Page 66 of Tyler
I blink, lashes fluttering, trying to focus. Everything is somehow brighter, floatier, like I’m fucking weightless. I grin. Guess the tequila and shots are finally catching up to me.
But there’s a weird tug in my gut that says otherwise.
And yet… I just don’t care. I feel so fucking good. Like my skin is buzzing and every beat of the music is a warm kiss on my brain.
Ava’s dancing with Missy now, the two of them laughing, twerking, spinning in sync, pink and black hair swirling. But I’m standing still, alone, and all I want is for them to touch me. Just…somethingandsomeone. A hand on my chest. A squeeze of my arm. Anything.
“Missy?” I call out, smiling dopily. “Come hug me.”
I try to move toward them, to my girls, but my legs feel weird. Tingly. Heavy. Like they don’t quite belong to me. I blink slowly,confusion crawling up my spine like a chill. Shit, I wish Ty was here; I wish he would hold me,touchme… He’d probably catch me before I even realized I was falling.
WhereisTyler?
Someone moves behind me, and I can’t help but lean back, searching for thetouch.I groan at all the warmth and pressure that engulfs me a second later, an arm sliding around my waist. I continue swaying, lazily, eyes half-lidded as I drop my head forward and stare at the tanned arm, corded with muscle.
There he is.
I love the way his arm feels through my shirt. Steady, grounding, hot.Like they belong there. LikeIbelong here.Because I do.I always belong in his arms, and he in mine.
I wrap my fingers around his wrist, loving how the current feels almost alive under my fingertips, tracing the veins I love so much, those strong hands that always keep me close, tethered. His skin is so soft, so velvet-y.
But why isn’t he wearing his bracelet?
Missy appears in front of me and I lift my head, eyebrows climbing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look so surprised. Or beautiful.
I giggle and boop her nose. “Come dance with us, pretty lady.”
“What?” Her brows furrow in concern. “Are you okay?”
“What,what? Of course I am.Verymuch.” I blink at her, the lights warping around the edges. “Come on, dance with me. I don’t wanna dance alone.”
I close my eyes again and let the beat thump-thump-thump through my chest like a second heartbeat, buzzing under my skin. My arms feel too light. My thoughts are too slow. At the end of my internal sentence, I can’t remember where the thought started, and when I try to figure it out, I’ve forgotten the last half of the sentence as well.
“But I’m not alone,” I mumble as I caress the hand on my stomach. “You’re right here. With me.”
I grind my ass back into my lover, not sure how I got so lucky that Tyler came and visited me in Seattle. I drop my head back with a moan as I rub against the bulge, letting it fall against his steady shoulder as the arm around my waist tightens.
“Shit… Ty, I missed you. I love you so much.”
“Oh,hellno.”
I think it’s Missy’s voice, sharp now, cutting through the haze. Her hands wrap around my forearms as I try to pull her in, and I nearly groan at the contact. Her palms are soft, grounding, something warm and solid against the sweat collecting on my skin.
“Hey… Jace, honey?” she asks, her tone suddenly harder. Concerned. Scared.
But I don’t answer. The lights blur. My eyelids flutter. The warmth behind me feelssogood. Like safety. Likehome. Like everything.
Then— “Bowie, come here! Goddamnit, Mick, get off of him! He’s not himself. Did you do this?”
“Wasn’t me,” a voice behind me says. It sounds smooth, too smooth. “He grabbed one of the orange ones, I assumed he knew what they were.”
But it sounds wrong. Off. Nothim.
“Mick?” I frown, my fingers clumsy as they trace the wrist at my stomach. There’s no bracelet there. Did Ty lose his bracelet? He does have a pretty new tattoo, though…
“Jace,” Missy says, firmer now, one hand cupping my cheek. “I need you to look at me. Right now.”
I lift my head, blinking slowly at the worry in her voice. The corners of my mouth tug into a dazed smile when I catch the way the lights reflect in her eyes, like little stars dancing in darkdepths. Beautiful. Like fucking galaxies. She’s not even looking at me, though. She’s staring over my shoulder.
