Page 35 of Pray for Scars
I roll my eyes, swat her hand away.
She winks. “A drink?”
I nod, glad she’s looking me in the eye again, and together, we head down the stairs. I hear some chick moaning and glance at Natalie, my stomach twisting.
She smiles as she opens up a cooler on the marble counter, scooping out ice, dishing it into two black plastic cups. “Cain,” she confirms.
“Does he have a problem?” I ask her as she unscrews the top from a bottle of rum, splashes it in each of our cups, then reaches for the Diet Coke. I like that she doesn’t ask what I want. I just want a fucking drink in my hand.
She laughs, holding out the cup for me. “He’s got a lot of problems. They all do.”
I’m about to murmur my agreement when I hear a deep voice behind us. “That’s no way to talk about your hosts, Natalie.”
I glance over my shoulder, see Ezra watching us, his hazel eyes going to the cup in my hand to my face, then to Natalie, and finally coming back to rest on me. I stiffen, remembering what I’m wearing. A mesh banded top that gives a good view of my cleavage—or lack of—and bottoms of the same material that show off my ass…and nearly everything else. Everything that Ezra had his fingers on.
I feel myself blush at his lingering gaze, and my own eyes dip down over his muscled chest, his dark brown skin glistening from the water he must’ve been in.
“My eyes are up here,Sid.”He laughs, a rumbling sound from his chest. He pulls a beer from the fridge, pops the top off, closes the fridge door and then leans against it. “You really don’t wanna do that,” he drawls, eyes flicking down my body, indicating exactly whatthatis.
I take a gulp of my drink, wipe the back of my hand over my mouth. “I really, really do.”
He takes another pull from his beer. Natalie laughs nervously at my back. I hear a girl shrieking from the pool room.
Ezra shrugs. “Your funeral.”
Anger flashes through me and my eyes narrow, but my fight isn’t with him. It’s with the demon boy I want to drown in.
My funeral indeed.
I turn to Nat, nod, indicating she can lead the way back to the pool. And she does.
I Don’t Fuck With Youby Big Sean is blasting through the speakers, competing with the splashes in the pool, the laughing girls and yelling guys, smiles in their words.
I finish my drink as we walk in, Natalie’s arm brushing against mine, as if she’s giving me some comfort or something. I steel my spine, thankful for her. And when we pass a table full of more drinks, I set my cup down, she does too, and together, we head to the stairs that lead into the water.
But I stop before we reach the top step, turn to glance at her.
I can feel eyes on us.
I hear someone I don’t know whisper, loudly,“Shit,”, and I already saw Lucifer. Already saw Ophelia still in his lap, still talking to another chick, but his hand was on her hip.
Warmth courses through me, unpleasant.
“You know I used to swim a lot,” I tell Nat, conversationally as we stand at the top step. “Something one of my foster families put me up to.” My mind feels loose from the rum, a smile playing on my lips at Natalie waits to see how I want to do this. “I got pretty good at diving.”
One of the guys down in the pool must overhear me because he calls up, his hand cupped over his mouth, “If you wanna dive, baby, I’ll catch you.” He lowers his hand, his eyes on me, a smirk on his lips. He’s more muscular than Lucifer, not quite as tall. He’s got tattoos on his shoulders, his dark brown hair wet, and more than a few girls are staring at him.
Perfect.
I wink at Natalie, leave her at the steps. “Thanks, Nat.” I turn to the guy, watch him as he watches me, his eyes trailing down over my hips, caressing my body with his gaze, and I sway over to the deep end, before the pool turns into the river.
The guy follows, his eyes never leaving mine.
And out of the corner of my eye, I can see him.
Lucifer.
He’s watching, too. But he’s not scowling at me like I thought he would be. He’s smiling. And that throws me off. I see his hand on Ophelia’s hip trail lower, to the high cut of her bikini, resting on her thigh, his long, lean fingers splayed.
