Page 5 of Caught Stealing

“You’re lookin’ good, Kase,” I hear Holden say when I reach them, and the way his whiskey brown eyes take their time drifting up and down Kason’s entire body makes my stomach roll. Not to mention the way his hands keep touching him—a little too friendly for my comfort.

After all, there was a moment in time he looked at me that way. Touched me like that too.

But now, as his eyes meet mine, there’s not a hint of recognition crossing his face. And it only serves to piss me off even more than his presence.

“Uh, thanks,” Kason says awkwardly before his attention shifts to me. “This is Phoenix. Mercer. I, uh, don’t think you’ve officially met.”

Wedefinitelyhave, but if Holden wants to play it off like we haven’t, then two can play his game. Which he does, keeping his poker face intact as he gives me one of those stupid bro nods that causes his honey-blond hair to flop over his forehead.

“Hey, I’m Holden.”

Anger bubbles up inside me, and I bite out a forced, “I know who you are.”

Once again, not a single ounce of awareness crosses his face before his focus moves back to Kason like I’m not even here.

Fine, so maybe I’m not okay with playing this game of his, because every moment he spends acting like we’ve never met—like that night never happened—simply pisses me off more. How he can just stand here and act like he has no clue who I am is beyond me. But then again, he hasn’t said anything to me in the history class we share, where he sits a couple rows in front of me. There have been moments where our paths have crossed on campus too, yet he’s never given so much as an inkling about what happened in this very house being a blip on his radar.

I’m just another notch on his bedpost—utterly unworthy of a second thought.

The annoyance I felt earlier only intensifies as I stand here awkwardly while the two of them talk—Holden shamelessly touching and flirting with Kason the entire time. It makes the discomfort I was already feeling all the worse, making no signs of getting better when it continues for a solid fifteen minutes. The only reason it ends at all is because I finally speak up after the third-wheeling reaches the point of unbearable.

“Aren’t we waiting for someone?” I finally ask Kason, cutting off whatever Holden’s about to say.

Kason’s brows furrow as he shakes his head. “Not anymore.”

What?

“You were standing here searching the crowd for fuckin’ half an hour before I went out back,” I remind him.

Kason’s green eyes flare a bit before his head gives the slightest nod toward Holden.

“Not anymore,” he says again, this time through gritted teeth.

What is happening right now?

Holden’s inquisitive gaze shifts between us before a little smirk forms on his lips. “You were looking for me?”

“Uh, I mean…” Kason stutters and stumbles over his words for a second before he finally strings together enough words for a sentence. “I said I’d meet you here.”

I’m so lost; I might as well have been dropped in the middle of nowhere without a road map. Because there’s no reason in the world for Kason to be waiting forHoldenat a party. I mean, sure, they’re teammates. Maybe even more friends than acquaintances, since they spend so much time together.

Besides that though, they don’t run in the same circles. So why—

“You ready to head out soon?” Holden asks, slicing through my thoughts.

The question is clearly aimed at Kason, seeing as Holden still hasn’t offered a hint of recognition toward me. Which creates far more confusion on my end. It’s only when my eyes catch the way Holden licks his lips—an action brimming with pure, predatorial sex—that the puzzle pieces start coming together, smacking me in the forehead like a fucking V8.

Kason was waiting for Holden. And now Holden wants them to leavetogether.

Emotions course through me in rapid succession, circling round and round like a carousel. Anger. Betrayal. Sadness. Hurt. Regret.

Maybe even a bit of jealousy, though I’m not quite ready to unpack that at the moment. But, regardless, it sticks, now causing me to lash out at my best friend in ways I’d never dreamed of in the past. Not until this moment.

My brows crash together, and I feel my nose wrinkle up in some mixture of disbelief and disgust before uttering a single question.

“You’refuckinghim,Kase? Seriously?”

Kason’s mouth drops slightly, evidently shocked by my crass outburst. He recovers quickly, though, and goes to explain himself.

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