“Hey, sweet thing, can I buy you a drink?”
I side-eye the guy who has just wedged himself in beside me and roll my eyes. He’s clearly had one too many based on the glassy eyes and unsteady swagger.
“That’s going to be a no from me,” I tell him in a chipper tone.
He scoffs in reply. “Don’t play hard to get.”
I turn my head and hit him with a harder look. “It’s only fair as you’re playing hard to get rid of. Not interested, thanks.”
He leans in even closer, causing me to lean back to avoid the gin-soaked breath he exhales on me and come up against a warm, hard chest. A strong hand slides around my waist and softly pulls me back until my body is completely flush against his. Butterflies swoop through my stomach even though I have no idea who’s behind me, but for some reason I let myself relax against this stranger. His fingers flex across my stomach as a voice I’d know anywhere floats past my head.
“Sorry, buddy, I’m the only one buying her drinks tonight.”
I tilt my head back against his chest and to the side to look up into his dark eyes and breathe out his name.
“Mars.”
His eyes are intense and full of promise. “Hello, Little Moon.”
Drunk guy forgotten, I turn and slide my hands up his chest. “What are you doing here?”
He has this nervous little smile on his face that has me cocking my head to the side.
“I had a meeting in town. I wanted to see you while I was here.”
Heat steals up my chest into my face. I've always thought we had a connection, but he’s never really made a move before. Hearing him say he wanted to see me has those butterflies in my stomach doing back flips. I duck my head to hide my blush.
“How did you find me here?”
“I went by your dorm and caught your roommate as she was leaving. She told me where to find you for the small fee of carrying all her boxes down to her car.”
I throw my head back and laugh. Good for Tori for making him work for it.
“Hey, Luna! Here’s your drink.” The bartender calls to me from behind the bar.
I take a step away from Mars to grab the drink and he lets his hand fall from my waist. I immediately miss the feeling of him touching me. I reach into my pocket for cash, but Mars beats me to it and pays for my drink while ordering a Jack and Coke for himself. I take a big drink to give me courage.
I’ve had a thing for Mars for years. Tall, dark, and broody is such a stereotype but he just checks so many boxes for me. I love how he wears his dark hair long with pieces falling to his cheekbones. His eyes are so dark they’re almost black. My pulse picks up as I stare into them. Damn, he really does it for me.
I take another gulp of my drink and look up at him with a small smile. “You almost missed me. I’m heading home tomorrow.”
He lifts a hand and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “That would have been a damn shame. I really wanted to see you away from everyone else.”
I swallow hard. Is this it? Is this the move I’ve been hoping he’d make for so long? All of a sudden, I feel hesitant about that. All the reasons he and I would be a bad idea start flashing through my head. He’s one of my brother’s best friends. What would Atlas think about that? Would this be a hookup or something more? Do I want just a night with Mars, or do I want something more? How would something more even work? Sure, I’ll be home after today for the next three months but what about after I come back to school? It’s three hours away from home and Mars has a job there. Do I want to do a long-distance thing? All these questions flash through my head in seconds. Should I crack this door open at all?
I blow a nervous breath out. He must read something on my face because he frowns and starts to shake his head but before he can speak, the song playing comes to an end. In the brief beat between the next one starting, Steff yells my name from the speaker, dragging my eyes her way. She waves me over and I decide to put a pin in life decisions for a minute. I drain the last of my drink, slam it down on the bar, and wink at Mars.
“Hold that thought. Need to dance!”
I wade through the crowded dance floor and let Steff pull me up onto the speaker. Two songs in and the drinks I’ve downed have loosened me up enough to really get into the music. I feel sexy and hot as my dress swishes around my thighs, flashing the bare strip of skin between the tops of my high socks and the hem as I swivel my hips to the beat. I can feel Mars’s stare like a burning brand against my body as he leans against the bar.
I can feel that his eyes never leave me. When Toxic Pony by Altego, Ginuwine, and Britney Spears comes on, I start dancing just for him. The smirk tugging at his lips pulls into a grin as he bites down on his bottom lip and does a little head shake like he’s telling me I’m a bad girl. When the Pony lyrics hit, he stares at me with such a challenge that heat floods through my core. My body is humming with thoughts and ideas of how it would feel to have his hands on me. All the questions from earlier disappear.
Steff stops a passing waitress with a tray of neon shots and buys two for us. We clink them and toss them back and start grinding against each other. I’m lost in the music, the buzz of alcohol, and sexy eyes on me for song after song. When My Oh My by Camila Cabello comes through the speaker, it feels like Mars and I have been edging each other and I want the real deal. I lift my head and sing that line about being a good girl all my life but not wanting to be tonight, straight to him, with all the meaning in my eyes.
He must feel the same because he’s shoving off the bar and striding my way. It's like the crowd parts for him and in seconds, he’s in front of me. He doesn't say a word as he reaches around me and I feel his hands grab the back of my thighs, just under my ass. I can't help but let out a squeal of surprise as he picks me up and flips me over his shoulder but then I realize, I like it. I want this. It's like I weigh nothing as he carries me out of the bar, one of his hands planted solidly on my ass, holding my skirt so nothing gets flashed to the crowd. I lift my head enough to give Steff a wave goodbye and giggle when she exaggerates biting on her fist and mouths, “So fucking hot!” at me. I give her a salute from one single girl soldier to another, and then we’re through the doors.
He carries me halfway across campus and to my dorm before he finally sets me on my feet. I can still feel that hand of his on the back of my legs even after he removes it. I sway on my feet when all the blood rushes from my head and he throws his arm around my shoulders to steady me and guide me the rest of the way. We don’t speak as he holds the door to my dorm building open for me to go through. We climb the stairs and butterflies start swarming in my belly the closer we get to my room. My roommate is all packed up and gone for the year so it will be just us, alone, together. When the door closes behind us, the silence echoes around my head as nerves take flight. I grab a couple of water bottles from the mini-fridge in my kitchenette, toss one to Mars, and then hop up onto the counter. I chug down half my bottle of water to try and cool myself off as he leans against the door frame and studies me with dark eyes.
