I lean in close, my breath grazing his ear. "You're mean," I murmur, voice barely above a whisper as I swallow down the whimper threatening to escape-though from the way his smirk deepens, I know he hears it.
That devilish grin spreads across his fa...
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start the music
I step back out, climbing onto the hoop—my new favorite toy of the year.
I twirl, spinning wildly as my body flips around the metal ring. My eyebrows wiggle playfully at the guy watching from the bar. He lifts his drink in a mock toast. I smirk, looking away, hooking one hand around the hoop, letting my body twist.
Then—gunshots.
My chest seizes.
Tears sting my eyes as my mouth goes dry. My body curls instinctively, shrinking in on itself, but I can't get down. I'm stuck.
Screams erupt, slicing through the music. Chaos floods the club. I cling tighter to the hoop, legs pulling up, eyes wide and watering. I'm ten feet in the air, trembling, frozen.
More shots. Shouts. Crashing glass. The crowd panics below, a storm of bodies trying to escape. My vision blurs. I can't move.
A bullet tears through the air—through the hoop itself. I flinch and let out a squeal, chest heaving, breath on autopilot.
Another shatter of glass. More screams.
I squeeze my knees to my chest, fingers locking together, trying to disappear into myself. Trying to survive.
I shut my eyes as tears pool down my cheeks I'm fucking suck up here I nearly "Katerina" I hear someone yell my name I look up looking for the voice it's Colten my heart feels like it's going to explode when he gestures for me to jump.
Jump.
"NO!" I screech
I value my fucking legs. I'm not jumping ten feet out of the air.
I shake my head, trembling. He's looking up at me like he's actually going to catch me.
My lips part. My hands are shaking. My heart is pounding so hard it hurts. Tears stream down my cheeks, my muscles locked so tight I feel like I'm going to snap in half. The gunshots don't sound distant anymore—they're real. They're here.
He glares at me, frustrated.
"I can't—" I whimper, voice cracking as more bullets scream through the club. The shots are relentless. He looks pissed.
I couldn't care less.
"Just fucking jump, Katerina!"
I sniffle. Does he know how high this is? I'm five-foot-one. If he doesn't catch me—I'm broken. Even if I land on my feet, I'll shatter.
Then I see it. Bodies dropping. Blood spraying. My eyes squeeze shut.
"No," I whisper, shaking my head. "You're insane."
But I don't have a choice.
"God... fuck my life."
And I jump.
Air rushes past me like a scream. For one second, I think I'll die. But then—I land. Not on the floor, but in his arms.
The impact knocks the breath out of me. He catches me like he's done it before. Like he had to.
He sets me down gently, hand pressing the back of my neck, keeping my head low. My body clings to his, pure survival instinct. He shields me with his body, bullets flying past, screams echoing like a nightmare on loop.
The floor shakes beneath us. I feel it. I feel everything. His grip. The heat. The fucking chaos. I'm only in a thong and a sparkly top and thigh high boots. I look at him confused as he gets on a motorcycle.
