Lost In Us (Lost 1)

"I changed my mind," I tell Jason, grabbing his hand and leading him onto the dance floor. "Let's dance."

Jason puts his hands on my hips from behind me and we start dancing to the rhythm of the music in moves far too intimate for my taste. But that's how almost everyone around us is dancing. I keep my eyes on the floor, afraid of who else they might find in the crowd.

If James is here I will die.

Correction. If he's here with someone I will die. Of humiliation and pain.

But right now, I've got another problem. Jason is practically glued to me. I can feel every one of his hot, increasingly heavy breaths against my neck. "You look really fantastic tonight," he says in my ear and one of his hands slides further down from my hip.

I instantly leap from his arms and turn around to face him.

"What's wrong?" he says, looking startled.

I glare at him. "Jess just signaled that she got me a drink," I lie through gritted teeth.

He attempts to place one hand on my hip again, "The drink can wait."

"No, it can't," I say firmly.

"But

the song—"

"She said no," a deep voice booms from behind me, and my smoldering heart bursts into flame. Rage plagues his every syllable.

"Who the hell are you?" Jason says over my shoulder.

I take one deep breath and step sideways, unwillingly turning my gaze toward James. It wasn't just his tone that bore unmistakable signs of anger. His jaw is tight, his elbows wide away from his torso in a provoking way. The dark blue shirt reminds me of the one he was wearing when we first met. And his eyes… they have the same glint they had under the valley oak next to the auditorium. No, not the same. It’s ten times darker. Almost frightening.

"This is James," I say at once because I have the nagging feeling James is preparing to punch Jason rather than answering his question. "A friend of mine."

"Can I talk to you, Serena?" James says, not taking his eyes off Jason. "Alone."

I hesitate for a second, despite all the promises I made to myself that I will never speak to him again. If I say no, Jason will take it as a sign that I liked his sleazy hands on me after all and I will really lose my temper when he tries something. If I say yes, I might lose everything.

Jason makes the decision for me. "Serena and I have a conversation to finish."

"We can finish that later," I say and stride toward the bar, with James hot on my heels. I look for Jess, but she and the rest of the group are no longer where I left them.

"Are you all right? That guy—"

"Let me make something clear," I turn to him. "I have no intention of speaking to you, I just want to get rid of Jason."

"I only need a few minutes, Serena. Please."

"You had your few minutes. You filled them with stone silence, as I remember."

"I called you a dozen times. I wrote to you."

"Didn't the fact that I ignored everything send you any kind of message?" I ask, grinding my fists so hard my nails bite in to my palm. Anger, that's it—the secret to not breaking down in front of him.

"It did. It was obvious I had to talk to you in person."

I take a step back. How could I have thought that him being here is a coincidence?

"You had me followed?" I ask aghast.

"Don't be ridiculous."