“Behave yourself.”
“Whatever,” she snapped.
Claire made herself comfortable on the bar stool and ordered a water, keeping to herself. After a few moments, her eyes flashed to Ryan and then back down to her drink.
Jared turned to me again, obviously wanting to pick up where we left off. His eyes wandered beside me to where Ryan was still standing.
“It’s okay, Ryan,” I whispered, touching his arm. I noticed Jared stare at my hand as if it would burst into flames.
“Okay?” Ryan repeated, still rubbing his wrist. I didn’t miss the edge of uneasiness in his voice.
“Yeah,” I smiled.
Ryan walked with Kim and Beth to the wall beside the door to join the rest of the group we came with. They all made a poor attempt to pretend they were watching for the cab.
“What are you doing here, Jared?” I snapped my head back to meet his eyes. He muttered something under his breath, briefly surveying the room full of people that were staring at us. I cocked my head and leaned so that I was somewhat in his line of sight. “Jared?”
“I didn’t want you to think I was with Claire. She insisted on coming in,” he said, looking back to me.
“I’m not sure why you’re here at all,” I crossed my arms and glared at him.
Jared noted the stubborn set of my chin and sighed. “I’m here because of what happened the other day. The look on your face when you walked away…I couldn’t just let you think that I didn’t….that I wasn’t….,” he was struggling with the truth, and it was aggravating me.
“Just say it!”
He winced at my tone. “I have these…feelings for you. And when I saw you over here, with that same look on your face, I was afraid you’d never speak to me again if I didn’t explain.”
“You have feelings for me?”
His face fell. “I can’t get you out of my head.”
That simple sentence had my heart pounding through my chest. He lightly cupped my jaw and brushed his thumb against my cheek. His touch sent a jolt of electricity throughout my body from my head to my toes.
A sultry guitar solo played from the jukebox. I knew the song vaguely, but wasn’t paying enough attention to it to figure it out. Jared’s mouth turned up into a half-smile, and he pulled on both of my hands.
“Come here,” he said.
He walked backwards and led me to the small wooden dance floor. Pulling me close to his chest, his eyes never left mine. Everyone in the room must have been staring at us through the smoky haze, but I couldn’t disengage my gaze from his, even for a moment. He wrapped his arms around my middle, and I slid my hands up his arms, stopping at his shoulders.
I wasn’t sure if we were even dancing, with all of my focus on the fact that our bodies were so close. He broke his stare and leaned down to press his lips to my hair. I pressed my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes.
He tightened his grip, and every inch of me that was in contact with him burned in a wonderful way. I looked up and my eyes stalled on his lips, the bottom a bit fuller than the top. I bit my lip in anticipation, the alcohol dissolving all of my inhibitions.
His body stiffened and I turned to follow his glare to the bar. One of the older men still loitering in the pub had approached Claire.
The man reached for Claire and Jared’s grip on me tightened, stepping just slightly in front of me in a protective stance.
The man leaned over and patted Claire on the back. He laughed loudly and attempted to whisper into her ear. Claire was staring ahead, her body rigid; seeing just half of her expression it was obvious that she was about to lose her temper. The man lost his balance and used Claire to right himself.
“Claire—,” Jared warned, but it was too late.
In the same second, she knocked the man’s legs out from under him with incredible speed and then stood up on the rung of her bar stool, slamming his head, cheek down, to the bar. The wood made a cracking noise with the force of her blow, and the man wailed in pain. He flailed his arms, reaching above him for Claire’s face, but she quickly reached around with her other hand and grabbed his fingers, wrenching them back. The bones in his fingers snapped and I recoiled, even though I still hadn’t quite processed what was going on. The man’s blood-curdling scream sent the bartender running over to try to separate them.
Claire leaned down and yelled over the music into his ear. “Was that good for you, Baby?” and then slowly licked his cheek. Claire released her grip, and he slithered down to the floor. The entire room seemed frozen in time.
Jared heaved an exasperated sigh. He looked at me with a tired ache in his eyes, and then let me go. He walked over to Claire, grabbed her arm and then ushered her out.
“She broke my damn fingers!” the man howled, cradling his arm to his chest.
Several of the older patrons rushed to his side and helped him up while he moaned in pain. Beth grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the pub. The cab waited for us outside in a cloud of exhaust.
I looked around, but Jared had disappeared.
Beth tugged at my coat frantically. “Get in, Nina, before the cops get here!”
I ducked into the cab and my ears were filled with shrieking and chattering in high tones. I wasn’t listening to any of it; I was too confused about what I had seen. Jared wasn’t surprised at all that his teenaged-sister had broken the hand of a full grown man as if he was made of glass.
I went over it in my head; the memory seemed more like a kung fu movie than something that had unfolded in front of my eyes. Tiny, delicate Claire seemed to have superhuman strength and speed, and Jared’s reaction didn’t make sense. He didn’t act to protect her, and yet he seemed to know that carnage was on the horizon; he even shielded me from it.
“Nina! Are you listening to me? Wasn’t that incredible? The way she just—,” Beth set in motion with a series of karate chops and then jerked her hand forward in the same motion Claire used to slam the man’s head into the bar, grunting with each move. Beth giggled with delight while I shuddered at the recollection.
“I’d hate to meet her on a dark playground, I’ll tell you that,” Kim joked.
Ryan shook his head. “She’s all of ninety-five pounds and when she grabbed my hand, I couldn’t break free. What is she? Sixteen? Seventeen? She isn’t normal.”
“She has to be in high school, still,” Beth said.
“She’s old enough to drive, though. Did you see her car?” Kim added.
I perked up, then. “You saw them leave?”
Beth nodded. “She took off down the street in some kind of sports car; Jared was with her. They looked like they were arguing.”
“It was a Lotus,” Kim said.
“It was a phantom black Lotus Exige S two-sixty. Nice, nice car,” Ryan mused. “It costs over twelve-grand just for the paint.”
“Doesn’t Josh’s dad have one?” Kim asked, elbowing Ryan.
Ryan shook his head with raised eyebrows.
Kim looked at me. “It’s a good thing she wasn’t his date, Nigh. That would have been one short catfight.”
“Hey,” Beth prodded. Her giggling had tapered off. “What’s wrong? You’ll see him again, I’m sure of it. You should have seen the way he looked at you when you were dancing together.”
I couldn’t help but notice Ryan frown at Beth’s words.
My attention was drawn to the passing lights outside my window. Seeing him again was exactly what I wanted, but my sense of self-preservation cried foul. The entire situation was one big red flag, but did I believe Jared was dangerous?
Something about Jared’s eyes assured me that in the short time I’d known him, he was safe. Every piece of me that had been guided by my father to be reasonable and wary was screaming run, but I knew I would intentionally try to cross paths with him at the earliest moment fate allowed. The moment of sadness in his eyes before he left me played out over and over in my head. I had to see him again.
