Possessed Soul

Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Croydon Market was packed with people. Birds squawked in terror as they flew away, to save themselves from being trampled by people that pushed and shoved each other out of the way. I swallowed nervously at the thought of walking through all those people to find Flynn.

Ryan chuckled at the reluctance I showed and asked if I was claustrophobic. I told him I wasn't, but Kaden decided that it would be best if he and Holden went into the crowd while Ryan and I waited for them.

Ryan clutched my hand tightly in his. "Do you want to sit in the car?" he enquired. The wind had tousled his hair and I noticed that under his light brown hair were caramel-coloured highlights. I wondered why his curly hair was always sleeked back to hide the different tones and the texture of it.

I shook my head. "It's nice to be out in the open, even if the smell of sweaty bodies taints the smell of the winter air."

"Nice car." A voice behind us whistled appreciatively. I spun around on my heels to find a heavily inked guy resting one of his elbows on the hood of our car.

"Aaron!" I screeched with enthusiasm. He was wearing a large black coat that had brown fur around the neckline. His tattoos snaked around his neck and stopped close to his face, only for the piercing to take over from there. I found myself scanning him from head to toe, trying to figure out if any of his tattoos were new. I gave up when I realised that I was getting nowhere, and instead hurled myself at him.

"If I knew you'd be so excited to see me, I would have at least brought a camera," Aaron teased. "Then I'd be able to play a video of this moment over and over again, to make Kaden jealous." Aaron hugged me and softly patted my back.

"Kaden," I gasped. "He went looking for you." I chose not to address the fact that Aaron still thought I was with Kaden, and instead gestured towards the growing crowd. Stalls were lined across most of the street, and people squeezed in the small margins between the stalls. My face drooped; there was no way we'd find Kaden in this mass.

"Umm... Sage?" Aaron knitted his eyebrows. "Why is there a very angry looking guy staring us down?" I followed Aaron's gaze and sure enough my eyes met golden ones that were set ablaze.

"Oh, that's Ryan." I introduced them and quickly moved to stand next to Ryan, who placed his hands on my hips possessively.

"What's with you and boys?" Ryan spoke softly in my ear and his breath tickled my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Aaron is actually Derek's boyfriend," I clarified, knowing Ryan's reaction was justified; especially since Aaron's appearance didn't give away anything about him being gay. If anything he looked like a mafia boss.

"What?" Ryan was alarmed. I guess Derek hadn't come out to his friends yet.

I tried to cover up my mishap by switching back to the problem at hand. "We need to find Kaden."

"And Holden?" Ryan added, his tone laced with bitterness.

My mouth went dry. Ryan knew that all my thoughts were centred around Kaden. He knew that when Kaden was involved, everyone else was brushed away like they meant nothing. I had unconsciously left Holden out, but Ryan was observant enough to note the omission.

"Right," I affirmed quickly.

"Shouldn't be too difficult," Aaron stated. "Kaden will be surrounded by a gaggle of girls. Just follow the sounds of giggling and flirting." He winked at me, obviously not taking the subtle hint that Kaden and I were over and that mentioning him with a bunch of girls wasn't something that would get a rise out of me. Well, it did get me slightly flustered, but it was nothing that showed on the surface.