“Congratulations on selling your painting!” she cries with a valiant effort not to slur her words in the presence of her boss. “I wasn’t surprised, but I’m damn happy for you.”
“I know you are,” I say, squeezing her shoulder in return. “You’re my fairy godmother, after all.”
“She is?” Cole demands. “Then what am I?”
“I don’t know,” I say, looking him up and down. “You’re more like . . . the goblin king in the middle of the maze.”
“What does that mean?” he frowns.
“Haven’t you seen Labyrinth?”
I can tell by his scowl that he hasn’t.
“You’re missing out!” Sonia cries. “David Bowie in those tight pants . . . it’s classic.”
Cole gives a dismissive shrug, but I can tell he’s annoyed. He hates not knowing things.
“Do you want a drink?” he asks me.
“Sure—whatever they have. I’m not picky.”
He disappears into the crowd, searching for the bar.
Sonia cocks her head to the side, regarding me with a curiosity that cuts through her inebriation.
“Do you know why Cole smashed his solar model?” she asks me.
I stare at her. “Are you talking about the Olgiati?”
“The one and only.”
“You’re kidding. Isn’t that worth like . . . all the money?”
“Three million at least. He shattered it with a golf club. Busted it into a billion pieces.”
My stomach churns. I hate the thought of something so unique being destroyed.
“You think he did it on purpose?”
“I know he did.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I’m asking you.”
I shake my head. “I have no idea why he does anything he does.”
“I thought you might . . . it was the same day he hung your painting on his wall.”
Now I do understand, though I try to keep my jaw from falling open so Sonia doesn’t see it.
Fucking hell . . . he smashed his favorite glasswork because of me?
My skin goes clammy wondering what he would have done with that golf club if I were standing in the room with him instead . . .all of a sudden I feel like I got off light with a non-consensual tattoo.
Sonia’s eyes narrow as comprehension sweeps over my face.
“Spill it,” she says.
I’m saved from further interrogation by Cole reappearing with a hard cider in each hand.
“What about me?” Sonia complains.
“You’re drunk enough already.”
I gulp my cider, wanting to calm the uncomfortable pounding of my heart.
“Take it easy,” Cole says.
Whenever he barks an order at me, it makes me want to do the exact opposite. I wasn’t going to take another gulp, but now that he said that, I take three more in quick succession.
Is it because I want to see that stiffening of his face? The way his pupils expand and his jaw flexes, creating a beautiful tension on the bow of his lip . . .
He grips my arm with iron-hard fingers.
“Don’t fucking test me,” he hisses.
Why do I like that?
Why is warmth flushing all the way down my legs?
Jesus, I’m so fucked up.
The alcohol is providing me with newfound bravery. And newfound honesty with myself.
I want Cole. I want him like money, like success, like achievement. I want him much more than I want other supposed necessities: safety, for instance. Or sanity.
“Dance with me,” I say, pulling him out in the press of people.
Sinner — DEZI Spotify → geni.us/no-saints-spotify
Apple Music → geni.us/no-saints-apple
I’m curious to see Cole dance. While I have no doubt his taste in music is as refined as the rest of him, that’s not the same thing as having rhythm.
The question evaporates from my mind the instant his hands make contact with my skin.
Cole’s touch is electric. For all his coldness of manner, his actual body burns like a nuclear reactor—destructive heat radiating from the inside out.
I’m terrified of the energy contained inside him. I have no illusions that it’s under my control.
Cole pulls me against him. His hands slip around my waist, his thigh presses between mine, our hips align. He holds me at the base of my neck and the small of my back. I’m a rabbit in his hands: helpless, heart racing.
He lets his lips graze against the side of my neck, his hot breath singeing my skin.
“I shouldn’t give you what you want when you’re being bratty . . .” he murmurs in my ear. “I’m not going to dance with you at all unless you behave yourself.”