God. Her laugh. It was enough to send him to the moon. Not a forced laugh, a this was real. The way her jaw opened and she tried to cover it with her hand. He shook his head. No need to cover your face, he thought. He was melting away, right here in the middle of the dance floor, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
“Very bold, aren’t you?” she teased, her tone laced with amusement. A melted popsicle, that was how you could describe him right now.
She leaned in closer to speak, her breath warm against his skin, making him tilt his head down to her. As close as he could get. “Anything?” she asked, her voice smooth and playful.
“Do I even need to answer that?” he replied, his hands tightening on her hips. Not enough to hurt, just enough to show her what he meant without saying anything at all. He wanted her closerr than was even possible in this moment.
The way she moved against him, leaning into the rhythm of the music, made it worse. Or better. He didn’t know anymore. All he knew was that he was a puddle now, a mess of a man with no hope of recovery. The janitors would need to clean him up after the party. The Umbra boys would wonder where Renlin went and only find the spot on the floor where he melted. They’d probably need to put a plaque there, a memorial to honor him. Here lies Renlin, the boy who melted because of Thalia Orion-Eden Starling.
“No, getting you to reply to me is certainly not easy,” he shot back at her, his grin full of playful defiance. It was a grin that said, I’ve got you right where I want you.
When she pressed him further about what he had meant, he ignored her. He wasn’t about to ruin this moment. He didn’t want to over-explain or say something that would spook her. They didn’t need to talk about it. She knew how he felt, he was sure of it, and he knew it wouldn’t be reciprocated. That didn’t bother him right now. He didn’t need validation to stay happy in this moment. He could shove the thought to the back of his mind, push it to deal with later, when it would come clawing back as a nightmare. Right now, it didn’t matter.
She asked him something about coffee, and he stopped moving for a beat. He raised an eyebrow at her, a laugh bubbling out of him. “Hot. Always prefer it hot,” he answered, his voice light but his gaze heavy, locked on hers. For a moment, they were frozen there, caught in the intensity of it, until something, someone, in the corner of his eye broke his focus.
Behind her. Fuck.
“Come with me,” he said quickly, grabbing her hand. He didn’t wait for her reply, pulling her deeper into the chaos of the dance floor and then out toward the back hallway of Umbra. The noise dulled as they moved away from the main room, the music becoming a faint thrum behind them.
He didn’t want to tell her what he saw, or worse…who saw them. But was it really that bad? It shouldn’t matter r, right?
He kept moving, taking long strides down the dim hallway, her smaller frame keeping up with him, hand still in his. They reached a dark staircase that led to an area with classrooms, a place rarely used during parties. He stopped, leaning back against the wall with a deep exhale, his head tilting upward and eyes closing as he tried to steady his breathing.
So much for being a puddle. So much for staying happy in the moment. He had dragged them out of there in such a rush, his mind running faster than his legs. Now, here they were, and he had to figure out what to say next. For now, though, he focused on his breathing, letting it settle, as the quiet of the space wrapped around them.