Page 79 of Pay the Price

“That’s not the point,” I said. “We’re not alone.”

He nuzzled my neck. “We weren’t alone at the Velvet Rope either.”

Desire flooded my pussy at the memory. “This isn’t the Velvet Rope.”

“Pretty sure no one here would complain if I got you off around the fire,” he said.

“I definitely wouldn’t,” Wolf said, obviously eavesdropping. “Although I might expect an invitation to join.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You’re ridiculous.”

My protests rang false even to my own ears. My breathing was shallow, my body already on fire for them.

Eventually the music stopped blaring from the outdoor speakers and Wolf picked up his guitar and started to strum. I recognized the song immediately. It was the one he played the most, the one I heard him playing on repeat in his room late at night.

The melody was soft and sweet, but there was something haunting about it too, and I sank back into Otis and closed my eyes as the notes washed over me. There was a story in the song, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. Something about longing and loss, sorrow and beauty.

When I opened my eyes, everyone was quiet, staring at the fire or cuddling or looking up at the sky, visible between the trees that surrounded the compound.

I looked at Jace and felt the heat of his gaze on my face, every bit as hot as the fire, except there was one big difference between the two: I was smart enough to steer clear of the flames dancing in the fire pit.

But with Jace Kane? I didn’t stand a chance in hell of not getting burned.

I was suddenly hot, like I was overheating in Otis’ hoodie even though I’d been cold not fifteen minutes earlier.

I scooted off Otis’ lap. “I’m going to get water.” Wolf had finished his song, and one of the Blades had started up with something more upbeat on an old scratched guitar. “Want anything?”

“We can get you water,” Otis said.

“It’s okay. I need to stretch my legs and go to the bathroom.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Jace’s searing gaze was getting to me, and not just physically.

Sure, I wanted him, but even worse, I wanted to understand him.

Ugh. If Cassie or Sarai came to me asking about an emotionally unavailable guy with a chip the size of Mount Everest on his shoulder, I would have told them to run in the other direction, but here I was, completely powerless to resist the walking emotionally unavailable chip that was Jace Kane.

I went into the main dorm building to use the bathroom, half hoping Jace would follow me inside, that we’d end up in another steamy make-out sesh like we’d had during Summer Shit.

But he didn’t. The building was quiet, and I went back outside and walked over to the coolers to get a water.

I fished around in the ice and came up with a water bottle, then noticed a giant with a gray beard halfway down his chest staring at me.

“Um, hi,” I said.

“You’re Nory’s kid,” he said.

I glanced behind me, then looked back at the man when I realized he was talking to me. “Um… Nory?”

He snapped his fingers, like he was trying to remember something. “Eleanor! Eleanor Mercer.”

I don’t know what was stranger, having someone refer to my mom by a nickname I’d never heard or having someone refer to her at all. No one ever talked about her around me. She’d been gone a long time, and even before that, it had been my dad who’d been front and center.

“I am,” I said. “And you are?”

He held out a hand with a deep gravely laugh. “Doc. I knew it! You look just like her. No one had those purple eyes like Nory.”

“You knew her?” The water bottle was dripping down my arm, but I didn’t even care. Finding someone who’d known my mom was like finding a hundred-dollar bill sitting on the pavement.

He looked at me like I was crazy. “All of us old timers did! She was joined at the hip with Mac back in those days.”

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