I’m not even nervous.
There isn’t the slightest bit of hesitation in me.
My body is buzzing with excitement, with shooting stars, and when I close my eyes for a second, I see light behind my eyelids.
I can’t see anything on his face though.
It’s expressionless, tight.
But when I take a deep breath and raise my arms, his features change.
They become somehow sharper and more chiseled but also fluid.
I think it’s his lips that part slightly when I take my first spin and his eyes that shine like diamonds when I begin to sway my hips to the beat.
And after that my eagerness to dance for him knows no bounds.
I’m dying, actually dying, to spin for him, to sway and move.
To rock my hips and bite my lips.
To look him in his wolf eyes that grow alert with my every leap and jump. More on edge.
In fact, his whole body seems on edge, excited even.
His whole body moves to keep me in sight as I circle around him.
His feet spin when I do.
His fists clench when I throw my arms in the air.
His mouth parts when mine does to take in a shaky breath.
God.
Reed Roman Jackson is just as eager as me.
Just as tightly wound and I’ve never seen him this way.
I’ve never seen him excited for anything.
The knowledge of that, the knowledge that his heart might be racing just as fast as my heart and that the beads of sweat on his forehead match the beads of sweat on mine, makes me dizzy.
It makes me drunk and drugged and so high on his attention that when the song crescendos and I do my last spin, I stumble.
The world tips and I lose my balance. The ground seems to have vanished from under my feet and I have no choice but to fall.
He catches me at the last second though.
His arm goes around my waist and instead of crashing down to the ground, I go crashing into his body. My hands land on his ribs and my fingers clutch onto his hoodie.
A thousand thoughts, a thousand sensations, explode in my mind, but the very first that jumps out is that it’s soft.
His hoodie.
It’s the softest, coziest, plushest thing I’ve ever touched. Even more than the sweaters that I knit for my brothers.
The thought that immediately follows is that no wonder he loves it, his hoodie.
No wonder he wears it all the time, because everything else about him is hard and harsh and sharp.
His strong arm that’s wrapped around my waist. The power in his thighs that are pressed against my stomach.
Panting and looking up into his animal eyes, I whisper, “I know that it might not matter, coming from me, but…” I swallow, gripping his hoodie tighter, my brain foggy and my tongue spewing words I don’t understand. “But I think you’re amazing. O-on the field, I mean. You’re just so gorgeous and reckless and feral, the way you… play. It’s no wonder that they call you the Wild Mustang. It’s no wonder…”
I trail off, embarrassed.
What the heck am I saying?
Why am I telling him this?
I shouldn’t. These are my private thoughts. Traitor thoughts that I shouldn’t even entertain.
“No wonder what?” he rasps, his strong, muscled arm squeezing my waist.
I can’t stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth then. “No wonder why girls can’t stop watching you.”
No wonder why I can’t stop watching you.
A blush fans over my cheeks as soon as I say it and I lower my eyes.
“It does,” he says.
I look up. “What?”
He squeezes my waist again. “It matters. Coming from you.”
“Oh.”
“And you’re not a princess.”
“I’m not?”
He shakes his head slowly, his eyes all intense and piercing. “You’re a fairy.”
I lick my lips then and his wolf eyes flare and I open my tingling mouth to say something — not sure what — when there’s a shout.
“Jackson!”
My eyes pop wide at that voice and my fingers in his hoodie tighten even more.
Because I know it. I know that voice too.
It belongs to someone I know and someone I love and someone I’m completely betraying by being here.
My brother, Ledger.
My brother is here.
Somehow, he’s found me, and I’m wrapped around the guy he hates the most.
The guy who should be worried right now.
Very, very worried.
But he’s not.
He’s sweeping his eyes over my face as if memorizing it before he smiles slightly and steps back, easily getting out of my grip.
My fingers feel empty without his hoodie but I don’t have the time to dwell on it because I hear Ledger again.
“Get the fuck away from her.”
At this, I finally gather my wits and turn to look at my brother.
He’s charging at us, rage flickering over his features.
Like Reed, my brother is tall, not quite as tall as Reed, and is muscled and strong. He’s slightly wider in the shoulders and chest than Reed, and with the way he’s glaring at Reed, I feel like he’s going to use his size to his advantage.
But I really wish that this was it.
That the threat of Ledger practically bulldozing Reed, who believe it or not still does not look worried about it at all, was the only threat to contend with.
It’s not, though.
Because I have not one but four brothers, and somehow, they’re all here.
All of them.
How are they here? How did they know where to find me?
Even the two who’re supposed to be away at college, Stellan and Shepard, the twins.
They’re identical to each other and are also tall – again, not as tall as Reed – and built like Ledger, slightly wider in the chest and shoulders.
The biggest one though is my oldest brother, Conrad.
