I glanced back at Haven, and Lac was a few feet away from her and she looked pissed. She said something and I wished I could’ve heard, but by Lac’s slight nod and his chagrinned expression, it was obvious she told him to back off.
“Chatted with him tonight,” Kite said. “He’s in the med. program. Is at U of T on a scholarship for lacrosse.”
Great, he was smart and an athlete. Well, I’m a fuckin’ rock star.
“Let’s get out of here,” I suggested as Lac sat beside Haven, his arm going around the back of the couch behind her, but she shifted away, thank fuck. Maybe she can look after herself. I was betting she had the gun in her purse, but I was a guy and the protective nature in me was strong. “Logan and Ream might still be at Avalanche.” It was just after midnight, but I was betting they were still there. I quickly shot off a text to Logan.
Kite stood. “Yeah. I’ve had enough bad singing for the night. And now you owe me, twice.”
My phone vibrated as Logan texted back. “They’re still at Avalanche. Let’s grab Haven and head over.”
Kite scowled. “Haven? Man, she came with her friends.”
I shoved my phone in my back pocket. “I’m not leaving her here, drunk with a guy who can’t keep his hands to himself.”
“His hands aren’t touching her.” Kite shook his head and ran his teeth over his tongue piercing. “I knew this shit would happen.”
“What shit?”
“You. Her. Tonight. It’s a shit storm about to happen.”
“It’s all good. Don’t worry about it.” I took a step toward Haven when Kite’s hand shot out and grabbed my arm. “What?”
“Bad idea. Not tonight, man. She’s drunk. You’re high on her and it’s going to end up in one of your bedrooms. Not cool. She’ll hate you in the morning and you’ll hate yourself. Not to mention what the hell Ream will do to you for fucking his sister. You need to deal with that first, before you make that move.”
I shrugged out of his grip. “I can control myself, asshole. I have controlled myself for months.”
Kite scowled. “Not tonight you can’t. Hearing her sing . . . I saw your face.” Yeah, well, she blew me away. “We’ll take a cab to Avalanche and leave Roman here with the car and he’ll make sure she gets back okay. Let her hang with her friends.”
I ran my hand through my hair and shifted my feet. “Fuck.” He was right. I had one shot with Haven and I wasn’t blowing it. Her drunk was definitely not the time because after this afternoon, I was betting something would happen and I wanted her to come to me—sober. Because once we crossed that line, there was no going back, no running and no ice blocking me out.
“Fine, I’ll tell her we’re heading and if she wants a ride home or to come with us, then it’s her choice.” I pulled away and failed to bother excusing myself as I interrupted Lac saying something to Haven. Fuckin’ rude and crass, but shit, I was hanging on by a thread seeing his fingers play with the few strands of her hair that fell over the back of the couch. I didn’t think she even noticed him doing it, but I sure as fuck did.
“Need to talk a sec.” I leaned over, entwined my fingers with hers and pulled her to her feet before she or Lac could object.
I ignored Kite’s glower as I pulled her toward the door. Haven stumbled and I let go of her hand to hook my arm around her waist. “You okay?”
She nodded and it was nice to see she was smiling and didn’t seem to care that I was being an ass. Shit, seeing that smile made my stomach do a leap in the air like I was jumping off a cliff—with her.
“I’ll talk to Roman.” Kite continued past us.
I settled her against the wall, a ways down from the room, then rested one hand above her head the other lightly on her hip. “We’re headed to Avalanche. You want to come with us or we can drop you off at home?” Then I added, “Or stay here?”
“I swore to never drink, but they tasted good, not like the beer.”
I half-smiled. She was cute tipsy with her cheeks flushed and her voice softer, sexier.
She reached up and touched me right between my eyes, the pad of her finger caressing back and forth. “The crease is there. You only get that when you’re worried about something.” My breath stalled. “And when you’re angry, your voice gets all gravelly and deep.” I closed my eyes a second and swallowed. Her finger trailed down my nose off the tip to my lips and it took everything, I mean everything, I had to not draw her finger into my mouth. “I love it when you sing. I can’t figure out which is better, when you sing or laugh. Because when you laugh, it makes my chest all warm and tingly. It’s nice.”
She rested her head against the wall, arm lowering to her side. Oh, fuck. I was putty, fuckin’ melted putty that was a puddle on the floor at her feet.
“You flirted with me today. At school.”
It took me a second to answer because fuck if she wasn’t the most stunning woman I’d ever seen and I was crawling back up from the puddle. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
I couldn’t very well tell her because I wanted to fuck her so badly my cock hurt. So instead, I said, “Things need to change between us.”
By her frown, she didn’t get what I was saying and probably wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning.
“We’re friends.”