted them to. And I did. I wanted so, so badly to be happy for Clay, to feel nothing but unbridled joy in my heart that he’d gotten exactly what he wanted.
Maliyah wanted him back.
And I’d helped him get her back.
It should have filled me with pride, the kind you get only after being a great friend to someone you love. Instead, it soured my gut, and I dropped my head to Clay’s chest to avoid looking at him any longer for fear I’d crack and reveal the truth.
Which was… what, exactly?
I felt Clay’s hands tighten where they held me, felt his heart pick up speed in his chest where my ear was pressed against it. He stopped swaying, pulling back until his hands were framing my arms and his eyes were pinned on mine.
“Giana, I—”
But before he could speak another word, the band stopped playing, applause rang out so loud it drowned out the rest of what he was going to say, and within seconds, Charlotte was speaking into the mic that it was time for bidding to begin again.
“Meet me at my place after,” I breathed.
And then I reluctantly slipped out of his grasp.
Clay
It was cold and windy as I waited on the steps outside Giana’s building after the auction. I’d dipped out long before the event actually ended, unable to stand the charade or Maliyah’s not-so-subtle gazes across the room for any longer than I already had.
Can’t wait for our date, she’d said seductively after I’d walked off the stage. I still felt the chill from her fingernail dragging down the length of my arm, could still see the promise in her eyes.
It had worked.
Just like I knew it would, seeing me with Giana had driven her mad, had made her realize that she still wanted me.
But now…
The soft sound of heels clicking on the dark sidewalk brought me out of my haze, and I jumped to my feet just as Giana met me at the bottom of the stairs. She looked frazzled, her hair falling from the bun she’d fixed it in thanks to the wind, and her makeup was a bit smeared, the night too long and involved for it to survive unscathed.
Without a word, she slipped past me, unlocking the door to her building and holding it open for me to pass through first. We walked silently up the stairs to her apartment, and once we were inside, she was on me.
I was just about to tuck my hands into my pockets when she dropped her keys and her purse, barely peeling off her coat before she launched herself at me, her mouth on mine in pure desperation and need.
I caught her with surprise, but also with a groan that echoed deep in my chest as she pressed every inch of her supple body against me in that dangerous, thin dress she wore.
“Tonight,” she whispered against my mouth before claiming it in another needy kiss. “I want you to do it tonight.”
My eyes shot open, but I couldn’t respond, not when she was kissing me with fervor, backing me up toward her bedroom while kicking out of her heels on the way. Every muscle in my body tensed, heart galloping and mind racing alongside it.
Tonight.
She wanted me to take her virginity tonight.
“Giana,” I tried, but she slammed her mouth onto mine before I could finish the sentence.
“Please, Clay,” she begged. “I need you.”
I closed my eyes at her words, at how they lit me up from the inside, how every molecule that made up who I was beamed at the truth I knew she said them with.
She slipped out of my arms, stepping back with only the light from the lamp on her bedside table illuminating her. With one gentle pull of a zipper lining her side, the dress gaped, and she slipped it off her shoulder, letting it fall to a sparkling pool at her feet.
She was completely bare beneath it.
“Jesus Christ, Kitten,” I groaned, swallowing as I stepped into her. I reached out to brush against her ribcage with the back of my knuckles, loving how she peaked and arched like she wanted more. “You’re so fucking perfect.”
Her breath caught as I dragged my knuckles up higher, over the swell of her breast and up to trace her collarbone before my palm flattened against her chest. I backed her up with small, calculated steps, the beast inside me taking over until I had her flush against the wall.
“Are you already wet for me?” I asked against the shell of her ear, palm sliding up to wrap around her throat.