“Truth or promise?” I asked, needing to distract from whatever was happening.
“Truth…” He narrowed his eyes, seeing through me.
“Did you beat up Alaric and Geoff?” I noticed his knuckles were abraded, not quite bloody, but something had definitely happened.
He nodded slowly, curving his lips to blow a puff of smoke to the side and out of my face.
“Why?” I asked.
He smiled slowly, shaking his head. “My turn. Truth or promise?”
I bit my lip, my turn to look away. Away from his deep eyes.
But then his thumb was at my lip, pulling it from my teeth, and I was drawn back to him. I could taste the coppery remains on his thumb.
My gut somersaulted.
Pancaked.
Bottomed out.
He was Theo Hound and he was my enemy. So why did I want him to push his thumb deep into my mouth? Why was I stuck on the way he was watching me? Why were his lips the only thing I could focus on?
Sucking the smoky taste off them.
We were getting too close.
I was going to get hurt, again.
I jumped up. “I have to go.”
He took a slow drag, staring up at me, eyes sharp. “That’s not how this works.”
“I don’t care.”
He looked almost disappointed, then stamped the cigarette out, smashing it into the AC + TH before standing up.
“You owe me.”
On our way back to the party, we passed by Alaric and Geoff. They’d since cleaned up, but their eyes were black. When they saw us, they flipped us the bird with a laugh. I kept walking, because fuck those guys, but Theo stopped. Full stop.
“Did they apologize to you?” he all but growled.
“What?”
“Did they say they were sorry?”
“Uh… no?” Was he kidding? Alaric and Geoff say sorry?
I kept walking and was nearly at the patio when I noticed Theo had changed direction—toward Alaric and Geoff. He expertly grabbed them and had them incapacitated before I reached him.
“Theo, what are you doing?”
We were just inside the many open French doors that led to the patio, barely shielded by Mother’s favorite potted black orchids. The cello’s haunting shiver ghosted on the wings of feathery ocean air, servants would be coming in and out, and, if anyone looked in our direction, they would see us.
He grabbed them both by the collars, thrusting them in front of me. “Apologize.”
They winced. “Fuck off, dog.”