“Do I know the guy who bought the drinks, Emma?”
She looks down at the bar. Emma looks relieved. “Yes,” she says as she turns back to me. “It was Jameson.”
My eyes widen, and I look at her in disbelief, thinking I must have heard wrong. “Ummm, excuse me, who?” Heat blooms in my cheeks, making me want to fan myself. I’m too young for a hot flash, but this must be what one feels like because my whole head feels beet red. I think I can hear the pulse of my heart in my ears.
“Guilty,” Emma says. “I ran into Jameson this evening with Dax.”
At this, I physically pale.
“Liv, are you okay?”
“Yep.” I immediately look around but don’t see anyone.
“He’s not here now, I don’t know where Jameson went off to, and I didn’t see Dax with him anymore. He was at the sports bar earlier with him. Maybe he stayed at the other bar.”
Without further questions, I point to the dance floor. Needing to move, walk, dance, or do something other than just stand here panicking.
“Well, you made me come out, and I’m ready to dance.”
She smiles in relief and grabs my arm, leading me toward the dance floor. “I thought you’d never ask.”
We push into the crowded dance floor and let the beat take over. The two shots start taking effect, and my nerves ease the slightest bit. As we dance, I can’t help but scan the crowd. As my eyes wander, I finally look around and see the enormous club. The luxurious interior and state-of-the-art sound systems blare EDM, pop, and other dance music galore. The lower level is a vast sea of bodies dancing and grinding under the strobe lighting. Upstairs, people are overlooking the dance floor, and there is seating up there as well, and it’s roped off. I grab Emma's arm and point to it.
“What’s that?” I lean in and yell into her ear.
“Oh, that’s the VIP section of the club. I didn’t ask about that entry. I was just happy to get us in without a wait.”
“It’s okay. I was just curious. I don’t plan on getting off this dance floor until we’re ready to leave.”
“That’s my girl,” Emma praises with her hands up in the air.
“Clarity”by Zedd begins to play, and I grab Emma's arm and pull her to dance with me. Giggling like teenagers, we throw ourselves to the mercy of the music.
The music pumps, and we get lost in the crowd of bodies on the dance floor. I throw myself into the feeling and vibrations of the music enhanced by the tequila flowing through my system. All of a sudden, I feel someone different dancing with me. I continue this through the song. When I push back into them and let my body glide with theirs to the pulse of the beat, this person feels taller. An arm goes to wrap around my waist, and the strong hands feel good. The large fingers splayed across my abdomen don’t seem to bother me one bit. It feels so good to be touched, and I enjoy the tingles creeping into my core. A piece of my hair falls out of the braid. A hand goes to push the hair out of my face, and I still as he tucks it behind my ear. The fingers touching my face give me shivers. My heart nearly stops when I look up at Emma and see the look on her face. She’s surprised, but there’s mischief in her eyes. I know that touch. I know that feeling. I stop dancing and slowly turn around. Suddenly, I’m met by a large muscled frame and green eyes that bore into mine. I suck in a breath as I look into the face of Dax.
ChapterSixteen
Dax
I seeher dancing like sin and salvation made just for me. I gently approach her from behind as I make my way through the crowds of sweaty bodies grinding to the techno beats. I move closer to her and begin to move and sway along with her ethereal movements. I reach out to touch her, and my fingers graze her hip before I gently push my palm around to rest on her stomach. My heartbeat picks up, and I hold my breath for a moment, afraid she may pull away. I’m already thinking of what I’ll do if she runs away from me again, but at that exact moment, she leans into my touch. As the music changes to another song, she starts to grind against me. She pushes her ass back into me as I pull her closer, my fingers splaying across her toned abdomen. I bury my face into her hair, closing my eyes and breathing her in as we sway to the beat. I glance up to see Jameson dancing with Emma. I can’t believe I’m here, with her in my arms. My hand moves up automatically to push a loose strand away from her face and gently tuck it behind her ear. She shudders at my touch as if sensing it’s a familiar sensation and drops her head back to my shoulder. A moan escaped her lips as she looked out over the crowd and caught Emma's eye. Emma's face falls open in shock, and Liv freezes in my arms at that exact moment. She suddenly turns in my arms, and our eyes meet. Her body is pressed to mine, and I can feel the thrum of her heart against my chest. The song continues, but any noise ceases to exist around us.
We stare at each other, faces inches apart, unable to speak, but her feelings are written across her angelic features: shock, desire, confusion, lust.
“Dax,” she breathes, mainly talking to herself as if she’s wondering if it’s me standing there in front of her. “I guess we should talk,” she says but makes no move to pull away.
She was again seeming to be talking more to herself than to me. I lift my hand to her cheek, my thumb slowly caressing her bottom lip and onto the curve of her jaw.
“Later,” I say onto her lips a second before my mouth crashes onto hers.
I swipe my tongue to her lips, and after a second, she relaxes and allows me entry to deepen the kiss. Her lips are unbelievably soft, and she tastes like vanilla and tequila. She moans quietly against my mouth as I gently bite her lower lip. We’re lost to each other, to the kiss and the way our bodies are pressed into each other. I hear someone clear their throat next to me, and a hand lands on my shoulder, instantly bringing me back to reality and the fact that we’re still in the middle of a dance floor, making out like teenagers.
We break the kiss, and I pull Liv even tighter, instinctually wanting to keep her with me, protecting her from whoever interrupted us.
Jameson gently squeezes my shoulder and yells into my ear so I can hear him over the music. “Hey dude, why don’t you guys head upstairs.” He points up to the VIP section where we were sitting with Theo and Eric. I’m still in a daze, but I intertwine her fingers with mine. There’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight now.
“Follow me,” I mouth to her, and she nods and smiles.
With our hands locked tight, I led her off the dance floor to our table upstairs.
