Inspire (The Muse #1)(33)
Author: Cora Carmack

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jack cuts in, standing from his chair. “Just let the guy take a cab.”

“Really, Jack, I’m fine.”

Still standing, she lifts a foot to slip on her boot. She teeters a little, and I grab hold of her elbow to steady her. As much as I hate to admit it … “Maybe Jack is right.”

“That wasn’t because I’m drunk. That was because I’m standing on one foot trying to put on a shoe. I promise that I am one hundred percent okay to drive. I don’t feel the slightest bit drunk.”

She does seem sober. She stands with her hands on her hips, looking up at me, and her eyes are clear, focused. I’d been determinedly not watching her for the last hour or so. Maybe she’d been cutting back, and I hadn’t noticed.

“Touch your finger to your nose,” I say.

She rolls her eyes, but does it.

“Now switch and touch it with the other finger … now switch back and forth.”

“Is this really a thing?” she asks between touches.

“Faster.”

She scowls, but obliges, her eyes boring into mine as she alternates touching her nose with her right and then left hand again and again. She never misses a beat, her movements perfectly in control.

“Are you even human?” I ask. She stiffens and stops touching her nose. “You must have an incredibly high alcohol tolerance. Or lightning fast metabolism.”

“Something like that.”

I take in her face. There’s no hesitation. She doesn’t seem like she’d be doing this out of pity or for some other reason I can’t pinpoint. “Sure. Okay. If you don’t mind, a ride would be great.”

She nods and turns toward the door. I give Lennox a quick nod, and then a silent wave for the rest of the room. “Thanks for inviting me, Len. I had fun.”

“No problem, Dazzler. You’re welcome back anytime.”

I glance at Kalli to gauge her reaction to that, but her back is to me. I take a few steps toward the door, catching up with her, and rest a hand on her back. I’m about to murmur a thank you, but her steps falter and she sucks in a breath. “You okay?”

She steps sideways, sliding away from my touch, and adds, “Um … give me just one second before we leave.”

I drop my hand to my side, and her gaze scans the room. She’s looking for something, but I’m not sure she knows what it is. She skips past a sleeping Mick, and Lennox, and the other girls. Finally her eyes land on Jack, and he’s staring right back at her, still standing from when he’d protested earlier.

She squares her shoulders, and moves toward him, and for a moment I’m entranced by the sway of her hips. I’d enjoy the sight a lot more if she weren’t moving away from me and toward him. I can’t hear what they’re saying as they talk, but he’s got his head bent low toward hers, and they’re entirely too close for casual conversation. I watch them, and I swear my spine feels like steel and my skin actually starts to itch with impatience as their conversation stretches on. This isn’t some simple goodbye or a quick word. They’re having a full-fledged discussion, and when Kalli reaches out and lays a hand on his arm, I have to close my eyes to keep my cool.

Once again, she’s driving me fucking crazy with her mixed signals. She volunteers out of nowhere to take me home, and I think … maybe … but damn it. She’s still touching him, and I skip from impatient to furious in seconds. I get that she’s got issues. I’ve not exactly been looking to date anyone since the disaster that was Hurricane Bridget. But I don’t get the back and forth, and I don’t have fucking time for these kinds of games. Not even for her.

She’s still touching his arm, nodding as he talks, occasionally opening her mouth to reply. Then he smiles, slows down, and lifts a strand of hair from her shoulder. And that’s the last straw for me. I grip the doorknob and haul the front door open.

“I’ll be outside,” I say to the room in general, and then I bolt. My feet pound against the creaky stairs on my way down, and I’m sure I’m waking up everyone who lives below Lennox.

You twist me up, twist me up so good

I should cut you loose, slip off the noose

But with you, it’s a lot of should and would

And I’d sure as hell quit if I thought I could

Goddamn it. I can’t get away from her, not even in my head. And even though I know it’s wrong, that I’m going to regret letting myself think about the music later, I don’t try to shut it off. Because I might not have had her back in that apartment, but in the music, I don’t have to share her with anyone else.

“Wilder!”

Her voice carries from up above me, clear and almost crooning. I don’t stop, continuing my way down the stairs until they give way to the sidewalk, and I can march out into the parking lot where it finally feels like I have a bit of distance.

I can hear her booted feet tapping against the stairs as she follows, and I swear to God, they almost match the rhythm I’d envisioned for the song. That’s when I know I’m either a lot drunker than I thought or going crazy.

“Wilder, hold on.”

I slump against the bumper of my SUV, and blow out a breath. The temperature has dipped since I went inside, and my breath frosts in front of my face.

“Hey.” I don’t look, but I can tell from the sound that she’s down to the parking lot now, heading my way. “Sorry about that. I told Jack that we could talk about a project he’s working on, and I didn’t want to leave before we got to chat.”

“You get that I’m kind of in a hurry, right?” There’s an uneasiness in my gut from snapping at her, but I’m too riled up to pull myself back. “No one asked you to drive me home. If you want to stay and talk to Jack, go ahead. I said I can get a cab.”

She frowns, and wraps her arms around her middle to fend off the cold. Or to fend off me, maybe.

“I don’t want to stay and talk to Jack.”

And here we go ahead. The Kalli merry-go-round.

“Fan-fucking-tastic. Let’s go then.”

Her eyebrows draw into a troubled line, and damn it, why can’t I stop noticing this shit? I don’t want to analyze every expression she makes or the silences between her words or what it means that she starts toward me, but then stops. I want to be as indifferent as she is.

She points a key to my right and says, “My car is this way.”