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“Hey.” Just the sound of that single word had my skin tingling everywhere, but my stubbornness insisted it was just from the chill of the night.
“I didn’t know if you were coming.”
“You could have just asked me.” Okay, he had me there. It would have been simple, but I simply wasn’t ready to open myself back up to him. To any of them. That way lay heartache, and I’d had my fill of that for the time being.
“I could have.” He quirked a brow at my admission, but didn’t press. “I’m glad you’re here, though. It’ll be fun to hang out outside of school.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but the rest of the group came to a halt in front of us and I realized we’d reached the large iron gate. I hadn’t seen it or its ornate scrollwork since the first night I’d arrived. We must have been walking for quite a while, since it had taken what felt like forever to drive from the gate to the front of the main building.
This was it. Moment of truth. There were a few other small groups standing beyond the gate, likely waiting for cars to ferry them to the party, but there were also a handful of students still on our side. I wasn’t sure if they’d tried and failed to pass, or were still mustering the courage to attempt it.
“Are you ready?” Darrio’s low question against the shell of my ear made me shiver—damn that nighttime chill—and I stayed put when he tugged my hand free and laced his fingers through mine. “Come on, we’ll go together.”
I wasn’t sure if that’d be any better than trying alone and failing. What if he crossed, but I got stuck? I couldn’t explain my fear. It wasn’t like I’d been told by any of the professors I’d failed, but the pressure was mounting with every step I took toward the open gate.
Darrio crossed first, no sign of any resistance. My steps slowed, my arm stretching out further in front of me as he kept walking. He looked back, stopping when our arms were fully stretched between us, my feet remaining planted firmly inside the gate.
“It’s okay, Red.” It was a bare whisper, carried back to me on the faintest breeze that rustled the curls around my face. He squeezed my hand once and gave me a tug.
I let him pull me forward and in half a second, I was standing beside him on the other side of the invisible line. Nothing stopped me, but a cold sensation had trickled down my body in the scant heartbeat I’d been on the border. There was definitely something there, and I could have sworn it didn’t want me to leave.
“You okay?” Darrio’s face was lined with concern, so I turned on my brightest smile and nodded.
“Yeah, all good. Just a little chilly out here.”
“But you wanted to wear that dress?”
“Do you not like it?”
“Never said that. But it gives me ideas I don’t think you want me to have right now.” The heat in his eyes warmed me right up, but I forced myself to break eye contact.
“Kate said we should dress up, so I borrowed it from her.”
“Well, it’s yours now. No one else could do it justice.”
That caused my eyes to roll, but the grin I gave him this time was genuine. “Okay, Corndog.”
“Back to calling me Corndog, huh?”
“I told you, when it’s warranted, I’ll use it.”
Headlights illuminated the side of his face, drawing my attention from him—thankfully—to the line of cars heading down the drive toward us. I was curious how all of this was being paid for, but then there had to be some kind of perks to being gods, right? I was hoping free transportation was one of them.
Rocky, Jesse, and River piled into an SUV while Ben pulled the passenger side seat in the middle row forward and started to climb in.
Darrio’s hand shot forward and caught Ben by the shoulder before he could get more than a foot in the back. “We’ll sit back there.” He pulled me by the hand he still held clasped in his and steadied me as I climbed through the narrow space.
As I did, the hem of the dress inched up and I felt the cool breeze on the bottom of my ass cheeks. I turned to apologize for Darrio’s sharp tone when I caught Ben’s gaze focused on my exposed skin.
Well, that was awkward. I was sure he hadn’t expected to be flashed by a friend as he waited to get into the car.
Darrio turned to the side and saw it, too. His hand shot forward and tugged my dress back down into place before palming my ass to stop the fabric from moving again as I got into my seat. Darrio crowded behind me, yanking the seat in front of him into place so Ben could get in.
Darrio dropped a hand onto my knee and squeezed. He didn’t say anything, but his jaw was tight and his eyes were fixed forward.
He couldn’t seriously be pissed at Ben. It was my fault for not taking better care with the dress as I climbed up. Besides, it was probably purely reflexive to look at a partially bared ass right in front of him, right?
“Hey.” He didn’t look or respond, so I slipped a hand under his chin to the other side of his jaw and turned his head toward me. “It’s fine.” Thanks to the chatter of the rest of the SUV’s occupants, my words were only for him. When our gazes locked, there was a flicker of anger there that wouldn’t take much to spark into a full-on rage.
