Say You're Mine - Layla Hagen Page 0,23
look?”
“I’m not sure you want to know.”
“Try me.”
“I’ve been imagining your legs wrapped around me, wearing only your heels, since you arrived tonight. Now I’m still imagining that, but you’re covered in frosting, and I get to lick it all off you.”
Holy shit! I cleared my throat. “Shall we go downstairs?”
“Too many details?”
“Far too many. Besides, now my dirty imagination is filling in more details.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
He blew out a breath as his pupils widened. I’d always been feisty, but Brayden brought out that side of me even more.
“You never make things easy, do you?”
“Not my MO,” I agreed. “Though now I was just trying to get a rise out of you.”
He grinned, stepping back and pointing to the door. “After you.”
“Who serves the cake so early?” I asked as we descended the staircase.
“Lars. He says people are too drunk later on, and he’s right.”
Everyone had gathered in the main living room, where the buffet was. Lars gave me a glass of champagne. Brayden was nodding and smiling at everyone, wearing that charm like an armor. The only time he seemed to lower it was when we were alone. I longed for more moments like that: raw and honest. I was also longing for more of those delicious kisses, but all instincts warned me to stay away.
Lilian was shooting daggers at me. I felt oddly proud, flashing her a satisfying smirk.
Thomas wheeled out the cake a few minutes later. It looked more like a wedding cake, with three levels and figurines of the band on top. There were also a billion candles.
“Folks, don’t count the candles,” Lars said loudly. “You don’t have to know how old I am.”
Everyone laughed before they started to sing “Happy Birthday.” The crowd formed a half circle in front of him. Lars ran a hand through his black hair, flattening it. He was wearing a blue shirt that highlighted his eyes. He looked elegant. Next to him, Harvey couldn’t look more different, with his light blond hair messed up in every direction and a ragged T-shirt. Thomas was like a mesh between the two with a buttoned-up black shirt and rugged jeans.
Where is Brayden? He hasn’t left, has he?
A second later, I realized he was right beside me. I smiled and was rewarded with one of those gorgeous, real smiles I’d only seen on him when we were alone. This was just for me. It didn’t even matter that we were surrounded by a bunch of people. Everything seemed to fade away... at least until they started clapping after they finished singing.
Lars blew out the candles, and then everyone lined up for cake. I hurried to get a paper plate, but not before hearing Brayden whisper in my ear, “Don’t go after the cake. We’re leaving tomorrow, and I want to spend a few more hours with you.”
“Where are you going?” I asked. My stomach bottomed out. Sasha hadn’t mentioned it, and I’d hoped to find out a few more general things about the band.
“Nashville. It’s always a hotspot for creating buzz around new albums.”
“When are you coming back?”
“Friday.”
I couldn’t shake off the feeling of disappointment, even though that was ridiculous.
And while I totally planned to make the most of the evening, we never got the chance.
Once everyone had eaten cake, Lars demanded we all go to the entertainment level.
“I want everyone to play a round of darts. Yes, that includes you, Brayden. No sneaking up to the rehearsal room.”
The look on Brayden’s face was priceless. He clearly didn’t want to tell Lars off on his birthday, but the prospect of spending the night surrounded by guests clearly wasn’t thrilling him. So I set out to make this as pleasant for him as possible.
“Hey, come on. Don’t spoil the fun. I’ll cheer for you again.”
Brayden grinned. “So I’m being bossed into playing darts and I’ll lose? How can I say no to that?”
“How indeed?” I said.
Lars winked at me. Brayden laughed, shaking his head as we all followed Lars upstairs.
The whole night, I felt tethered to Brayden, even in the huge darts room, as if our kiss had sired a physical connection between us. Every time our gazes met, I couldn’t help smiling. I felt butterflies in my belly.
We didn’t even get one chance to be alone for the rest of the night, but I had no doubt that once he was back from Nashville, all bets were off.
Chapter Seven
Isabelle
I spent half of my Sunday sleeping, because I’d gotten home from the party