The Ravens (The Ravens #1) - Kass Morgan Page 0,46
was the only person in the world? She turned away, not wanting to intrude on what was starting to feel like a private moment, and suddenly found herself looking at Mason.
He was talking to a couple of guys who appeared to be two of his frat brothers, a handsome, confident-looking guy with warm brown skin and a lanky white kid with the telltale straw-gray hair of a competitive swimmer. Instead of the tuxes that all the other guys were wearing, Mason had on jeans and a perfectly fitted white button-down that was open at the neck, revealing a hint of summer-tanned chest.
As if feeling her gaze on him, Mason looked over. He caught her eye and smiled, sending an electric thrill through her body, not dissimilar to the sensation she’d felt when she was working magic.
Before Vivi could decide whether to smile, wave, or pretend she hadn’t seen him, Scarlett materialized at Mason’s side. Heart pounding, Vivi spun around and took a few chugs of her drink, then winced. Ariana might have improved the flavor, but the alcohol was strong enough to burn her throat. As she stood with the other pledges, half listening to Reagan tell a story about a witch she knew who’d been a finalist on The Bachelor, the crowded room began to go fuzzy around the edges, and a comforting sense of warmth settled in her chest. Suddenly, the dance floor looked far less frightening—almost inviting.
Vivi gazed around until her eyes landed on the cute bartender. She waited a moment to see if he’d look up, but he was focused on drink-mixing, and even tipsy Vivi wasn’t bold enough to cross a room and strike up a conversation with a stranger. Then she remembered a spell she’d read in the grimoire about catching the attention of someone who was otherwise engaged. It’d been one of the many non-English spells, but Vivi’s French was just good enough to get the gist. “J’en appelle à la Reine d’Épées et invoque la Force. Que ma volonté soit exaucée,” she whispered under her breath. She felt pressure building as the warmth in her chest began to spread through her whole body, pressing against her skin as if trying to escape. A second later, the boy looked up and locked eyes with her across the crowd.
Vivi inclined her head toward the dance floor and raised one eyebrow quizzically, a gesture she hadn’t even known she could perform, then felt a thrill as he grinned and nodded. They met in the middle of the room, and he wordlessly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. It was the most physical contact she’d had with a boy since middle school, when she’d had a boyfriend for exactly one week, during which time they spoke three times and kissed once. Yet while the sensation of the boy’s touch was unfamiliar, it certainly wasn’t unwelcome.
The weight of his hands made her skin tingle as he guided her side to side in time to the music. But although he was, hands down, the hottest guy who’d ever shown any interest in her, she couldn’t help imagining he was someone else. Someone she absolutely, positively could not want.
Someone she wanted anyway.
* * *
An hour later, Ariana grabbed Vivi’s hand and pulled her off the dance floor, where she’d been dancing with a second boy—one who’d approached her without the influence of a spell. The party had thinned out a little but the couples and groups of friends on the dance floor were still going strong, singing along to the Lizzo song blaring from the speakers.
“What’s up?” Vivi asked, slightly out of breath. She was sweaty from dancing, and although she hadn’t had anything else to drink, the world was spinning slightly at the edges of her vision.
“Nico wants to show us the pool room,” Ariana said with a giggle, leading her toward a staircase at the back of the house, where Reagan, Bailey, and Sonali were standing.
“Who’s Nico?” Vivi asked.
“The guy I was just dancing with. Didn’t you see him? They don’t make ’em like that where I come from. These Savannah boys can really rock a tux. Now come on.” Ariana tugged on Vivi’s arm. “He and his friends are waiting for us downstairs.”
Vivi was buzzed, but not so buzzed that she didn’t hear the alarm bells sounding in her mind. “I don’t think we should. Scarlett told us not to leave the main party under any circumstances.”