The new, rasping voice raised the hair on the back of my neck. A large hand slithered around my waist, soft lips and scruff brushing my skin as the person leaned down and kissed my temple. The smell of peppered musk entered my nostrils—a sweet yet heated scent that enveloped my entire body like a warm, comforting blanket.
I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to know it was the sexy ginger stranger from the other side of the room that had joined us.
And that damn smirk was staring at me when he practically skirted between myself and Chad.
“I’ve looked everywhere for you,” he continued.
Sexy Ginger’s gaze held mine as I inhaled deeply to calm myself, and I took a long sip of my drink before giving him a teasing smile. “I told you what I was wearing,” I finally replied, playing along and nearly jumping him for saving me from knocking Chad on his ass.
“You told me what you were wearing beneath it,” he replied, crooking a flirtatious brow, those eyes shifting over me in a way that made my cheeks red. I resisted chuckling at the comment and the leering gaze he stared at me with.
“Not this ensemble,” he finished.
Oh, he was good.
And I could tell by the mischievous glint in his eyes that he fucking knew it too.
Chad cleared his throat, and Hot as Sin pushed off the table, pretending to have just noticed him standing there.
“Sorry, friend,” Ginger said, giving Chad a clap on his shoulder. “I have blinders on when it comes to beautiful women. I didn’t notice you there.”
Chad’s jaw clenched, and I noticed Sexy Ginger’s fingers digging tighter and tighter around Chad’s shoulder, almost like a warning. I could see Chad’s expression faltering, pain stretching across his features as Ginger sunk his fingers deep into Chad’s clavicle.
“I was just—“
“Finding someone else to bother?” Sexy Ginger suggested, his expression growing stern.
Heat pooled in my stomach. I shifted at the demand and brazen nature of the act, hating myself for how much it was turning me on.
Chad’s hand clenched so tightly around his glass that I thought it might break. “I was just going to get a drink for my friend,” he said through unmoving teeth.
Sexy released Chad’s shoulder slowly, and then he did something that made my eyes widen.
He mockingly tapped Chad’s cheek twice, and said, “Good boy,” in a threateningly deep, sardonic tone that even sent a warning pulse all the way tomycore.
Seeming to think the exchange was over, Sexy Ginger turned his attention back to me with a sigh and lift of that smirk on his lips… smiling as though he had successfully rid us of a pest. But I saw Chad’s glaring face turn a deep shade of carmine, and I braced myself for what might come next. Chad set his drink on the table, his fists curling, and I knew the idiot was about to come at us.
I threw my full drink in Chad’s face before he could make his move.
Whistles sounded around, and a few ‘Ooo’s’ followed with laughter. Chad sputtered and wiped his eyes of the stinging alcohol, and I slammed my empty glass on the table.
“If you’re going to hit someone, don’t be a fucking coward and do it while their back is turned,” I snapped.
“What—the fuck happened, bro?!”
Adam pushed between Sexy Ginger and I just as Lana grabbed my arm.
“Damn, Clo,” Lana chuckled. “Hate to know what got that reaction. I need to bring you out more often. You’re living all my dreams tonight.”
A waitress came by then and pulled a rag from her apron. She handed it to Chad, and without saying a word to the idiot, she turned to me.
“New drink?” she asked, apparently amused by the scuffle.
“Please,” I replied, and when I looked up, I couldn’t stop my own smirk from rising on my lips.
Sexy Ginger was staring down at me, that crooked smile showing, his brows slightly narrowed as though he were still processing what had just happened.
“Now we’re even,” I said.
