For the first half-hour, we ignored the attention, feeling ourselves. Music in our ears, lights dancing in our hair, alcohol in our veins, summer licking our skin, a winter snowing in our hearts. We were lost and trapped in euphoria.
It was no secret women were powerful yet feared creatures because we were sexy without the need to stand beside a man for it to be that way. We were intimidating. And we let them know it.
Audrey crossed the room in one sweep, heading straight for us. People parted and made a walkway for her.It’s Complicatedhad fallen apart, but my execution made her more famous than ever.
Audrey’s big blue eyes filled my vision.
She gripped my arm and pulled me to the side.
“What are you doing, Lo? If you keep this up, you’re going to kill yourself.” She side-eyed Sidney, who had already left me to grind her ass against some random guy.
I took my arm back, her claws leaving a mark on my skin. “You don’t have toactlike a caring friend anymore. The show ended six years ago.”
“I’ll always care about you.”
“You make me sick,” I said, looking around and noticing the crowd being entertained by her public display. It seemed she wanted to make sure everyone knew that she was a good person. “You only care when it looks good on you or if it benefits you.”
“That’s not true.”
I looked at her. Really looked at her. I tried to focus, but the high had hit, and a giggle rolled off my lips like a car without breaks. My laughing didn’t stop. It kept rolling, hitting trees on the way down the mountain.
Audrey shook her head. Then she vanished.
Here one second, gone the next.
I turned, trying to find air, but came face to face with the lead singer. The ends of his damp hair dusted his shoulders when he leaned into me.
“I noticed you,” his voice swam in my ear, “I know you noticed me too.” We were swaying in place, his hands gripping my hips and gluing my body to his.
“I noticed you’re much shorter than you looked on stage.”
He pulled his head back like he was offended. “Harlow James doesn’t skip a beat.”
“Or an opportunity.”
I was determined to put the Audrey scenario behind me and got lost with him.
The Lead Singer and I were no longer in a bar but, in my mind, trapped in a spinning disco ball. Song bleeding into song, the room spun and the bass shook the whiskey in my veins. Our hands were free to touch as we pleased, and my legs had passed the point of pain–limbs as numb as my smile. Fairy colored lights–the pinks and purples and blues–danced on our skin as we melted on the floor. It seemed like forever had passed before pulling him to the side, where the air blasted from the ceiling vent and cooled my neck.
Leader Singer grabbed my hip to turn me around. The force surprised me, and there was no time to act or push him away. He lowered his head until his wet lips were on mine.
An ocean of drool lived in his mouth, and he shoved his scaly tongue so deep as if his only goal was to wiggle my throat sack—the thing hanging in the back of our throats that no one knew the actual name of.
I was stunned sober.
I knew how to kiss, but this wasn’t kissing.
I was convinced he’d taken me swimming and was trying to drown me.
I pushed him away, gasping for a breath. “What the hell was that?”
“What?” he asked with afish-eating grin and arms up at his sides.
I gagged, wishing I had somewhere to spit. “I prefer to choke on dicks, not tongues, asshole.”
His brows did a funny squirm on his forehead, and I imagined two black tongues. It was all I could see now. He threw a hand in the air between us. “Whatever, bitch. You just missed out big time,” he said, grabbing his package and turning to walk away.
“Ew, how about you go fuck yourself with that tongue of yours since you’re so into you.” I swiped a shot of whatever a bartender had just dropped on the bar before downing it, letting the liquor burn the walls of my throat. Someone yelled at my back as I stalked off, pressing the back of my hand to my lips to try and hold it in. Alcohol wouldn’t be enough to wash his saliva residue out of my mouth. A shot of fresh air was needed, too.
