A feminine but firm voice came from behind Jared. “I’m just going to tel you this once. Don’t put your hands on my brother.”
“Okay! Okay!” Ryan begged.
“Al right, Claire, that’s enough,” Jared murmured, watching me. He sighed at the horror that emanated from my eyes as I watched her draw her hand back from Ryan’s.
“This is my little sister, Claire,” Jared explained with chagrin.
My eyes shot a confused look at Claire, searching for some sort of offense taken by her, but there was none. He was tel ing the truth.
“Your sister?” I asked. From my peripheral vision, I could see Ryan rubbing his wrist.
Claire watched Ryan, seeming both irritated and concerned, almost as if she had regretted hurting him. Jared noticed the way she looked at Ryan as wel , and they traded a strange glance.
“I didn’t want you to think…,” Jared trailed off, looking at me, “I’m sorry. About the other day, it’s difficult….”
Claire rol ed her eyes and made her way to the bar. Jared whispered in her ear as she passed.
“Behave yourself.”
“Whatever,” she snapped.
Claire made herself comfortable on the bar stool and ordered a water, keeping to herself. After a few moments, her eyes flashed to Ryan and then back down to her drink.
Jared turned to me again, obviously wanting to pick up where we left off. His eyes wandered beside me to where Ryan was stil standing.
“It’s okay, Ryan,” I whispered, touching his arm. I noticed Jared stare at my hand as if it would burst into flames.
“Okay?” Ryan repeated, stil rubbing his wrist. I didn’t miss the edge of uneasiness in his voice.
“Yeah,” I smiled.
Ryan walked with Kim and Beth to the wal beside the door to join the rest of the group we came with. They al made a poor attempt to pretend they were watching for the cab.
“What are you doing here, Jared?” I snapped my head back to meet his eyes. He muttered something under his breath, briefly surveying the room ful of people that were staring at us. I cocked my head and leaned so that I was somewhat in his line of sight. “Jared?”
“I didn’t want you to think I was with Claire. She insisted on coming in,” he said, looking back to me.
“I’m not sure why you’re here at al ,” I crossed my arms and glared at him.
Jared noted the stubborn set of my chin and sighed. “I’m here because of what happened the other day. The look on your face when you walked away…I couldn’t just let you think that I didn’t….that I wasn’t….,” he was struggling with the truth, and it was aggravating me.
“Just say it!”
He winced at my tone. “I have these…feelings for you. And when I saw you over here, with that same look on your face, I was afraid you’d never speak to me again if I didn’t explain.”
“You have feelings for me?”
His face fel . “I can’t get you out of my head.”
That simple sentence had my heart pounding through my chest. He lightly cupped my jaw and brushed his thumb against my cheek. His touch sent a jolt of electricity throughout my body from my head to my toes.
A sultry guitar solo played from the jukebox. I knew the song vaguely, but wasn’t paying enough attention to it to figure it out. Jared’s mouth turned up into a half-smile, and he pul ed on both of my hands.
“Come here,” he said.
He walked backwards and led me to the smal wooden dance floor. Pul ing me close to his chest, his eyes never left mine. Everyone in the room must have been staring at us through the smoky haze, but I couldn’t disengage my gaze from his, even for a moment. He wrapped his arms around my middle, and I slid my hands up his arms, stopping at his shoulders.
I wasn’t sure if we were even dancing, with al of my focus on the fact that our bodies were so close. He broke his stare and leaned down to press his lips to my hair. I pressed my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes.
He tightened his grip, and every inch of me that was in contact with him burned in a wonderful way. I looked up and my eyes stal ed on his lips, the bottom a bit ful er than the top. I bit my lip in anticipation, the alcohol dissolving al of my inhibitions.
His body stiffened and I turned to fol ow his glare to the bar. One of the older men stil loitering in the pub had approached Claire.
The man reached for Claire and Jared’s grip on me tightened, stepping just slightly in front of me in a protective stance.
The man leaned over and patted Claire on the back. He laughed loudly and attempted to whisper into her ear. Claire was staring ahead, her body rigid; seeing just half of her expression it was obvious that she was about to lose her temper. The man lost his balance and used Claire to right himself.
“Claire—,” Jared warned, but it was too late.
In the same second, she knocked the man’s legs out from under him with incredible speed and then stood up on the rung of her bar stool, slamming his head, cheek down, to the bar. The wood made a cracking noise with the force of her blow, and the man wailed in pain. He flailed his arms, reaching above him for Claire’s face, but she quickly reached around with her other hand and grabbed his fingers, wrenching them back. The bones in his fingers snapped and I recoiled, even though I stil hadn’t quite processed what was going on. The man’s blood-curdling scream sent the bartender running over to try to separate them.
Claire leaned down and yel ed over the music into his ear. “Was that good for you, Baby?” and then slowly licked his cheek. Claire released her grip, and he slithered down to the floor. The entire room seemed frozen in time.
Jared heaved an exasperated sigh. He looked at me with a tired ache in his eyes, and then let me go. He walked over to Claire, grabbed her arm and then ushered her out.
“She broke my damn fingers!” the man howled, cradling his arm to his chest.
Several of the older patrons rushed to his side and helped him up while he moaned in pain. Beth grabbed my hand and pul ed me out of the pub.
The cab waited for us outside in a cloud of exhaust.
I looked around, but Jared had disappeared.
Beth tugged at my coat frantical y. “Get in, Nina, before the cops get here!”
I ducked into the cab and my ears were fil ed with shrieking and chattering in high tones. I wasn’t listening to any of it; I was too confused about what I had seen. Jared wasn’t surprised at al that his teenaged-sister had broken the hand of a ful grown man as if he was made of glass.
I went over it in my head; the memory seemed more like a kung fu movie than something that had unfolded in front of my eyes. Tiny, delicate Claire seemed to have superhuman strength and speed, and Jared’s reaction didn’t make sense. He didn’t act to protect her, and yet he seemed to know that carnage was on the horizon; he even shielded me from it.
“Nina! Are you listening to me? Wasn’t that incredible? The way she just—,” Beth set in motion with a series of karate chops and then jerked her hand forward in the same motion Claire used to slam the man’s head into the bar, grunting with each move. Beth giggled with delight while I shuddered at the recol ection.
“I’d hate to meet her on a dark playground, I’l tel you that,” Kim joked.
Ryan shook his head. “She’s al of ninety-five pounds and when she grabbed my hand, I couldn’t break free. What is she? Sixteen? Seventeen? She isn’t normal.”