Page 51 of Resisted

Silas sat down hard, his fingers in his hair. “I don’t know how to stop it.”

I got the feeling he was talking to himself more than to us, but still I questioned, “What? Stop what?”

He blinked a few times when he looked at me, as if he hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. “Nothing.”

“She’s out of control,” Vince muttered as he watched them dance, his eyes glued to them. “She dances out there like she doesn’t have a care in the world.”

And she probably didn’t. We were the ones who lusted after her like we were mere pups, not grown ass men who’d experienced life up close and personal, who’d taken lives and hidden bodies. We needed to figure out what was going on with us. How desperate had we all become that every single one of us weakened when this little girl was near us? And she was still a girl, in so many ways. The memories in my mind proved that. But she was also a full-grown woman with the ability to make her own choices and do as she pleased.

“How long until the repairs are done at your family’s place, Silas?” I said, asking the question that we all needed to know the answer to. The longer we had her at our house, the more likely something was bound to happen. The ‘something’ was unclear, but we were all unstable foundations, crumbling under the vibrations she was causing.

He tugged at his hair subconsciously as he watched her, eyes glazed over. “Not soon enough. They decided to do a full remodel of the entire house, because why the fuck not?”

“Yeah. Why the fuck not?” Vince said, echoing him.

Silas’ eyes bugged out as he watched her.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“She’s talking to someone.”

I knew how he felt—I didn’t like it. “Yeah. Girls do that sometimes.”

“It’s fucking nervy,” Vince muttered as he stood, but the guy who was talking to Bella had backed away and disappeared into the crowd. It was for the best. If Vince had gotten up and approached the human before he disappeared, it wouldn’t have ended well.

I hated to be the voice of reason, but the old fuckers in my pack could be old-school. “As nervy as it seems, you understand she came here alone, right?”

“She came with us,” Silas retorted before glancing at her and throwing back half the bottle of beer.

“Yes, but also, alone.”

Vince blinked like I was speaking a foreign language. It was like they didn’t want to understand. “If she came alone, then why are we here?”

Dense ass motherfuckers. “She was going out with Lynette regardless, you just manipulated her into letting us come.”

“So we are here together.”

“No.” I sighed. “It doesn’t work that way. We are parallel lines, going the same direction, right next to each other, but not touching.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw touching.” Vince’s eyes were glued to her.

Silas brought his finger subconsciously to his face and rubbed it against his bottom lip. “There was definitely touching.”

I rubbed my forehead. “Yes, okay, there was touching. Point being, you came as observers, maybe to have fun yourselves. She didn’t come attached to you, she came to have fun with her friend.”

Vince licked his lip, his voice barely audible over the music that blared. “I feel attached to her.”

Me too, buddy. Me too. “Let her have fun. She deserves it.”

“I can be fun.” He and Silas nearly resembled brooding, sulky babies, but still, I pretended to agree.

“You guys are a fucking blast. A real fucking jo—”

Vincent stood so fast, the table moved four inches, tipping over my beer, spilling it across the surface. Silas wasn’t far behind him, and damnit, I knew I shouldn’t, but I dared to look at Bella, just as she took an offered drink from the same guy who’d spoken to her earlier.

Chapter 21

VINCENT

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