She twists in my arms, and once again, I do my best to keep that tiny gap while I pray she doesn’t look down and see the raging hard-on between my legs.
“Special?” She tilts her head to look up at me. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re here. It meanseverything.”
Her lips part to speak, but a shout breaks through the music.
“Hey, man! Happy birthday,” Rudy yells from behind me, albeit a little drunk.
“Thanks, bud,” I say, turning to face him and blocking Erin from his view. I don’t do it on purpose or with intent. She’s just so damn small.
“Is that her?” Rudy whisper-shouts while pointing, a grin on his face.
I chuckle and step aside. “Erin, this is Rudy. Rudy, this is Erin,” I introduce.
“It’s nice to finally—” He freezes and the color drains from his face. Sweat appears on his forehead in beads, though that’s probably from it being a million degrees in here.
“You okay, man?” I ask. He locks eyes with mine and then turns back to Erin, who waits patiently and still has her hand out.
“Yeah. Yeah, fine. I, uh, I gotta go. Nice to meet you.” Without saying another word, he turns his back on us and bolts for the exit, not stopping to let anyone know he’s leaving. I make a mental note to find out what the hell that was about later.
“Is he okay?” Erin asks, and before I can say anything, my eyes latch on to our rookie, Logan, who looks like he’s had one too many shots of tequila and is about to crash right into Erin.
I pull her into my arms without thinking and spin us around, taking one step to the left, as Logan stumbles and falls to the ground.
Cackles erupt around us, but I’m only paying attention to Erin’s arms around my neck and her body pressed right up against mine. Her squeal rings out in my ear the moment she realizes what’s happened.
My mind’s consumed with one thought—how can I get this girl to stay exactly where she is for just a little longer?
Logan stands, shakes his head like a wet dog, and lets out a whoop, both fists in the air as he charges to the bar.
Stupid rookie.
“Chase?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“People are staring. Do you think you can put me down?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Oh, okay.”
Fuck. Did I say that out loud?
A quick scan of the room tells me she’s right—peoplearelooking. I quickly move to the end of the room. Thankfully, my height allows for bigger steps. We’re behind a wall away from the noise and stares in no time.
I set Erin down and bracket her in by placing my hands on both sides of the wall by her head.
“Thanks for the save,” she says.
I’m suddenly aware that I want more of those sweet little laughs all to myself. I want to be away from everyone else for the rest of the night.
“Do you want to get out of here?” I ask out of nowhere.
Her brows pinch together.
“There’s five hours left of my birthday. Will you spend them with me? Somewhere quiet away from the crowd.”
