The Imperishable Flame⎪✓

❨20❩

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Taking a huge gulp of the cold beer in front of me, there is some part of me that feels jealous tonight. Seeing that fucking dude throwing his arm so casually around Dakota, it annoys me. The probability of him being her boyfriend is very high, but that doesn't mean that I have to like the fucker. He has been giving me nasty glares for the last hour and it pisses me off, Dakota isn't a possession and he needs to stop acting like it. 

"Anyone want to go out for a smoke?" Jack asks and a few of them agree, including her boyfriend. Jack, Wyatt, and Travis leave the table and allow me to finally enjoy the sight of her in her little black dress. She doesn't know just how marvelous she looks, but I won't be complaining. There is something completely attractive about her not knowing. 

Dakota turns in my direction with an easy smile on her lips, "Congratulations on your win, Lij."

A smile threatens to slip, "Thank you."

"Are you okay?" She leans in and whispers to me, her grey eyes flickering between my own. The short distance to her full lips is a constant fucking reminder of how much I want her, but I can't have her. Not when she's in a relationship. 

"I'm fine," I state with finality. 

She tilts her beautiful face and her freckles are more prominent in the new light, "Aren't we past the whole lying ordeal? We did too much of that in high school."

Drinking a little from my beer, I look into her eyes once again and allow myself to enjoy having her thigh rub against mine. "I don't particularly enjoy myself tonight."

A little frown falls upon her delicate features, "Why not?"

"Because you're here with him," I find myself admitting and it shocks her. 

"I'm not only here with him."

Placing my arm on the seat behind her, "I know. Some fucked up part of me hates seeing the two of you like that. I apologize, love, because you deserve to be happy, but you wanted the truth."

She leans even closer and I'm immediately thrown back to the other times I've had her this close, outside the party in high school before our first kiss. She was mad at me, but I couldn't help myself from kissing her. I have this intense thing for her and I have no idea how to explain it, it can't be put into words. Every part of me wants to be near her and my mind thinks about her all the time. She's much more to me than any of us dare to admit. 

"I don't have a boyfriend, Lij," She says quietly, the sweet smell on her tongue drifts over my lips and I lick them by instinct. "I never did."

Her honest words register in my mind, "So you're not with Wyatt?"

"No," She smiles and the relief in my body is extreme. 

I tuck a stray curl behind her ear, my hand lingering there for a second before I drop it again. She is so fucking beautiful and to believe that she's single, it almost seems unreal. My heart pounds in my chest by having her right next to me like this, I truly should control myself and think about what's best for Tilly, but I can't control myself around Dakota. 

"You guys totally fucked each other!" Lucy suddenly screams with a finger pointed accusingly at us. Her red hair is wildly thrown around her flushed cheeks, it's clear she must have been listening for quite some time now. 

"No, Lucy," Dakota tries, the annoyance pretty clear, but her friend doesn't stop there. "Don't start."

"And here I thought you would be sleeping with Jack tonight," Lucy jokes and ignores the hateful stare Dakota is giving her. The others join the table again, but none of the girls look at them. The tension is incredibly heavy, "Is he the reason why you literally refuse to touch another man?"