Tiago
I can feel my nails digging into my palms. My heartbeat is so hard it drums in my temples.
Don't do it.
My eyes search for Yannik's, but she's looking at him. The cheering erupts as Enzo gets up, shouting something along with the other guys.
"Alright, everybody!" TJ shouts. "Kiss!"
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
It sounds like the whole team is hyping Yannik up as my eyes widen.
Don't do it.
My ribs ache, my whole body tense as she gets up.
Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.
She's licking her lips.
She's licking her lips for him.
Cooper stands, his jaw so clenched I can see a muscle twitch. The cheering gets louder, ringing in my ears, drowning out my thoughts.
Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it!
Don't do that to me!
Before she can step closer, Cooper reaches out, catching her shoulders.
"Yannik, no."
The cheering shifts to booing, and I feel the urge to make them all shut up.
She was going to do it. She was going to kiss him like it was nothing.
I swallow hard, my palms burning as I clench my fists tighter, but nothing helps the tension building inside me.
"No?" Yannik sounds confused. Cooper softly pulls her toward him, his hands still gripping her shoulders, but keeping a distance.
"I can't do it," he says. "Not like that."
"Well, buddy, a dare's a dare!" Enzo calls out. "Save your sentimental shit for laterâ"
"Shut up, Enzo," Sam and I say at the same time, exchanging a glance.
Yannik has that lookâthe one she gets when something isn't going her way.
"Are you fucking rejecting me?" Her voice turns raspy, edged with disbelief. She shakes his hands off, and I feel a flicker of relief.
"I don't want it to be like this, Yannik." Cooper's voice grows tense, uneasy, like he's losing control of the situation.
"Wow, I hit the spot," TJ chuckles, but Sam shuts him up before he can get another word out.
"Let's go somewhere else and talk," Cooper doesn't askâhe pleads, desperation lacing his tone.
I'm losing myself in their conflict, how much more personal this sounds than just a stupid dare.
"Why go anywhere?" Yannik tilts her head, her lip curling. "I'll make it quick." She steps back from him, her voice turning sharp. "I don't have feelings for you, Cormac. That's the talk."
The team erupts in boos again.
Cooper presses his lips together. I exhale.
"I don't get it," he mutters.
"What, do you want me to spell it out for you?" Yannik's anger flares so fast it almost crackles in the air.
She said she doesn't have feelings for him.
But the way she's pissed off doesn't say the same.
"No, I want you to tell the truth!" Cooper snaps. "You always play your push-and-pull game, but you feel nothing? You talk to me like that, touch me like that, and still feel nothing? What is it then, Yannik?"
Even Enzo stays quiet, though I can hear his muffled giggling breaking through the silence, blending with the music and the crowd's noise.
My heart skips a beat as Cooper turns his head backâhis eyes land on me.
A moment passes.
Then his gaze sharpens.
"Right," he mutters. "It's him, isn't it?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Cormac." Yannik doesn't even look at me when she says it, her stare locked on him, firm and unshaken. She sounds like I'm the last thing he needs to worry about.
But he doesn't stop.
He takes a step toward me, and before I realize it, I'm standing too, ready for him to take it out on me.
"I made it clearâstay the fuck away from her, you fucking bastard!"
I exhale through my nose, my jaw ticking.
"Listen, Cooper," my voice is lower now, rougher. Almost unrecognizable. "Don't act like it's my fault you're insecure about your tiny dick."
His eyes widen. Then he moves.
Several steps and he's in front of me, so close I can hear the sharp inhale through his nose, see the flicker of anger twist his face.
He's taller than me by two inches, but I'm bigger. Stronger.
And my father is Rhys fucking Jones.
So I'll knock him down in no time.
"Cormac, stop it!"
Yannik's voice is sharp, commanding.
"Let's all just take a break, guys," TJ tries to calm things down, but I feel Cooper's grip tighten on my shirt. That's all it takes for the blood in my veins to start boiling.
"I swear to motherfucking god, I'm going to make your life a living hell," Cooper spits the words in my face, shaking me. "So stay. Away."
