Page 59 of Rebel Spell
“That bad, huh?”
He turned to face me. “Yeah. This whole event seems so unnatural to me.”
Diego was enduring this painful situation to help me. “Thanks for coming tonight. I know you did so to look out for me.” I touched his arm.
He glanced down at where my fingers remained on and then returned to meet my eyes. “No problem.”
The intensity in his blue gaze pulled me in. I pulled my hand away. Why did I have to touch him and make things weird? Although it might have meant nothing with anyone else, even a small gesture like that with Diego struck me as intimate.
He glanced around the club. “Any sign of the guy?”
I shook my head. “No.”
He grunted. “Maybe it’s a dud.”
My stomach sank. He could be right, in which case, this was a stupid plan.
“Drink?” he asked.
“Sure. The Blue Monday was good.”
He ordered it and handed the blue cocktail to me. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I took a sip of the fruity beverage. The sweetness hit my tongue before the alcohol aftertaste. “I’ll meet you out front when it’s over.”
“I’ll leave first and wait for you out there. Don’t go anywhere without me.” If his words alone didn’t convey the intensity of the situation, the grave stare sealed it.
Diego
The announcer said some more stupid shit before the next song played and he told us to start the second half of the night. This was excruciating. I should’ve known that I couldn’t pull off this role. I’d never even been in a school play.
When I sat down at the next assigned table, I exhaled. Here we went again with me faking interest in the conversation.
The pretty brunette with a heart-shaped face sitting across from me chirped on about her job right away. “I love working on people’s hair. When they come in looking like a plain Jane, and I transform them with a great haircut and an eye-catching color, it’s the best feeling.”
“Oh, yeah.” I attempted to sound interested, but my tone sounded disingenuous.
She didn’t seem to notice as she continued to talk about herself. I nodded or made sounds of acknowledgment to make it appear that I was listening, but probably didn’t sell it well, especially as I kept stealing glances at Nova.
I told myself it was because I was here to protect her, but the jealous pangs indicated there was more to it. I was not comfortable with this. Seeing her sit with other men who tried to impress her struck me with a hot stab in the gut. I hated thinking she might enjoy herself. Who was to say she wouldn’t be attracted to one of the guys and hit it off?
She had every right to do so. I had no claims on her, nor she on me.
On the next round, I tried to contribute more to the conversation. A tall, slender vampire sat across from me with silvery-blonde hair and green eyes. She’d turned many heads tonight. I would have likely been one of them had I not been so interested in what was going on with Nova. She sat across from a tall guy with hair as black as his jacket. I couldn’t see his face, but saw hers, and when it appeared to light up, it felt like I’d been staked.
The vamp said, “Looks like you already found who you want tonight.”
“What?” I pulled my gaze back to her.
“You’re staring at that woman.”
I adjusted in my chair and drummed my fingers on my lap. “It’s not like that.”
She arched her brows. “Yeah, sure.”
I asked a couple of questions to get her to talk about herself, but once again found my interest wandering over to Nova.
The vamp stood. “This isn’t going to work. Have a good night.”
