The Whyte Wyrm was packed, bodies moving, Serpents drinking, shouting across the bar. The air was thick with cigarette smoke. But none of it mattered.
Because Sweet Pea was there

Leaning against the bar, arms crossed, jaw tight. He hadn’t looked at you once. Just glances from across the room, the kind that sent a shiver down your spine even when you told yourself they shouldn’t.

You knew that look.
You’d seen it before he kissed you for the first time, before he pushed you against the wall of the Wyrm’s back room and made you forget that you weren’t supposed to want him.

Sweet Pea is your boss, not sneak into your bed at night, not whisper your name like it meant something, not make you feel things you weren’t allowed to feel. But he did. Over and over.

And every time, you left.
You slipped out of his bed before the sun could rise.
You avoided his eyes the next day You pretended nothing happened.

You were at the bar. The air got heavier, you just knew he was there.
Then his voice, low and sharp, cutting through the noise "We need to talk."

You blinked, turning to find Sweet Pea standing next to you, face unreadable. But his eyes they were burning. You answer "Since when do we talk?" Wrong answer.

His jaw clenched "Outside. Now."

So you followed him out the back door.
The second the door shut behind you, he turned, stepping in close, so close you could smell the faint trace of cigarettes and cologne on his jacket.

"What the hell is your problem?" His voice was low, controlled.

You scoffed "My problem?"

"Yeah, your problem.‘‘ His eyes searched yours, dark and intense. "You act like I don’t exist every time we—" He cut himself off, running a hand through his hair, frustrated. "You just leave. Every time."

You swallowed "I don’t know what you mean."

His lips curled into something bitter. "Bullshit."

"You think I don’t notice?‘‘ he continued, stepping even closer, his voice rough. "You think I don’t see the way you avoid me? The way you won’t even look at me after?"