He’s the tallest – definitely as tall as Reed – and the broadest too.
He isn’t charging the scene like the other three but walking with authority, with a purpose that’s even scarier than the pure rage radiating out of the others.
That’s what makes me break into action and step in front of Reed.
“Ledger, stop,” I say, raising my arms.
He’s still a few feet away from us and at my voice, he finally focuses on me. “What the fuck are you doing? Get away from him, Callie.”
“Ledge, I –”
“Did he do something to you?” he spits out before glancing back at the object of his hatred, standing behind me. “Why the fuck were you wrapped around him? Tell me he didn’t touch you.”
I shake my head. “No, he didn’t –”
“Or what?” Reed says from behind me, his voice a mixture of amused and provoking.
“Or we can turn this into one of the more fun nights than we’ve had in a while.” That’s Shepard, who stops right beside Ledger and shrugs casually.
“Fun for us. Just FYI. Not sure if it would be fun for you but still.” This comes from Stellan — he’s the more serious twin — who comes to stand right beside Shepard.
I can’t believe they’re here, Stellan and Shep.
They’re supposed to be in New York. In college. Nobody told me that they were coming home this weekend.
God, what are they doing here?
Even though they’re all standing right in front of me, I still can’t believe that my four overprotective older brothers somehow figured out that I’m here.
Instead of where I told them I’d be.
See, this is what happens when you lie, Callie.
Not to mention, they all look intimidating like this, making a wall of muscles and dark glares.
They’re
all almost the same height and build and they all have thick, dark hair and brown eyes except for Conrad.
His hair’s dirty blond with a few golden strands and his eyes are dark blue.
He’s the brother I’m closest to in appearance and he’s the brother I’m most afraid of. Maybe because he’s more like a father figure than an older brother.
Although right now, I’m afraid of every single one of them.
Not Reed, apparently.
Because he walks closer to them, thereby rendering the meager protection I was giving him moot. “Well then, you’ve come to the right place. Let the fun begin.”
And from the looks of it, the fun is definitely going to begin because a crowd has gathered around us.
Someone has turned off the music and most of the people have made sort of a semi-circle around us. They’re still at a distance, but they’re definitely watching.
Great. Just great.
My brothers don’t care about that though.
Reed’s cavalier words have made them frown and they each take a threatening step toward him.
Except Conrad.
Conrad, who stands a little farther away from the rest of my brothers, says, “Callie, come here.”
I breathe heavily, glancing from my three ready-to-fight brothers to my oldest one. “Con, please. He didn’t do anything.”
“Callie.”
“He didn’t –”
“Get over here.”
I wince and start walking toward him. And as soon as I do, the rest of my brothers shift and sort of make a boundary out of their bodies, a line between me and the rest of the world, him more specifically, in a very obvious display of protectiveness.
As soon as I reach Conrad, I tell him, “Please, Con. He didn’t do anything. I promise and –”
“You lied,” he says.
Not loudly or bitterly or in anger.
He says it in a matter-of-fact way and my heart twists.
It’s not as if I’ve never lied to my brothers. Of course I have, but this is something big. Something serious. I know that.
As I said, they only have one rule: they need to know where I am at all times. So they know that I’m safe.
They give me everything that I ask for.
Even though they can be controlling and dominating – as evidenced by this display – they try to be reasonable. They try to understand where I’m coming from. They respect my freedom.
So I’m at fault here.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
Conrad’s chest pushes out on a breath and instead of anger, there’s disappointment. “Let’s go home.”
I look at my three angry brothers, who still appear ready to fight, and turn to Conrad. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I lied. Just please tell them not to fight. H-he didn’t do anything.”
At this, I see anger though.
I do see his broad features going tight. “Come on.”
“But Con –”
“Not a word right now.”
I snap my mouth shut.
Then glancing over my shoulders, Conrad calls out, “Just one. No more.”
I don’t know what that means or which brother he’s talking to.
Until I hear a thump and a crunch. And loud gasps and murmurs from the crowd.
At which point, I spin around and see that Ledger has punched Reed in the face, and Reed’s wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, somehow with his smirk still in place.
And he’s bleeding.
Oh God.
Despite everything I try to go to him, but Con grabs my arm, stopping me.
Thankfully though, there’s someone else out here who cares about him.
His sister, Tempest.
She breaks away from the crowd and dashes over to her brother who in turn does the same thing my brothers are doing to me: he frowns at her first before sort of stepping in front of her as if to say that the world will have to go through him in order to get to her.
My heart squeezes again at this brotherly display of protectiveness, this whole other side of Reed Roman Jackson.
And I’m embarrassed that his sister is witnessing all this hatred, but at least she’s here for him. Also now she really knows how bad the blood is between my brothers and hers.
