“What’s a group of pretty girls like you doing over here? You ladies should be dancing.”
Turning to the voice, I expect Kash or Rhett, but instead, there’s a guy a bit taller than me with blond hair smiling at us.
Mara rolls her eyes and turns around, leaving Mila and me to deal with him. I’m about to answer when another man steps up beside him.
“Is my friend bothering you?”
He has dark shaggy hair and a large grin on his face. He seems harmless enough, but his dark hair doesn’t make my pulse quicken.
“Of course not.” Mila smiles playfully. “We were just getting ready to go dance. My friend Cora here loves dancing,” she tells them, shoving me forward.
“It’s my lucky night. I happen to love dancing too,” the dark-haired guy says as he grabs my hand. “What do you say, gorgeous, wanna have some fun?”
I am here to have some fun, and even though Mara is talking to the bartender, Mila gives me an encouraging smile.
“Yeah,” I relent. “Let’s go.”
It’s just dancing. What’s the worst that can happen?
Following behind him, we move toward the dance floor. The bass is thumping so hard that I feel the floor vibratebeneath my feet. The song is a mix of R&B and EDM. I let the music wash over me and start moving my body.
My dance partner moves behind me and grabs ahold of my hips, his touch strange but not entirely unwelcome. His hands trail down my arms and latch onto my waist, pulling me back into his hard body. As I sway my hips, I feel his head leaning down behind me.
“You dance really well,” he says near my shoulder, resting his head near where his lips brushed.
Smiling, I continue.Why didn’t I do this sooner?
Caught up in the moment, I’m not paying attention to anything else. Not the way the song changes tempo, or the words he’s trying to say to me—I’m ignoring all of it, content to live in the moment.There are no responsibilities hanging over my head, I can just be me.
He skims his hands up and down my waist, and I’m suddenly not as comfortable as I thought. His touch feels wrong. Grabbing his wandering hands, I turn around, but I’m not prepared for the sight I see. Standing behind the guy I’m dancing with is Atlas, and his expression is thunderous.
“At…” I don’t even get time to finish his name before he grabs the arm of the guy I’m dancing with and spins him around.
“What the fuc—” His question is cut off when Atlas punches him in the face.
“No! What is your problem?” I shove between Atlas and the guy whose name I don’t even know. “Are you okay?”
Nodding, his watering eyes flicker to Atlas.
Following his line of vision, I repeat my question, “Seriously,whatis your problem?”
When he arrogantly grunts, I step into Atlas’ space and shove him. I’m so tired of his behavior.
“He had his hands all over your body!” he shouts. His fiery gaze finding mine.
“We were dancing, asshole.” The guy spits blood onto the floor.Gross.
Atlas steps toward him and gets close to his chest before grabbing me and pulling me behind him. “Unless you want to feel every vertebra of your spine on the way out of your mouth, I suggest you walk away.”
Is that even physically possible?
I feel bad when the guy’s face pales, “Look, man. I didn’t know she was your girl. It’s not my fault she was dancing all over me like a whore.”
“Hey!” I shout.
That’s bullshit. Can’t a girl just enjoy dancing?
Trying to get around Atlas’ side to give him a piece of my mind, I’m pulled back by more hands, but this time it’s Kash, and he looks pissed. All three guys are now standing behind me.Fuck.