I can't hold back a smirk.
My life is already a living hell, and I'm constantly fighting to keep it from burning to the ground.
His threats mean shit.
"Come on, mate," I taunt. "Hit me first. I'm dying to break your fucking jaw so you'll finally shutâ"
"Enough!"
Yannik steps between us before Cooper has the chance to swing. I feel a shoveâharder than I expectâand it takes me a second to realize she's pushed us both back.
My pulse pounds in my head, and judging by the fire in Cooper's eyes, he feels the same. He doesn't look away from me, even when Yannik shoves him again, harder this time.
"Pull it the fuck together!" she yells. Another shove goes to me, but the adrenaline makes me numb to it. "And youâstay the hell away from him!"
I look down at Yannik, my eyes widening at her words. She's scowling at me like I'm the problem, but before I can say anythingâ
She snaps.
The whole team shouts as Yannik swipes the bottles and shots off the table, the sound of shattering glass slicing through the noise of the party.
"Fucking assholes!"
She shoves meâand only meâone last time before turning to leave.
TJ moves after her. "Hold on, dollâ"
"Fuck you! Fuck all of you! I fucking hate everyâfuckingâone of you!"
She storms off before anyone can process what just happened.
Cooper's gaze drops to the broken glass on the carpet. He hesitates.
Then he exhales sharply. "Oh, screw it."
And he walks away, heading in the opposite direction of Yannik.
The silence that follows is suffocating.
"You got yourself in some deep shit, lover boy," Enzo smirks.
I want to bark back. Tell him to fuck off. Tell him to shut up and never speak again.
But I don't.
Because my head is pounding too hard to let me.
"Come on, you drunkâass," Sam mutters as he stands, grabbing Enzo toâprobablyâdrag him off to throw up and sober up.
TJ looks at me, guilt all over his face.
"Sorry, man, I didn't know you and doll were foolingâ"
"Yannik." My voice is sharp as I walk past the shattered bottles. "Her name is Yannik. Get it in your fucking head."
I don't know why I go after her.
I don't know what makes me search for her in the crowd.
I don't know why I snap at anyone who talks about her like she's some passing thing.
I just hate how they all ignore her nameâwhen it won't stop circling in my head, won't stop dancing on my tongue, no matter how long I keep storming into every room I see, searching for a mess of dark copper hair.
My blood is hot, boiling, begging me to go back and start the fight my body craves.
Shout. Scratch. Fight. Beat. Bite.
Anything to get rid of the tension clawing at my insides.
My knuckles drum against another door as I try to open it. Or break the lock. At this point, I don't care.
"Yannik?" My voice is rough, heated. "Are you there?"
"Get lost!"
Yeah. She's definitely there.
I jiggle the lock harder, stupidly waiting for her to open the door once she hears my voice.
"I said fuck off, Jones!"
Her muffled words are soaked in anger.
Something inside me says this isn't the right moment, but I can't resist.
I need to understand.
To know what's going on in her head. Because every time I think I've found the exit, her maze gets larger, messier.
"Open the door, Yannik! Or I'm breaking the bloody lock," My voice is sharp, borderline aggressive, but I don't back down, my fist thudding against the wood. "It's your call!"
Maybe she knows I'm bluffing. Maybe she doesn't.
God, even I don't know.
Because every part of me is screaming to destroy the thin wooden barrier keeping me from my problemâwhile the last drops of self-control order me to hold it together.
The lock clicks.
I storm into the room so fast the door slams behind me.
Yannik goes full attack the same second she sees me inside the room. Her face is twisted in a scowl as she glares at me.
"Don't you know what fuck off means?" she spits, stepping dangerously close.
I don't move back.
Not this time.
Every muscle in my body tightens as I straighten up, refusing to let her take control of the situation.
She always gets control so easily.
This time, I'm not surrendering without a fight.
"What the fuck was that, Yannik?" My voice is sharp, thick with anger. I see the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.
It fuels me.
"You fucking started it!" she snaps, tension rolling off her as she paces to the bed, then back to me.
