Page 23 of The Wrong Play

I was ruined.

The hand gripping my chest tightened, like I was trying to physically keep my heart from fucking combusting.

I didn’t say a word. I didn’t tell Matty what I was doing. I didn’t hesitate.

I just moved.

Setting Matty’s beer bottle down, I started across the dance floor, stalking toward her like a man possessed. Some girl touched my arm, trying to get my attention. I couldn’t even look at her.

Another one said my name, trying to pull me toward her. I barely registered them.

All I could see washer.

She was fidgeting, shifting from foot to foot, glancing around like she wasn’t sure what to do. By the uncomfortable look on her face, she wasn’t excited to be here.

And suddenly, that pissed me off.

Who the fuck dragged her here? The goddess in front of me only deserved a lifetime of happiness.

I was pretty sure there was a cereal commercial that claimed to offer that, but I was also pretty sure that I could deliver the goods much better.

I was kind of hyperventilating as I finally made it to her.

“We just found out Grandpa is addicted to Viagra,” I told her, stopping just short of invading her space, close enough that she could feel me, but not close enough for her to run. It wasn’t my greatest pickup line, but it was all I had in me at the moment. I was surprised I’d been able to form words at all.

Her head snapped up, and the second her wide, honey-colored eyes met mine, something clicked into place inside me. Like the fucking universe had just aligned in my favor. Like I’d been waiting my whole life to meet her.

It was over.

I was done.

She was mine.

She just didn’t know it yet.

The angel’s lips parted slightly, just enough for me to catch the way she sucked in a breath, her fingers tightening around the full glass she was holding. I liked that. That I had an effect on her. That she was already reacting to me.

She blinked at me, genuine confusion flashing across her face. She glanced behind her, like she thought I was staring at someone else.

But how could anyone else exist?

All right, so alienshadinvaded my body. And I was perfectly okay with that.

She blinked up at me. “Um?” Fucking hell, hervoice. Soft and hesitant, like she wasn’t sure what to make of me. Like she hadn’t already sunk her claws into my chest and rearranged everything inside.

I smirked. “Nobody is taking it harder than Grandma.”

She tilted her head and blinked a few times, before she finally snorted in shock…or awe. It could have gone either way. “Do I know you?” she asked, like she wasn’t sure she’d heard me correctly.

I grinned. Fuck, she was cute.

“No,” I admitted. “But you’re going to.”

Her lips twitched, like she was fighting a smile. I needed to see that smile. I needed to earn it.

“Do you always walk up to random girls and say stuff like that?” she asked, eyeing me like she was trying to figure out my angle.

“Only the one I plan on marrying,” I said, dead serious.

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