Page 56 of The Season
“Matty…” she says again, and something in me detonates, the tension that has been coiling under my skin all evening bursting forth, demanding action.
I push off the counter, the sound of the party falling to a hum beneath the staccato of my own heartbeat, the faces of the crowd blurring at the edges of my vision, until all I can see is Lily.
My sweet, lovely Lily.
“I got you, baby,” I murmur, wrapping her up in my arms, lifting her to me.
Her arms sweep around my neck, her face pressing just above my collarbone, her legs parting and lifting to wrap around my waist. I drop one arm under her, my other arm holding tight around her back, just in case she lets go. Holding her close to my body.
For a brief moment, everything stops at the feel of her pressed against me—my breath, my thoughts, probably even the turning of the world stutters to a halt.
She’s heavier than I thought she would be, and softer too, a mixture of lean muscle and swelling curves. Soft brown hair brushes my jaw, the scent of her sweet and heady beneath the scent of whiskey. Most amazingly, I can feel the rise and fall of her chest against my own, can feel the huffs of her breath against my skin. All the little movements that tell me she is real.
That this is real.
And then reality comes surging back, all the sound and color of the party along with it, reminding me of my mission.
“Out of my way,” I bellow, glaring down at the people around me.
There are a few startled yelps of surprise, and I’m vaguely aware of Tessa saying something to Liam, but I ignore them, powering forward through the crowd, for once grateful for my size. For my ability to intimidate, just by existing.
Normally, I hate it, but right now it’s helping me get Lily to safety. So it’s a good thing.
A few steps and we’re in the darkened hallway. At first, I contemplate taking her to her own room, but then I remember I saw Tom go in there a little while ago, a long-legged brunette on his heels, and stride past.
Lily gives another whimper, her lips pressed against my neck, and I shiver, doing my best to ignore the ill-timed surge of heat coursing down my spine at the feel of her lips on my skin.
“Do you think you’re going to be sick?” I ask, pausing outside the bathroom.
The door is shut, and I’m pretty sure someone is in there, but if she needs to use it, I can easily haul whoever is in there out of her way.
She shakes her head, and presses her face against me with another groan. “No. No, I don’t think so,” she whimpers. “I’m sorry…”
“Shh…” I rub her back, my palm pressing soothing circles along her spine as I hold her to me. “I got you, baby.”
I pause, looking nervously at the closed door of my own room, deliberating.
That is where I want to take her—probably where I was planning on taking her this whole time—but now that I’m here, I’m starting to have second thoughts. Lily is vulnerable right now, and even though I can’t fathom ever doing anything to hurt her, I also can’t deny what I feel for her.
Especially now that her body is pressed against mine, that most private part of her only inches from my arm as I hold her up, her core pressed against me…
“Matty, what the fuck are you doing?”
Liam’s sharp voice cuts through the panicked haze of my thoughts, and I blink down as he comes up beside me in the darkness.
“You can’t just go all caveman and haul Lily off to your bedroom,” he continues, his body pressing against Lily’s back as he tries to squeeze past us in the narrow hallway.
“Tom’s in her room,” I argue, clutching Lily tighter against me.
“Ugh, I know,” Liam says with a shudder. “I made the mistake of going in there just before. Harrowing.”
“Tom is so gross,” Lily mutters against my neck.
Liam chuckles, bending around to try to see Lily’s face in the darkness. “Oh. You’re awake still, huh. That’s good.” His voice has lost its sharp edge from earlier now that he’s speaking to her, and he reaches up to rub her back, just above where my arm is banded around her. “You want to go hang out in Matty’s room for a bit, love?”
Love.
I narrow my eyes at him. I haven’t heard him call her that before.