She's full of fight, her fingers twitching toward the piercing in her nose, but she keeps pulling them away like it's something she shouldn't touch.
"Me? Wasn't it Cooper?" My voice is louder than it should be, frustration slipping out, raw and untamed. "Oh, right, I forgotâyou're backing him up nowâ"
"I'm not backing him up!" Yannik yells, coming to a dead stop in the middle of the room. Her cheeks glow red, her voice cracking under the weight of her anger.
She's so pissed she can't control it.
I take a step toward her. Big. Firm. Until I'm right in front of her, forcing her to tilt her head back just to keep eye contact.
It always amazes me how she doesn't cower. Her glare is sharp, her chin lifted with defiance, and I already knowâshe's not going to surrender.
"You jumped on me like I was the problem, but you two just dragged me into yourâ"
I stop.
My body tightens, wired with an ugly tension, my mind flashing back to that momentâto the way she looked at Cooper. To the way she was so determined to kiss him.
Every muscle in my body coils. I need an outlet.
"Oh, and the kiss?" My voice is laced with venom, my eyebrows shooting up as I force the image into my mind. "You were about to kiss him like it was nothing."
I expect her to freeze. To say something that soothes the mess in my head, to make me feel like this rage clawing at my ribs is valid.
But she doesn't.
She rolls her eyes like a bratty teenager and sidestepsânot because she's intimidated, but because she wants to.
Because she has the lead.
"Stay out of my business, Tiago."
"But your business is mine too!" I snap, the words ripping out of me. "Don't act like I don't have the right to be mad!"
I need her to get it. To understand.
To engrave my name in her fucking head and forget his.
Yannik scoffs, arms crossed over her chest. "Oh, fuck, I'm getting itâyou think you have a claim on me."
I go still.
She's looking at me like she just cracked me open, like she's figured out something I don't want to admit.
Because she's right.
I do think I have a claim on her.
"Don't changeâ"
"Then stop acting like I betrayed you!" she shouts, cutting me off, voice sharp and accusing. "You have nothing to do with my shit!"
The words hit deep. Because she did betray me.
Or at least, that's how it fucking feels.
She wanted to kiss Cooper.
She wanted to, and she didn't even care that I was there.
Like I'm nothing.
The thought makes my blood spike.
"Go on then," I sneer, the words spilling out before I can stop them. "Keep handing yourself over to dipshits who don't care about you!"
Her eyes flash wide.
Then she shoves me. Hard.
"Fuck you! Cormac cares about me!"
It grows personal now.
She pushes me again, harder this time, until my back crashes against the vanity. My hands twitch, every inch of my skin screaming for an outlet, for somethingâanythingâto stop this storm in my chest.
I shove her back. Not rough, just enough to put space between us, knowing that she'll handle it.
"So do I!"
Yannik stumbles, and for a second, I think I've won. But then I see the flicker of something sharp in her eyes.
The moment before the kill.
I catch her as if she's about to lose her balance, my fingers digging into her shoulders, my breathing just as wrecked as hers.
She grabs me.
Fists my shirt in her hands, shaking me like I'm the one who needs waking up.
"Bad choice," she snarls, yanking me closer, her words heavy, breath ragged. "I don't want you to care."
"Why?" I snap, grabbing her wrists to make her let me go.
She doesn't. Her eyes lower to my hands instead, widening as she sees my grip on her.
I can see her face change from unbearable anger to borderline dread, so I let her go as fast as I can, and she takes a large step back.
The guilt fills my mind in a second.
I didn't want to scare her. I didn't mean to.
"Because, sooner or later, you'll get hurt," exhales Yannik, her shout now nothing but a hoarse whisper. "And I... I don't want to be the reason."
She's breathing hard, her hazel gaze on anything but me.
"The reason for what?" I ask.
I can see her swallow hard, her jaw clenched tight.
There's no anger in her eyes now. The only thing gleaming in them is sorrow, and my heart sinks as her gaze travels to my forearms.
"For this," she forces out, and I can tell she saw it.
Saw them.
My butterflies.