He blinked. “Sure.”
I waited for the rest of it, but he just stood there, staring down at me with that same dazed expression on his face.
And then he spoke and shocked me.
“You dressed as a ballerina.” The words came out rough, their thrust softened by the light blazing from his eyes.
Contrasts.
The harsh white Phantom mask and the gravelly voice fit with the man who could be cold and intimidating, who ruled his classroom as though it was his fiefdom. But the softness in his gaze matched the man who’d knelt down to place candy in a child’s basket. Who’d offered his palm up in a wave that had my heart turning over in my chest, who’d taught me con law when I’d needed it.
Contrasts.
I looked down, unable to withstand the intensity of his gaze any longer. “I played one of the sugar plum fairies in The Nutcracker a couple years ago. Easy costume.”
I’d been so busy with school and the carnival that I hadn’t had time to come up with something better. My old dance costume had seemed like the perfect solution.
He took a deep breath, as if he was desperately sucking in air. And the energy around us changed.
His gaze no longer looked admiring or dazed. He looked hungry.
For me.
Gray
I didn’t take my eyes off of her the entire night.
Blair had left my side to run one of the games, and I stood there like an idiot, handing out candy, struggling to make small talk, all while staring at her like she was the sun and I’d been shrouded in darkness.
A small smile played at her lips every time our gazes met. I couldn’t touch her, couldn’t even risk talking to her, not when having her close was enough to make me lose control. So I looked. A lot.
Blair turned and spoke to Crossword Boy. He’d been hovering around her all night. My eyes narrowed as he bent his head and whispered something in her ear, his hand behind her, as though he were touching her back.
Motherfucker.
It hadn’t escaped my notice that the guy liked her. I wasn’t sure if Blair had picked up on it or not, but he looked at her in class. Constantly. I caught it every fucking time because I was inevitably always watching her.
I’d also noticed that he had a tendency to find excuses to touch her. Like right fucking now.
I didn’t do jealous; I never bothered to before. Not even with my wife. I’d been too focused on my career. It was screwed up, but I couldn’t pretend that my marriage hadn’t been fucked-up from the beginning. I’d been an asshole then, so focused on getting rich, on getting ahead, ruled by ego and excess, that I hadn’t even cared.
If Blair were mine, I would fucking care.
She laughed at something he said, and my chest got tight.
She looked happy. It was obvious that they were friends; I’d seen them joking around with each other plenty of times before and after class. They were both preppy, and it was impossible to miss the air of entitlement that surrounded him. He seemed like a douche, but what did I know?
After she’d told me about her broken engagement, I’d gone online, unable to resist the urge to see the guy she’d been engaged to. The fact that he bore an uncanny resemblance to Crossword Boy did not make me feel better. Nor did the way he kept leaning down into her fucking ear to talk to her.
It wasn’t that loud in here. It was totally a move.
Blair laughed again at something he said, and then her eyes drifted across the room until our gazes locked. I caught her mid-laugh, her eyes dancing, lips parted. I watched as the laugh slid off of her face, and the heat I demanded replaced the amusement he gave her.
Blair held my gaze while he continued talking to her, and I knew she wasn’t even listening, that all of her attention was focused on me.
A flush spread across her cheeks that had my dick throbbing, watching as arousal warred with composure in her beautiful brown eyes. She mumbled something to Crossword Boy, and then she fled, heading toward one of the double doors at the gym’s entrance.
His gaze met mine across the crowded gym, a frown on his preppy face.
A better man would have looked away. Would have tried to look innocent. But the darkest part of me hated that he’d been close to her. That he wanted what was mine. So I held his gaze, and my eyes said everything I could never say out loud.
And then I went after her.
Chapter Twelve
Rumors are flying amid reports that Blair Reynolds has been seen in the company of a mysterious stranger. He’s reportedly tall, dark, and handsome . . .
Has Princess Blair found her new prince?
—Capital Confessions blog
Blair
I needed air, a cold shower, and a side of sanity.
I didn’t know what it was, but for some totally insane reason, the mere sight of Gray did things to my lady parts. Lots of things.
I headed for one of the hallways off of the gym, needing the privacy of the dark, deserted space. Needing a moment from the prying eyes that I worried would see too much.
He hadn’t liked Adam touching me.
And by hadn’t liked, I meant, looked like he wanted to rip Adam’s head off.
And the fact that it turned me on was just too effed-up for words.
I leaned my back against the wall, the lockers hiding me. I closed my eyes, struggling to get my body under control. To get the part of me that craved his touch in check.
And then I heard the footsteps, and I knew. Maybe I’d known before I even left the gym. Lied to myself when I said I was coming here for peace.
Maybe I’d come here for trouble.
And it had just found me.
I didn’t open my eyes, needed the protection of the dark. Tried to hide the need that blasted through me.
My body recognized his scent first. Then the tension that throbbed between us, the sexual desire that pierced me like a knife’s point. My nipples tightened, heat pooling between my legs.
I opened my eyes and Gray stared back at me, still wearing his white Phantom mask, his hands shoved in his pockets as if he was trying to keep them from touching me. His jaw was tight, his eyes dark, his mouth pressed in a hard line.
“He likes you.”
I blinked, surprised that he’d lead with Adam.
“Yeah.”
His gaze narrowed.
“He asked me out,” I added, not sure why I was giving him everything, but somehow unable to resist.
“What did you say?”
“I told him I wasn’t attracted to him that way.”
“I don’t think he got the message.”
I’d noticed how flirty Adam had been tonight. I figured he was the type of guy who wasn’t used to hearing “no” a lot.
“I wish I could call you mine. That everyone knew I was yours.”
Oh my god.
“I hate this.”
I closed my eyes, letting his words scrape over me until they left me raw.
“I can’t fucking sleep. I dream of you almost every night. Since the first day I walked into class and saw you.”
My lungs dragged in air as I drowned.
I’d wanted passion. He gave me more than I knew what to do with.
“I’m losing my goddamned mind, Blair. I’m trying so hard to be good, to stay away from you, and then you smile at me and I forget my fucking name.”
His words unraveled me inch by inch.
“I want you,” I whispered.
“Blair . . .” He groaned my name and I reached out, my hand tugging on his black sweater, my knuckles grazing the hard planes of his stomach through the fabric. I pulled him toward me, my back pressing into the cool lockers, until Gray hovered over me.