Page 49 of Inception

He tipped his head to her, flashing one of his debonair smiles. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Taylor.”

“God. You’re like, smoking hot.”

“Taylor!”

“What? He is!” she laughed. “And you smell to die for. Seriously, what cologne is that?”

I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

It seemed that with just a smile and a few blinks of his smoldering eyes, Taylor had been reduced to a blushing heap of mush—fawning over everything from his scent, to his hair, to his car. Of course, Dominic didn’t seem to mind it in the slightest, and may have even been enjoying it, so I just smiled along with them and let her rant go on uninterrupted. As entertaining as they were, it still wasn’t very long before I found my own eyes drifting back towards the kitchen.

Back to Trace.

The conversation between us last night had gone from icy to nuclear and then back again in a matter of minutes, and left me agitated long after we left the restaurant. I couldn’t figure out what it was about him that got under my skin so easily.

Maybe it was that ever-guarded exterior he wore like body armor, or the way he could validate or dismiss me with a minor shift of those piercing, reticent eyes. Or how he always seemed to be there at the most pivotal moments—like when I fainted at work, or when I was attacked behind All Saints. It was peculiar.

Everything I knew about him amounted to nothing and only left me with more questions. And a longing. A longing for answers, and for something else. Something I couldn’t even name.

Trace looked up at me just then, meeting my prying eyes with his own blend of curiosity. The connection made my breath hitch, but I kept my eyes locked on him, and his on mine. There was something special about those eyes—

“Helloooo?” Taylor waved her hand in front of my face.

“Huh?” My cheeks heated up as I realized her and Dominic were both staring at me, waiting for me to answer a question I hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry, what are we talking about?”

“We’re inquiring about drinks,” she laughed.

“What about them?”

“Whether you’d like one, love,” Dominic whispered into my ear, his cologne filling up my space with its delicious scent.

I started to turn to face him and felt his lips graze against my cheek. I stopped before making the full rotation, knowing where his lips would end up if I completed it.

I nodded instead.

On our way to the kitchen, we landed in the middle of an argument between a red-headed sophomore and her boyfriend (who were both visibly upset and completely blocking the entry), arguing about whether she was flirting with some guy named Toby. Or Tony.

Judging by their slurred speech and glazed eyes, they were definitely drunk on a lot more than just love.

Taylor, never one to shy away from...well anything, was quick to wrap her arm around the feuding couple and offer mock consolation as she guided them out of the kitchen. I watched as she tactically inserted a freshman mediator into the car wreck of a scene and then slipped out unnoticed.

Clearly this wasn’t her first drunken rodeo.

Seconds later, she was back in the kitchen introducing Dominic to the rest of the girls who promptly swarmed around him, cooing and pawing at him, and (most likely) unintentionally pushing me out of the circle. The whole thing was ridiculous.

I backed out and headed to the breakfast-table-turned-bar where I poured myself a glass of soda from the sidelines.

“Hey, Blackburn.”

I jumped at the sound of his voice in my ear, nearly spilling my drink on myself in the process.

It was the hockey player slash party host.

“Hey, Caleb.” I patted down my shirt to make sure I wasn’t soaked in cola. “Great party.”

“Glad you could make it.” He smiled warmly and took a sip of his own drink. “Are you having a good time?”

“Yeah, definitely, it’s amazing.”Amazing? Okay, so I was exaggerating a little. There was no law against it.

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