Page 47 of Rain Delay

Eliana’s lips curved. “Just great?”

I shrugged, trying to play it off even though I felt like I was sweating bullets. “Yeah. Great.”

Her smile lingered a second longer than it should’ve before she turned toward the door. “Well, thank you.”

I give her a nod as she walks away.

That woman is too dangerous for her own kind. She’s too dangerous for me, but I was loving the thrill of it all.

Chapter 17

Wyatt

IT SEEMED LIKE THE TENSION WASN’T LETTING UP. Even when we got to the party, everything I did was a form of a distraction to keep my eyes off her.

Because if I let my eyes even fall on her for a second, I knew it would be game over. I couldn’t help myself. She was breathtaking. I tried to distract myself by talking to teammates, getting some drinks, but nothing seemed to work.

I spotted her across the room about twenty minutes in, tucked near one of the tall tables with a couple of the guys, laughing at something one of them said.

And that’s when I saw who it was she was laughing at.

Oh, fuck no.

Garrett. The team’s biggest flirt, aside from Liam. He was leaning in a little too close, one arm braced casually on the table near her, his grin too easy and confident. The kind of guy who didn’t think twice about pushing boundaries because no one ever told him no.

Eliana laughed again, polite, but I could see it in her – she was uncomfortable and was trying to position some space between the two. Something in my chest snapped. He wasn’t taking the fucking hint.

“Yo,” Liam said beside me, tapping my shoulder. “You’re glaring.”

“I’m not glaring. Just looking.”

Garrett said something else, and this time his hand brushed her arm and that’s what seemed to be the final straw for me.

“Who are you even looking –” Liam cuts himself off, his head following where my eyes were shooting daggers and his mouth just falls into an “O.” He nodded slowly. “Oh, got it.”

“If I end up on the news, at least make sure my face looks good for the mugshot,” I tell him before I was crossing the room in a straight line, cutting through bodies like they weren’t there. My focus wasn’t on anything else but the girl in front of me and the man who needed to back the fuck away from her.

“Eliana,” I said, my voice coming out sharper than intended.

Her head turned immediately, relief flashing across her face like she was waiting for me to come rescue her. “Wyatt –”

I stepped in beside her, putting myself squarely between her and Garrett, pretending it wasn’t on purpose.

“What’s up, bro?” Garrett said, unfazed, his eyes flicking between us. “She’s your social girl, right?”

“Nothing, just checking in,” I replied, tone flat. “And yeah, she’s helping me out with that this year.”

Eliana glanced up at me, something unreadable in her expression, but she didn’t move away. She stayed close to me.

She’s mine.

The thought hit me before I could even stop it.

Not yours anymore, remember? I reminded myself.

Apparently that didn’t matter, my body didn’t seem to get the memo as I put a hand on her waist defensively, feeling her tense up against me.

Garrett smirked, like he was putting the puzzle together. “Didn’t know you two were –”