“Throw your ass in a circle,” she yells.
An older man approaches her, and they dance together. It becomes clear pretty quickly that this man won’t be able to keep up with Selene.
I feel eyes on me, but I tune him out. I don’t turn around. I won’t engage, and I won’t be intimidated. A strange man comes up to me. He’s tall, handsome, and has a nice smile.
He starts to dance with me, and I dance back. He’s respectful and keeps a safe distance at least for the first few minutes. Then the music slows down, and he pulls me close. He smells good, his body is taut, and because I’m drunk, I stick my head in his neck and inhale.
“You like?” he asks.
I look up and playfully nod.
“I’m Austin.”
“I’m Eden.”
“Like the garden.”
I giggle at that. We find our rhythm, and I like the feel of him against me. But minutes later, a security guard reaches us, and Austin is pulled away and escorted out before I figure out what’s happening.
Confused, I stumble to Cori and Lexi. “What the fuck?” Even to me, my words are slurred. “The guy I was dancing with got taken away.”
“Your mob boss, stalker boyfriend, probably had something to do with that,” she yells.
“What did you say?” Lexi yells over the music.
“Nothing!” I snap. “Let’s go to the bathroom.”
“I thought we’d never get rid of her ass,” I say about an hour later when we stumble outside.
He’s still in there, but his friend disappeared. Not only was he in there, he watched me all night, according to Cori, but I didn’t need her to tell me because those dark eyes burned a hole through me. It was almost impossible for me to pretend he didn’t exist.
“I think I had too much,” Selene laments.
I’m not surprised. She always has too much, and she can’t handle her booze. She’s between me and Cori, and we both do our best to hold her up.
“Lean here,” I say. “I’ll call the rideshare.” I put her against one of the large columns in the front of the restaurant, and Selene wraps her arms around it. I can still hear the music thumping inside.
The door opens, and the song’s loudness annoys me, but I feel a shift.
“My fucking phone,” I say. “Selene, can you get us a car? My phone won’t turn on.” I know it’s not because it’s dead. Since I dropped it last week, it’s been hanging on by a thread. I turn, stumbling into something hard, and look up. Those dark eyes leave me feeling open and exposed. I start to pull away, but he pulls me back.
“Oh, no,” Selene says right before I hear the sounds of her puking. I already know what’s coming next. Like clockwork, Cori pukes.
“Let me go.” I push against his chest, but it’s like pushing against a mountain. “Move.”
Instead of moving, he picks me up bridal style.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Saving your drunk ass. Again,” he has the nerve to say. He goes down the steps and opens the door to a sleek, black SUV.
“Will you leave me the hell alone? I can get myself home.”
Ignoring me, he puts me in the front passenger seat and buckles me in. Ripley looks into my eyes, but I turn away. Whatever he’s trying to show me, I’m not interested in seeing.
After he slams the door, I unbuckle my seatbelt and try to get out. I’m not leaving my girls here. Unfortunately, he’s locked me inside.
Moments later, I hear the back door open. My mind is in a fog, but I turn to see him holding both Cori and Selene on either side of him. Cori stumbles in, followed by Selene.
