Page 47 of Written In Flesh

“You got here fast,” I tell him, my hand hitting his shoulder.

Heath frowns slightly. “Yeah, well, Lily wanted to come with.”

Lily steps around my brother and up to my side. I manage to keep my face blank but slide Heath a glance. He lifts his shoulders in a shrug. “Is it okay that I’m here?” her soft, timid voice asks and a part of me feels bad.

“Of course,” Heath tells her, holding his hand out to usher her to the table. “I already told you on the way here.”

Aero’s eyes widen slightly when he sees Lily, and he quickly masks it with a smile in her direction. Tension lingers in my chest and shoulders. An undercurrent of feeling I don’t understand passes through me. One look at my best friend and brother and I can tell they’re feeling the same. Something in the dynamic feels wrong, different. The ease from a few minutes ago leeches out of me. Conversation at the table becomes stilted. The effect seems to reach past me, Aero and Heath and down to our other teammates and friends.

“She really likes to cause problems,” Aero mutters under his breath, his hand running through his hair, his eyes caught on something or someone behind me.

My heart pounds and I know instantly who has caught his attention. Everything inside me tightens with anticipation, my head snapping in her direction. Her long dark hair is pulled back with two braids. Her shoulders are square, her chin lifted while she laughs with a table of customers. My hands tighten on the table top, my gaze raking over her, noting the black leggings that look painted on and settling on the black t-shirt tied at her waist, baring a sliver of her moonlit skin. My shadows surge in my veins, begging to be let out while blackness creeps into my vision. She turns and for the first time I see the front of her race day work t-shirt, and another man’s face stretches across her chest.

I see red, blood-fucking-red. Heath reaches for me first, then Aero calls my name, as they try to stop me. No one can contain me. Shoving anyone in my way to the side, I reach Skully before she can drift off to her next table. I can tell the minute she senses me near, her head turns in my direction, and her eyes widen at the look on my face. Fury flares in my gut once I’m in front of her, and before I can think better of it, I’m yanking her by the wrist until her body collides sharply with mine.

“Madden.” Her voice comes out raspy and stern, which does nothing to calm the raging storm inside me.

“Take it off,” I demand, leaning down until my forehead brushes hers.

She pulls back, a look of determination in her eyes. A fire that only sparks when it’s us, when we’re pushing each other. “It’s for work. It means nothing.”

Her words should placate me. Deep down I know this, I’ve seen it before. She didn’t choose mine though. She chose to put some random man’s face over my body. A growl builds low in my throat, and that’s the only warning she gets before my hands wrap under her thighs and I haul her over my shoulder. Cheers and cat-calls follow us while I bulldoze my way into the back area by the bathrooms and the employee locker rooms.

“Put me down!” Skully hisses, her little fists banging on my shoulders. I set her on her feet, and she wobbles slightly. Turning to face me, her lips smash together before she uses both hands to push me away. Doesn’t she know that wanting space only makes me want her more?

“Take it off now, Skully,” I warn her one more time, my hands fisting at my sides.

Her eyes blaze and she makes the fatal step of moving toward me. “It’s a work shirt, Madden. Don’t be a fucking psycho. Plenty of other girls here have your face over their tits already. You don’t need mine as well.”

Darting forward and using both hands, I grip the shirt she’s wearing by the collar. My fists pull, shredding it from top to bottom, forcing it from her skin. Skully struggles with me until the material lies in a pool at her feet.

“I hate you. Happy now?” She scoffs, her cheeks blushing as she stands there, chest heaving in only a basic black bra. My blood heats and the urge to cover her while also taking in every inch of what’s mine wars within me. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her this way, felt her this close.

I push my body into hers, plastering against her front, so she can feel my warmth. My hands lift my sweatshirt off, and I drop it down over her in the next second, covering her in me, my scent, my colors. Her nostrils flare, and her eyes flutter. I run my nose up her neck and over her jaw. “You can hate me all you want but you’re still mine.”

She shakes in my hold, her body vibrating with anger and want. Feelings we’re both familiar with. “I’m not yours. I never was.”

“You don’t have the memories I do, Angel,” I tell her, my fingers gently brushing her hair off her cheeks. “You’ve always been mine even when I hate you too.”

She shakes her head, one of her hands landing on my shoulder to push space between us. “But you’ve never been just mine, right?” There’s an edge of sadness in her voice, and my fingers grip her chin, bringing her eyes to mine.

I search her gaze. “Your memories?”

A tear escapes down her cheek and she rushes to brush it away. “No. I don’t need my memories to know that then, now, the future, there is no way you’ve ever been just mine. I can feel it.”

“Madden,” Lily’s voice calls from the opening of the hallway, the disruption like an ice bucket over the moment. Any clarity I had is instantly washed away. Aero and Heath are also waiting, both of them keeping their eyes averted, but they also look like they’re ready to dive into the middle of a brawl if needed.

“You don’t want another man’s face on me, but you have no claim on me either. Not when someone else is clearly your priority.” Skully’s eyes harden on Lily before sliding back to me. “Go back to your friends, Madden.”

My brow pulls together, and my chest tightens almost painfully. I should leave her here to deal with the mess I created, but my shadows are pulling at me to stay. To stay with her. Something about what she said gnaws at me, pulls a feeling or a memory from before that I’d pushed down since she’s been gone. Each step I take away from her feels like it’s a mistake.

“Thursday. Meet me at the Gate. You’re weak and you need to train,” I throw over my shoulder at her. Her spine straightens, and her arms hang down, hands balling into fists. Fire lights in her eyes and sears right through me. With one last appreciative rake of my gaze over her in my clothes, I saunter over to where my friends are waiting.