Page 29 of Ghost

“Well, that’s too bad for you, Luna,” Wren says.

“I don’t like him.” My eyebrows pinch, and Reina rolls her eyes at me. “I don’t.”

“Whatever you say, Luna Cassidy.”

The two of them giggle, turning back to their hair and makeup, but I’m still hanging onto our conversation.

I don’tlikeGhost. What I feel is stronger than that.

Terminal.

If I don’t do something about it soon, that man might be the end of me.

9

Luna

I was a troublemakerin high school. I partied and experimented. I thought I’d seen it all until I met the Twisted Kings. But if anyone knows how to throw a party that will go completely off the rails, it’s them. And when they celebrate, they do it to make a statement.

Music is already hammering through the clubhouse by the time I’m dressed. Reina and Wren are long gone, working on who they’re going to claim for the night before any locals arrive. They get territorial on nights like this. Always worried that the guys will brush them aside. And it got worse when Tempe came in and stole Steel’s heart.

It wasn’t intentional, but now all the patch bunnies are on edge, wondering who will fall next, wishing it could be them. They live with a constant fear of being temporary.

Something I can relate to.

While I’m not a patch bunny, I could be replaced. The only security found between these walls is with a cut or a property patch on your back, and I don’t have either. Anyone else who lives here serves their purpose but eventually moves on.

I weave my way to the bar at the front of the clubhouse, spotting prospects guarding every door and hallway. Just because the Twisted Kings are throwing a party doesn’t mean they’re letting down their defenses. And after a direct attack on the club, I don’t blame Steel for being cautious.

If anything, it makes me feel safe.

I spot Tempe through the crowd as I walk into the bar. She’s glued to Steel’s side, smiling up at him while he says something. Steel has his arm wrapped around her waist, and as much as I’d like to pull her aside to vent about the tension between me and Ghost, I know Steel won’t let her out of his sight tonight with outsiders roaming around.

Kristen and Venom, the newest prospect, are working behind the bar, serving drinks. Venom spots me the second I walk into the room and meets me at the end of the bar. His lopsided smile grows at his approach.

Venom is attractive in the way most guys who join the club are. He’s tattooed, looks good on a bike, and he’s trouble. His brown hair is a shade darker than his eyes, and from what the girls have been whispering about him, he’s pierced in places that should make me even more curious to give him a shot.

After all, there’s something appealing about a walking red flag.

Still, I can’t help that I have no interest when I look past Venom and see Ghost sitting at the other end of the bar, staring at his phone. My frown deepens, and I wish that just once, he would look up and see me. That he’d storm over here and pick me up in his strong, tatted arms and prove I didn’t imagine what sparked between us when we met.

Like he senses me staring, Ghost’s gaze lifts to mine. His pale-blue eyes meet me from across the room, and goosebumps prickle my skin. We hold the stare for a fraction of a second, and I swear the room silences.

Time stops.

My heart thumps.

His attention is palpable.

This man is pure gravity pulling me in.

But just as quickly as I’m flooded, the dam breaks, and he glances down again.

“Luna Cassidy.” Venom stops at the end of the bar, grinning.

Everything from his smile to the way he says my full name is flirty. But I don’t know if he actually likes me or if he’s just shooting his shot after hearing a rumor that I don’t give any of the guys a chance.

“What can I get ya, babe?”

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