Actually, I didn’t even want to engage with them. I turned and moved my leg in between the guys, him getting the idea and dancing the way I wanted. He gladly did it and was very happy to be there.
Someone else moved behind me and pressed against me. I was just about to tell them to fuck off, but I knew that body and who it was even before he spoke.
“Dance with me, agra,” Darby breathed in my ear. “Dance with us, not these guys.”
I closed my eyes and fought against the desire to simply give in, lean into him, and enjoy dancing with him like I missed so much. No, we were done. I wasn’t doing this. I pulled away and went to take my partner to a different area on the floor… But in those seconds of internal debate, my partner was gone, and Craftsman was now there.
His deep emerald green eyes were as beautiful as I remembered… And looking into them this close nearly killed me, because it made me think of all the times I had before.
He saw the pain or grief in my aura and flinched, reaching for me, but I quickly turned around. Darby was easier to deal with than Craftsman.
But I couldn’t look at him either.
Instead, my gaze caught Mel laying into Hudson and Lucca, who both looked annoyed they were hanging on the sidelines. I knew large men could dance, so that wasn’t the problem. Large men who were dragons and bear shifters weren’t meant for the dancing at a nightclub. Formal? Sure, I’d seen both of them waltz, and they did it well.
Not much else though.
“You look breathtaking, love,” Craftsman breathed in my ear.
I didn’t even realize I was throwing an elbow until he grunted. I shoved at Darby’s chest, but he didn’t move.
“We’ll dance all night, as much as you want, agra,” he said when I tried to escape again. “But we’re not letting other guys touch you.”
“Even if we were still dating, I could dance with who I wanted,” I snapped. “You never owned me. We respected—I thought we had respected each other—but clearly not. At least have enough respect for yourself to not become a stalker.”
He flinched, and I was glad at least he heard me they were going to far. I tried to get away from him, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back, spinning us away from Craftsman.
“I would never try to own you,” he choked out.
I mentally winced, not having meant to throw salt in our wounds by implying he really did date me to continue his family’s “business” of branding fairies and using them like blood cows. I opened my mouth to clarify, but a body pressed against my back, and my heart hurt as I knew it was Craftsman, recognizing him like that too.
“Let me go,” I demanded, my voice cracking.
“I can’t,” Darby rasped, lowering his forehead to mine. “You know it was real, we were real, and my feelings for you. I gave you the time you—”
I shoved him hard enough he stumbled into other people. I couldn’t hold back my sneer. “Don’t act like you were nice and let me take a break. I ended our relationship, and none of you fought me. Did you call and say you didn’t want to break up? I missed the months of you trying to win me back?”
He apologized to the people he had bumped and came closer. “You blocked my number. You blocked all our numbers. You went and stayed in there that night. We were scared you might not come back.” His voice cracked that time, and I realized he was serious.
Wow. I hadn’t known people thought I might stay in Faerie after what Collins did to me. I couldn’t have survived without anything to eat, but they didn’t know that. I mean, plants and vegetation were coming back now, but months ago, there was only grass. So staying there for good wasn’t an option yet.
“I wrote letters that I begged Melody to give to you,” he pushed when I got lost in my head. “I tried to talk to you a lot before school ended. You kept telling me to go away, leave you alone, and I owed you the space you wanted. I thought I deserved a real conversation before you would truly dump me.”
That wasn’t unfair, but the situation was so fucked up, it wasn’t fair either. I yanked away from Craftsman and stood so I could face them both, staring at Darby’s chest. “You’re not wrong, but things went epically bad—and you know I think people overuse that word—that there was no normal or—what could really have been said? I think there are lines that, when crossed, it’s just over.”
“You’re not wrong, and I can’t even imagine how bad it was for you. It was for me too though, Tamsin. You weren’t the only one who suffered that night, and I was on your side. We were both hurt and taken. I’m still on your side.”
“Are you?” I cut in. “I needed tonight to have fun. I needed it, because seeing you guys hurts me. I needed it, because all I’ve done is work all summer, and I’m tired. I’m exhausted, and I just wanted a night to let go before the next round of too much. But you’re all here because you don’t want me dancing with other guys or… I don’t even know, but not because it’s what’s best for me.”
“We were worried about your safety,” Craftsman argued.
I couldn’t even look at him. I couldn’t even speak to him.
And I wasn’t going to try. I turned away from them both and got lost