When our eyes clash, I mouth, sorry.
She smiles sadly and mouths, my fault.
Well, not really.
I mean she didn’t put a gun to my head to bring me here. She insisted and I agreed. I could’ve said no and avoided this whole debacle.
But apparently not.
Anyway my brothers aren’t satisfied with one punch. Because all three of them take a step toward him, but Con puts a stop to that.
“Enough. Let’s go.”
They hate it, of course.
But they don’t disobey him.
Out of habit, I guess.
He’s not only my father figure, he’s theirs too.
He’s the one person who’s stayed for us. Who’s protected us and loved us, fought to keep us together and be our guardian.
He’s the reason we’re still a family.
So they back off and I breathe out a sigh of relief.
But when the time comes to walk away, I look at him.
I look at Reed.
I’ve been avoiding looking at him directly. I’ve only thrown him passing glances ever since my brothers got here – I still don’t know how – and they caught me in his arms.
But now I look at him.
Only to find that he’s looking back.
That his wolf eyes glint and shine as much as his split lip that’s bleeding.
I don’t know what I see in his gaze but whatever it is makes my heart spin in my chest. Makes it race and pound and squeeze.
This is it, isn’t it?
I’m never gonna see him again.
Well, I will see him at school but I’ll never see him like I did tonight. Or talk to him or be near him or touch his hoodie.
I’ll never dance for him either.
I bite my lip at the thought.
The rogue thought.
I shouldn’t want to anyway but I do.
I do and I…
“Hey, Ledger!”
For the second time tonight, Reed jars the breath out of me when he calls out, this time to my brother, while still keeping his eyes on me.
Ledger, who had started to walk away, comes to a halt and turns around to face him.
Reed isn’t alone anymore. Along with Tempest – who’s staring at Ledger with wide gray eyes – others from the crowd have joined him now.
And I fist my hands at my sides as I hope and wish and pray that this isn’t going to get out of hand.
“I’m sorry,” Reed says, jerking his chin at him.
“For fucking what?”
“That you lost tonight.” Then, “Even though you deserved it.”
Around me, my brothers seethe and I watch some of the players from the Mustang camp snicker.
But Ledger still obeys Conrad’s rule and simply flips him the finger before turning around and striding away.
But I can’t move.
Because Reed is back to looking at me.
His wolf eyes home in on me for a few seconds before doing a final sweep of my body and then looking away as he’s submerged by the crowd.
And I realize that he kept his promise, didn’t he?
The one I forced him to make before I danced for him.
He apologized to my brother.
***
It was someone from the party who told.
Someone from the party who texted someone else. Who in turn texted another someone else and that’s how Ledger got the news about where I was.
He tried to call me first.
To confirm, I think. Because he gave me the benefit of the doubt, but when I didn’t pick up and when the friend that I’d used as an alibi told him
that she never saw me after school ended yesterday, he got pissed.
I’m guessing Conrad came along to calm Ledger down and to rein in the situation if it got out of hand. He’s been a witness to many such situations over the years he’s been coaching the two.
And when my other two brothers, who were trying to surprise us with a weekend visit, found out where I was, they came along in case Ledger needed reinforcements.
At least that’s what I’m guessing from past experiences – Ledger is the youngest brother and like they are with me, our older brothers are protective of him as well. Not that they’d tell him or that Ledger would like that since he’s all grown up and everything but still.
Anyway, they never told me why or what except how they found out where I was.
They never told me anything actually.
Last night when I tried to say something as soon as we reached home, they didn’t let me either.
Con told me to go get some sleep and the rest of them just dispersed without having a conversation with me.
Now it’s morning and they’re still not talking.
Con is shut up in his study and we all know not to disturb him when he’s working. One of the ground rules he set up for us when he quit college to come back and take over everything.
The rest of my brothers, I have no idea about.
They’re not home.
So I’m upstairs in my room, trying to get my homework done before my ballet class in the afternoon.
But ugh, I can’t focus.
They won’t even let me apologize to them. They won’t even talk to me. They won’t even…
There’s a knock on the door and I sit up straight; I’ve been lounging around in my bed with my books spread out in front of me, but now I close them, cross my legs and call out, “Yeah?”
The door opens and I see Con.
He’s got a slight frown on his forehead as he says, sort of roughly, “Hey.”
“Hey,” I say eagerly.
“You got a second?”
“Yes. Yes, absolutely.”
I say this with even more eagerness and my oldest brother, who is so freaking tall that he has to slightly hunch his shoulders to get inside my room, enters.
Without volition, my mind goes to him.
My mind goes to the fact that he’s just as tall, isn’t he?
Would he also have to hunch his mountain-like shoulders to get inside my childhood bedroom?
God, Callie. Not now.
A Gorgeous Villain Page 5