I glance up and my chest goes cold for a moment as I catch a glimpse down the long hallway.
Sev is there.
He’s in a black shirt halfway down the hall, illuminated by a red party light and talking with a few people, including Niko. Niko raises his phone up and snaps a picture of the group, and Sev poses for the camera, raising a middle finger with one hand while blowing a kiss with the other.
He looks so good it almost makes me angry.
Sevan makes me feel like I just took a drink of a 140-proof cocktail that was lit on fucking fire, like he’s the human embodiment of a wrong decision.
“Hot,” one of the girls in his group tells him as she looks at the picture afterward, like she’s reading my internal thoughts.
He gives her a squeeze on the shoulder. “I know.”
Cocky fuck.
He glances down the hall a moment later and catches me looking. I frown and turn away, going back to cleaning the mess on the tile. Their group passes through the dining area across from me, and I feel Sev’s eyes on me as the group makes its way out into the backyard.
And then they’re gone.
And I’m alone again. Feeling like my body’s still on fire. Like something very bad is going to happen tonight.
What the fuck is that feeling?
It’s not as if I have a crush on him.
The moment that word flashes through my mind I hate it.
No.
Not a crush.
I clutch the mop in my hands, cleaning and trying to push him from my mind. I’m halfway done with cleaning when another figure comes through the kitchen archway.
“Give me another five minutes, please,” I say, my voice coming out clipped.
“Chill, Wes.”
I crane my neck upward to see my brother.
“Hunter. Hey.”
Hunter is one of a very small number of people who wouldn’t piss me off right now. My brother and I are on good terms these days, and I’m relieved to see him.
He steps over the last remnants of pink on the ground and pulls out some red plastic cups to mix drinks.
“I’d offer to help you clean,” he says after a minute, “but I already know you’ll tell me you’re fine.”
“Correct.”
“Frat Dad,” he teases.
“Still don’t know why that’s an insult.”
“It’s not. We say it lovingly.”
I finish cleaning up and give the floor one last look with my cell phone flashlight to ensure there aren’t any glass shards. More people are starting to stream through the dining area beyond the kitchen, moving back and forth between the backyard and the house.
Hunter gives them each a nod. He’s only been in Onyx House for a handful of months, but already I feel like he’s making it his home even better than I have.