CHAPTER 27: SOMEONE WHO’S INTO YOU

The world around them paused for a moment, holding its breath. Attention was pulled to the scene, where Theo stood there with unmatched fury and Zeke’s face was whirled to the side from the force of the punch.

Even the dancers paused for a breath too long before pretending not to notice.

"You ruined everything!" she hissed, "You didn’t just mess with me, you humiliated me, you humiliated him! Do you get off on destroying things, Zeke?"

He straightened slowly, the smug grin never quite leaving his mouth — but something colder flickered in his eyes. Anger? She didn’t know. She didn’t care. But if he took a swing at her, she wouldn’t hesitate to break his arm.

"You think I ruined something? He was going to find out one way or another, Hellcat. The boy looks at you like he owns you. And I.." he leaned closer, voice dropping to a dangerous purr, "don’t like anyone acting like they own what’s in my bed,"

Her stomach twisted, "I’m not yours, I will never be!"

"It doesn’t change the fact that you’re bound to me in some way, Hellcat. Or else, you wouldn’t still be standing after throwing that punch,"

She rolled her eyes, "Look at you, trying to be merciful. But you’re just cruel, you’re cruel and heartless!"

"Everyone here is cruel and heartless, Hellcat. You’re not surrounded by saints!"

Her voice dropped, "At least they’re not all like you,"

And with that, she walked away from him.

Her heart was a beating mess, and despite the anger, she felt guilty and wanted to find Eric to apologise. It was all that was on her mind right now. She couldn’t bear to lose him.

She got to where she had caught Finn sitting down, and the sight that met her eyes had her halting in her steps.

Eric was on one of the velvet couches, head tipped back slightly and a glass of whiskey in one hand. Sitting on his lap was a woman dressed in crimson lace, her hips rolling and grinding against him slowly to the rhythm of the music. Her hands were on his chest, her tongue tracing the side of his neck.

And right next to him was Finn. He was laughing and his arm was around another dancer, his fingers trailing down her naked thigh as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

The sight made something inside her splinter.

She’s never pictured Eric in this position before. They’d only met and spoken in the walls of her father’s mansion before, and judging from the carefree, lustful gaze in his eyes, this wasn’t his first time... doing any of this.

Things he never told her about too.

Just then, Eric looked up from the stripper to her. The smile he had on disappeared, replaced with dry eyes that stared at her briefly, then a cold, dismissive look flickered before he turned his attention back to the dance, and his smile returned.

That was all it took.

She turned around to leave, moving quickly before the tears could fall. She pushed past the crowd, ignoring everything while focused on getting to the red door.

Her heart was too heavy. It was crushing her.

And just when she neared the exit, she saw something... strange.

In a car, unlit corner of the den, where nothing but darkness touched, a figure stood there. So still. Almost resembling a statue.

The mask the figure wore glinted faintly under the shadows - half black and half golden.

Her eyes were blurry from the incoming tears and emotions, and she thought she was imagining things. All it took was one blink, and the figure was gone.

She didn’t stay to find out if she had been hallucinating, and walked out of the room quickly, with the heavy doors closing behind her while she stood on one of the stairs, alone, finally allowing the tears to fall.

She grabbed the old railing, drawing out a deep, long breath. Would Eric ever look at her the way she wanted him to, or would she keep standing on the sidelines? She thought about confessing her feelings once and for all, but that would risk everything.

That would be selfish of her. Not when he already had a love interest.

Just then, the large door opened again and this time Liam walked out. She turned away, quickly wiping off her tears before she faced him again.

"Liam!"

"Why did you leave?" He asked.

"I’m not used to that...kind of environment," She tried to hide her feelings with a casual wave.

The way he looked at her told her he wasn’t buying a thing, "You were crying," He stated, studying her.

"What?" She feigned with a raised brow, "No way. I don’t cry, ever,"

"Then why are your eyes red and a bit swollen?" He said plainly, "You look like someone who got punched in the feelings,"

She shrugged, a bit nervous, "Who the hell cares?"

"I do," He stepped even closer, eyes furrowed, "And I know you’re crying because of the brown haired guy that came to get you. His name is Eric, right?"

Her breath caught, "What? Are you always this observant?"

Liam leaned on the railing casually, "Bad habit. But I mean, anyone with eyes can see that you like the guy,"

She exclaimed, "What?! That’s not...,"

Liam smiled, "I know what I saw," He faced her properly again, "You never looked at the strippers, not even once. Any guy would, at the very least even if they were gay. But you..., you were smitten the moment he called you. And then, there was the way you looked at him when he was getting that lap dance,"

Was it really that obvious?! At this point, the whole school would be able to tell from one glance that she had a huge thing for Eric.

Theo sat down on the stairs, leaning against the wall, "It’s refreshing," She groaned, "And annoying,"

Something shifted in his tone, a little more unguarded, "You know? You don’t act like most people here. It’s weird,"

She looked up at him, "Weird good or weird bad?"

He looked at her for a long second, before shrugging, "I’m still deciding," Then he sat next to her, "Hey, it’s totally normal to like someone,"

"Someone taken," She murmured, and looked at Liam. He didn’t say anything and offered her a warm smile.

"Sorry, Liam. You brought me here to cheer me up and...this is me again, stuck between my problems,"

"At least I got one hell of a show tonight. I mean, I enjoyed watching you beat Roman and Dax the other day. But when you punched Zeke Pendragon, that was the highlight of everything. You’re one hell of a dude,"

She didn’t know whether to smile or roll her eyes, but the smile naturally formed on her lips.

"He’s an ass," She looked down at her fist, "And I’ll do it again,"

"I’m guessing by tomorrow, you’re gonna become one popular dude around school. Everyone’s gonna wanna know the new guy that dared lay a hand on the strongest Alpha-to-be in school,"

"Yeah?" Her smile got even wider, "And if they try anything funny, they’re gonna kiss these fists too,"

Liam broke into laughter, and she laughed softly.

When the humorous energy died, Liam looked at her again, "You really like that Eric guy?"

She stiffened a bit, then shrugged.

"He doesn’t seem into you, at all,"

"I know," Her heart squeezed.

"You wanna know someone who’s into you?"

She turned to him and saw a delicate flare in his eyes. What did he mean?