Page 64 of A Little Bit Reckless
I turned away as the music started again. I needed to find Thatcher and tell him the truth about everything, but someone got my arm from behind before I could move.
“Ambrose,” Bru said, and, though I could have fought when he brought me toward him, I didn’t. I let him grip my arm and turn me around.
Bru pulled me into a dance.
I straightened immediately, my body stiff, tight. Bru attempted to get me against him. He had one hand at my waist and the other in mine, and when I tried to let go, he shook me.
“Stop, Ambrose,” he said, getting in my head again. He focused his dark eyes on me, and I was pinned in place. He was never so direct with me, commanding. His mouth parted. “Dance with me.”
I didn’t want to. I couldn’t…
But I was.
For some reason, I allowed him to bring me closer to him by the waist. He swayed, and I was letting him lead.
Why?
I found myself moving too, for a second. Until I realized we weren’t the only two on the dance floor. Back in my head again, I looked around. I found eyes on us, but they were only from the people that mattered. I caught my mom and dad looking at Bru and me as well as Bru’s parents, Ramses and Brielle.
I saw our friends looking at us too.
Dorian and Ares were still on the dance floor with their girls. They were slow dancing just like Bru and me. The guys whispered something to the girls, and soon, Sloane and Fawn were looking at Bru and me too. Right away, Fawn smiled, and Sloane, though she blinked, smiled too. It was slow, like she just realized something.
Dorian and Ares did the same. Their smiles slow as well, they exchanged a glance with each other. Like they were both let in on some secret that they didn’t know the answer to until this very moment.
My mouth parted after their focus went back to their girls. I noticed Thatcher after that. He was no longer at the bar, but he was still on his phone. Well, kinda. The phone was kind of hovering away from his face as he stared at Bru and me. He dida little maneuver where his dark eyebrows flicked up, but then, he was raising his drink to me. He also had that same clarity our friends had on their faces before smiling wide and going back to his call.
The parents had a similar reaction with their smiles. It was like everyone knew something I didn’t.
“I see you’re looking for a reason, Ambrose, but you’re not going to find one,” Bru said, pulling my attention back to him, and he smelled so fucking good, looked good. He frowned. “You’re not going to find one with our family and friends. A reason to deny this…”
He moved just briefly, and my cock twitched when his hand dug into my back. He got my jacket in a tight fist before he moved his breath to my ear.
“So why are you denying this?Me,” he growled, before his lips did brush my ear. His nose brushed too. “Why are you denying Bow and me?”
My eyes flashed open. It was like I repelled from him,his words. I tried to work myself away, but his grip was too strong. I gripped his shirt. “Don’t youdare. You fuck?—”
“I love her too,” he said, the words stopping me, sobering me. He placed a hand on my chest. “I. Love. Her. Too.”
He tapped my chest with every word, and my heart slammed against my ribs just the same. He didn’t just say he loved her. He insinuatedweloved her.
“I’ve seen the way you look at her,” Bru said, scanning my eyes, and hehadto feel my heart. How much it raced. His throat worked. “You look at her like she’s everything. You look how I feel.”
How he feels.
“I know you, Ambrose.” He had a hand behind my neck now, and I forgot about everyone who was probably looking at us rightnow. I needed to pull away. I… He wet his lips. “You’re fighting her like you’re fighting me.”
My friend did know me, but he didn’t know shit about this. It wasn’t possible for me to love him like that, and I especially couldn’t loveherlike that. One couldn’t give love when there was so much hate in their heart, hate for themselves…
I did hate myself. In fact, I fucking loathed myself, and it was so easy to pretend to be the opposite. When a guy was the life of the party, no one questioned it.
I supposed that was the point.
Bru started to get even closer, like he was about to do something on this dance floor, and rather than deal with it, I pulled his fingers off my neck.
He shook his head. “Ambrose…”
I left him standing there when I did what I did best. Iran,and couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
