Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

She looked at him with a coy smile, while his expression softened as he went to her, placing his hands on her waist and looking down at her.

What—

“That’s Chloe,” my brother said, his tone expressionless. “His girlfriend.”

My chest started to rise and fall heavier and heavier, and a burn hit my eyes. He didn’t have a girlfriend. I mean, he did. I’d seen him with girls, but…

No. He wouldn’t have cornered me in the Bell Tower, he wouldn’t have confessed all those things he’d done, if he had a girlfriend. Kai wasn’t like that. He wasn’t…Damon.

Kai’s hands drifted around to her ass as she ran her lips along his jaw. She looked like she was whispering things, because he responded with a laugh or a grin.

I dropped my eyes, knowing I had no right to be mad. He wasn’t mine.

I just thought he was different.

And yes, I was a little jealous.

“He’s always in the mood after he’s gotten excited,” Damon explained. “A fight, a car race, watching…”

Or a chase, I finished in my head, remembering all that had happened today and how what my brother said made complete sense. Kai liked foreplay.

“And she’s always there for him,” Damon continued at my side, watching the couple in the distance. “Besides us, she’s one of his best friends. State champion in tennis, captain of the math team, works on the school paper, and competes with the Chess Club…everything Kai’s father wants for him. A girlfriend to be proud of.” He placed a hand on my arm, gently squeezing it as I watched Kai and his girlfriend.

My brother went on. “Someone with opportunities, ambition, and drive. And speaking from someone who spotted them on a picnic table last summer when we all went camping up the coast, she’s looks like a good little fuck, too.”

I closed my eyes at the picture in my head. Tears welled.

“Yeah, she likes it, alright. Especially from him,” Damon told me.

I kept my head down, but I glanced up through the tears in my eyes, seeing her hands all over him, her body plastered to his.

A perfect fit.

“I told you,” Damon said in a low voice in my ear. “Guys will say anything. And we don’t even have to lie that well. Girls want to believe it.” I felt his arm circle me as he leaned his cheek into my temple. “But your eyes will tell you the only truth you need. You know that. Just look at her.”

I quickly wiped away a tear on the rim of my lid.

“That’s who goes out with him—looks how a girlfriend’s supposed to look in his lap,” my brother continued. “That’s who will be in a pretty little prom dress at his side next May. That’s who meets his parents and has dinners with them. That’s who texts him late at night and makes him hard. That’s what his normal is, Nik. You have a place, and that’s not it. It would never work.”

My chin trembled, and I nodded. Her plaid miniskirt or my hand-me-down jeans? Her tight shirt or my oversized sweatshirt? Her money, education, and whole fucking future in front of her or my…nothing?

I shook my head. Fuck him. I didn’t need all that stuff, and if that’s what interested Kai—appearances—then I was better off. I’d be more than all of them.

Twisting around, I pulled out of my brother’s grasp and took off, heading in the opposite direction. Damon wouldn’t follow me. He knew I was out of danger now, no doubt pleased with himself that he’d gotten me away from Kai.

I could be angry with my brother for never protecting my feelings or understanding some of the things I wanted, but he always told me the truth and fed it to me straight. Dancing around my poor little heart wouldn’t help me.

He was my best teacher.

I looked around for David, taking off my sweatshirt and tying it around my waist. I was suddenly so hot, an irritating nip biting at my skin.

Traipsing across the graveyard, I checked near the keg where I’d last seen him, and then headed up the hill, scanning small groups of people for the guys. A brick settled in my stomach, anger solidifying. I needed to get home. I didn’t want to look at these people anymore. Or hear their music. Or run into drama. I wanted to get out of here before Kai saw me. He would think I followed him.

“How about this one?” someone spoke up.

I looked up, coming out of my head.

Four guys loitered around an open grave, two of them sitting on nearby headstones. I’d wandered outside of the party area, all of the noise and light behind me.