Page 49 of Ruin
When we get closer to the door, Lily spies the posters plastered along the wall and gasps, before turning to look at me with wide eyes.
“Seriously?!”
I smile, nodding. “Deadly.”
She squeals and does a little dance beside me as she points at the poster and then at the door guy who is staring at her. “It’s my favourite band. And he kept it a secret.”
Realisation dawns on his face, and he shoots her a thumbs up. “Got yourself a good one there.”
Neither of us correct him, and I usher her ahead of me into the darkened club, nodding to him. Lily doesn’t appear to have noticed that we’ve skipped the line. Or that I haven’t had to show our tickets. She’s too distracted, looking around the space with excitement in her eyes.
“I can’t believe you remembered,” she says, raising her voice over the sound of the music pumping through the speakers.
“How could I possibly forget you completely fangirling about these guys for years?” I ask, admiring the grin stretching across her face.
The sudden urge to kiss her is almost overwhelming, but I hold myself back. The kisses last night had already been too far, and I can feel my grip on my emotions slipping. I have to keep from blurring those lines. While this is meant to feel like a date for her, it can’t be real. It’s just meant to remind her how she should be treated.
I continue to tell myself that once the band takes the stage. And while she dances away to the rock band she’s loved since she was sixteen.
Because this can’t be anything more.
23
HE WANTS YOU TO COME FOR ME
LILY
Just when Ithink this man can’t surprise me any more, he goes and plans the perfect date… Which obviously isn’t an actual date, because we’re not dating…
I’m still not quite sure what we’re doing.
But it’s not dating.
Sebastian probably could have given me at least a little hint about what to wear. Like, say, not stilettos. I’ve been dancing for hours and my feet are absolutely killing me. But I’ve lovedChasing Destinyfor half my life, and there is absolutely no way I’m not dancing when they are only a few feet away. There are probably only about a hundred or so people in the audience - a stark difference to the stadium concerts with forty thousand screaming fans that they usually have.
The lead singer, Declan Fitzgerald, winks at me as he purrs the lyrics to one of my favourite songs. The man possesses a different kind of raw magnetism than what Sebastian does, but it seems to have a similar effect on my libido. I smirk a little as I wink back, feeling braver than I thought I was capable of. Hisface lights right up, before his gaze slides to Sebastian, who is leaning against the bar behind me. Declan is most likely assessing whether he’ll be punched later if he keeps flirting with me.
I don’t even bother looking over at the dark haired man who brought me here, knowing there won’t be even a hint of jealousy on his face. After having to be wary of every move I’ve made for so long, it’s freeing to know that, no matter what his feelings may be towards me, he will never treat me with anything other than respect. And that he is more than happy for me to flirt with anyone I choose.
And fuck them too, if I want to.
And speaking of fucking, I really do wish he’d get to that soon. Because although he slightly distracted me by taking me to see my favourite band, my hormones are screaming for him to follow through on his promise to help me. Those hormones are also super confused by how relaxed he seemed in the car. It was as though, the minute we got away from the mansion and it was just the two of us, he could finally let his guard down. I know he didn’t even notice he was doing it, but knowing that I’m one of the people he can truly be himself around is not helping the confusing feelings I have towards him.
I’m too scared to be fully honest with myself about just how deep those feelings go. After sixteen years of believing this man has no interest in me outside of being his little brother’s best friend, the last forty-eight hours have been a complete maelstrom of emotions and it’s kind of exhausting.
When the song finishes, the pain in my feet becomes too hard to ignore, and I limp the few feet over to Sebastian, wincing.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, his expression filled with concern as he looks down at myfeet.
“Stilettos aren’t really conducive with dancing like a maniac for hours,” I reply.
I place a hand on his shoulder and lift one foot off the ground, then swap to the other a moment later, trying to alleviate some of the pain. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really help.
He grimaces and wraps his arm around my waist. “Shit. I didn’t even think about your shoes.”
I shoot him a rueful smile. “Yeah… If only you’d given me a hint, I could have worn more appropriate footwear.” His face falls a little and I squeeze his shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. It was an amazing surprise. I’m having a great time.”
He studies my face for a moment, before looking around, clearly searching for something. A few beats later, he nods and takes my hand.
