Page 20 of Beneath the Watching

“I’m going to go find the boys. It's time to get this party started and I want to dance.” She sprung up from her seat andgrabbed her cup, swallowing the contents before slamming it down on the coaster. Madison turned and left, swaying her hips on a mission.

Dancing wasn’t for me, I rarely participated. I was happy to watch her and Kiara in the crowds laughing and flirting as they goofed around under the flashing lights. It was almost as if time had stood still, and they’d thought they were still club kids. I remembered the days when we were younger, before we had solid relationships with the opposite sex and going out had been a nearly every night excursion. Back then, I hadn’t really danced, either. Nights out had lessened in frequency under the burden of adult life, but they’d both shed those responsibilities again whenever we arrived here.

“Mabel,” a voice behind my head drawled before a body slid into a seat beside me. “Don’t you ever dance?”

It was the odd blond, the man who rarely spoke to us and who sat on the sidelines, Julian. I shook my head; he knew I didn’t go out onto the dance floor often.

“I can’t hide this feeling with my China girl,” the man sang softly. Just then, an old David Bowie song started playing over the music system.

“Who are you?” I knew, but I wanted to put him off.

He held out a hand. “Julian, my dear. Your hair is beautiful.”

Shaking his hand, I replied, “Thank you.” He’d called me “China girl” in reference to my hair and the music, I realized. My skin turned clammy in his grasp, and I wiped my palm on the skirt of my dress when he finally released me.

“Do you feel like you aremissingsomething?” His bright blue eyes glittered with amusement.

I shook my head, not understanding what he was trying to say.

Julian clicked his tongue in my ear, and I cringed at the crawling sensation that skittered up my neck. This guy wasseriously disturbed, invading my personal space and being intentionally vague.

“There’s a storm brewing, I hear your heart beating. I have a plan for everyone,” Julian’s voice turned juvenile as he sung song lyrics in my ear.

Finally, I said, “Do you mind?” The man took a long whiff of my neck and I thrust my arm out, shoving him away. He laughed.

Julian covered his eyes with his hands and then whipped them open. “I see you!” he said. He then stood up before twirling with a flourish, bowing with one arm across his midsection, and vanished into the crowd.

The universe was out to get me. Therewasbad weather brewing, as Julian so helpfully sang to me, only the storm was in my chest and born out of anger. Rubbing my temples, I tried to get my pulse under some semblance of control. Between Madison, Stefan, Kiara, and now Julian, my last thread was being slowly unraveled.

As if the very thought had conjured him, I spotted Stefan moving through the crowd, parting the dance floor as he got closer to me. He was dressed more casually than I was used to, merely a blue button-up shirt without a tie or vest, and black dress pants.

The top three buttons of his shirt were open, teasing me with a sliver of his chest. Whatever he wore, he always looked better than what I was comfortable with. The feelings he inspired within me were unwelcome as I was in a relationship and Stefan held a blatant dislike of me.

Or so he claimed.

He held me in place with his gaze as he stalked forward, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. His eyes drifted over me, taking me in an inch at a time. Emotions crashed through me, ripping through my crumbling fortifications and I felt panic beginningto build at the base of my throat. It was all I could do to tear my eyes off him before the heat of his focus forced them back up. When he stood beside me, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I thought I told you to stay away.”

“Not from here, you didn’t.”

“I shouldn’t have to.” He said and scowled. I blinked. “What did Julian want?” he asked.

Brushing aside his question, I asked, “Can you take me there? Please? I don’t want to be here.” My heart began pounding in my chest; I had just exposed myself. I’d transferred my power over to this rude man without a second thought by asking for a favor. My blood rushed in my ears and my hand trembled as I swallowed, trying to force the sensations down.

Stefan slowly sank down on the seat beside me, and asked, “How about you start being honest with me?” He lifted a hand in the air and a waitress came over. He ordered a drink, and the server brought it back faster than I’d have thought possible. He took a sip of the clear beverage as he eyed me, waiting for me to answer.

He was a hard man to figure out. He didn’t believe me when I told him I had no idea how I’d ended up in his house or church, and he kept accusing me of holding back knowledge. It made no sense he didn’t believe me when he must’ve seen how there was no pattern to it. Granted, it’d only happened twice, but how does one purposely end up in some parallel universe—if that was really what it was to begin with? I still couldn’t decide, and I just knew I was done with being here and wanted to be there.

Picking up my glass of wine, I twirled the stem gently. “I’ve been honest with you.”

“That’s one person you’ve been truthful with,” he remarked, his eyes glittering.

I glared at him. “If you knew I was, then why harass me?”

Stefan smirked. “I love it when you get feisty.” The sarcastic expression transformed into a genuine smile, surprising me. “There’s a whole side of you that you hide.”

“Why are you always messing with me?”

Stefan leaned in a fraction closer. “I could ask you the same.”

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