Page 21 of I Would Die for You

“Oh my god,” gasps Cassie, clamping a hand to her mouth, as a familiar flash of peroxide moves in time to Michael’s thrusting hips. “Is that… is thatAmelia?”

Luke looks at Cassie with a confused expression as Michael’s hand disappears into Amelia’s bra, exposing her breast. “Are you shocked by how quickly he moves on, or the fact that it’s your friend underneath him?” he asks.

There’s a part of Cassie that doesn’t want to be associated with Amelia’s sleazy behavior, but she can’t deny that if it wereBenon top ofher, she’d no doubt find a way to put her moral high ground aside.

“But he’s got a girlfriend…” says Cassie, as if that were the only reason Amelia shouldn’t be doing it.

Luke laughs. “Welcome to the world of Michael Delaney! This is what he does, but whyshethinks so little of herself that she goes running every time he clicks his fingers, I don’t know.”

Cassie swallows the blatant disrespect for her friend, but it leaves a bitter taste and she suddenly feels strangely vulnerable, surrounded by people she’d convinced herself she knew well, yet doesn’t really know at all.

“Relax,” says Luke, as if reading her mind. “It’s all par for the course.”

She looks at him, desperately trying not to read too much into the implication.

“If you have one of these, it’ll take your mind off it,” he urges.

Ben catches her eye from across the room and she’s sure he gives her a nod as he pops a tablet in his mouth.

“You’ll have the best night of your life,” Luke goes on, but she doesn’t need any more encouragement; she wants to be in the same sphere as Ben, to experience the night, whatever it may bring, together.

It takes longer than she expected, but once the feeling starts, it wraps itself around her like a quilt. Everything is warm, everything is comfortable; the familiarity of everyone around her belying the fact they’ve only just met.

She wants to talk to them all, tell them her innermost thoughts, as she draws them near, desperate to feel their skin with her fingertips. Someone brushes past her with a silk shirt and she follows them across the room, fawning at the material, marveling at how it feels like liquid gold to the touch.

Twirling around, looking up at the ceiling, she wants this feeling of unadulterated freedom to last forever. With no one to answer to and no rules to abide by, she imagines that this is what it must feel like to be Nicole. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to be her big sister right now. Independent, liberated, in charge of her own destiny…

She’s still spinning, with a smile on her face, when a hand clamps down on her wrist. “Whoa, you’re making me dizzy just looking at you,” comes a man’s laughing voice.

She stops, transfixed, thinking to herself how much he looks like Ben Edwards. She goes to tell him that, but the need to hug him is even more consuming. “You feel really good,” she says, as she draws him into her, nuzzling her face into his neck, smelling him. “Dance with me.”

He sways back and forth with her in his arms. “So, are you going to tell me your real name?” he says. “Or am I going to have to call you Curly forever?”

The suggestion that they might know each other for that long sends a frisson of anticipation along Cassie’s heightened nerve endings.

“I think you might just have to call me Curly forever,” she says, giggling, as Ben is pulled away from her by a faceless body.

“God, that’s some good stuff!” says Michael as he goes for a second line of cocaine laid out on the glass tabletop.

Amelia laughs as she adjusts her top and takes the rolled-up twenty-pound note off him when he’s finished. Cassie looks on in awe.

“Well, hey there, Charlene,” says Michael, as if seeing her for the first time. “When did they letyouout of Ramsey Street?”

Cassie looks at him perplexed, unable to see any resemblance between her and Kylie Minogue’s character inNeighbors, but once it’s been sitting with her for a few seconds, she puffs her chest out, bolstered by the compliment.

“You gonna join in?” he asks. She hopes he’s referring to thedrugs, as even in her utopian state she doesn’t fancy sharing him with Amelia. Though she wouldn’t bet that she couldn’t be persuaded.

Amelia passes the note and Cassie hesitates before shaking her head. She doesn’t want anything that will take away this feeling of utter delirium. There’s no paranoia, no inhibitions, just a sense of wanting to love everyone around her—even Michael. He pats the sofa cushion beside him and Cassie sits down, as Amelia prickles with wary apprehension. Unperturbed, Michael moves closer so that their legs are touching, his breath hot on Cassie’s bare shoulder.

“I’m horny as hell,” he whispers in her ear, before swiping a finger across the glass tabletop, collecting the remnants of white powder that Amelia left behind. He rubs it on his gums and, without warning, grabs the back of Cassie’s head, pulling her to him. His lips are just inches away from hers, his eyes wordlessly inviting her to open her mouth to share what’s in his.

“Hey!” a voice calls out.

The single word is said with such conviction that Michael instantly releases his grip and looks up to see who would have the audacity to interrupt. When he sees Ben standing there, his mouth spreads into a satanic grin.

“Ah, sorry, mate,” he says. “I’ve already called first dibs on her.”

Ben’s jaw twitches, as if he has a thousand words fighting to get out.

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