Page 93 of House of Pain
“Here you are, Black.” Alecto took the glass and downed the drink in one gulp. He whistled. “That’s the spirit.”
“Where are the others?”
Blaze casually looked around. “Val’s with her new boys, Andro is probably withhisnew boy, and Jolene is somewhere, probably talking with a plant or somethin’.”
“Don’t be a fucking dick.”
Blaze smirked but didn’t say anything else as he refilled her drink.
“I guess it’s only you and me.”
“And a couple more dozens of people as well,” she replied, walking away from him.
Alecto wasn’t going to spend the night with Blaze fucking Leveau.
Nah-ah.
She didn’t need any temptations or any more reckless shit happening. They were bad for each other, and the further away Alecto was from Blaze, the better.
Apparently, Blaze had missed the memo because a hand wrapped around Alecto’s forearm, yanking her back.
“Not so fast,” he said. “Why don’t you have a drink with me?”
Alecto yanked her arm away from him, both standing in the middle of a crowd in the dining room with tall ceilings and an old dark wood dining table covered with alcohol.
“I already have a drink,” Alecto sneered, lifting the glass he gave her.
Blaze bit his bottom lip. “Oh, come on. One night. Give me one night, and maybe I’ll surprise you.”
Alecto stilled.
Maybe she was fucking crazy, but there was something inside her that wanted to indulge Blaze. After all, Alecto was always craving an adventure, and Blaze was nothing if not an adventure.
One with massive consequences, but to Hel with it.
“One night.”
Blaze’s face lit up. Before Alecto could say anything more, he swooped her into his embrace and led her through the dining room into the kitchen and into the back garden.
The cool night air greeted them. None of the partygoers were in the back garden; half of it bled into the Cursed Forest. It was creepy out here and gave Alecto chills, seeing the mist from the forest lingering around the perimeter of the Dragons’ territory as if testing the limits of how far it was allowed to go.
Blaze walked them over to the old swing at the very edge of the property and guided Alecto’s hips into one swing, plopping onto the other one next to her.
For whatever reason, Alecto’s heart was hammering like crazy. As if she was going to throw up.
Ignoring the weird feelings in her stomach and chest, she brought the glass to her lips, eyeing Blaze as he lit a cigarette, letting it hang between his lips as the stream of smoke escaped.
He tilted his head backwards, inhaling the smoke, and closed his eyes for a moment, letting it out with an exhale.
Alecto’s throat went dry at sight. Blaze was beautiful, and whenever he looked at Alecto with those black eyes, her heart skipped a beat, whether she wanted it to or not. It was a reaction most girls had around him.
It was a given.
But like that, so relaxed and calm, in the darkness of the night, Blaze looked more than in his element. Alecto could almost believe he could be somewhat decent. And maybe even real.
If that was even possible.
“So, you’re not jealous of Val being with other boys?” Alecto asked after a long moment of silence.
