I glance over my shoulder at Shane, who has stopped a couple of feet away, and shake my head ‘no.’ He doesn’t like it at all, and I know him well enough to know he’s weighing his options. I tilt my head and give him apointed look that clearly says, "Do not interfere." He knows me well enough to know it will not end well if he goes against my wishes right now.
Katie steps up to Shane and asks him to dance. He agrees, and they stay beside me as we finish the slow song. Christina and Tania have already found other dance partners, so Luke returns to our table to sit with the other guys. He’s giving me dirty looks, but I pretend not to notice. What right does he have to be mad at me for dancing with someone when he was hitting on one of my best friends?
When the song ends, I step back from my dance partner and thank him. Then Shane grabs my hand and pulls me off the dance floor. Like I said, I know Shane well enough to know that now is not the time to fight him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Andi?” Shane demands angrily as we’re just outside the dance area.
“I’m having fun with my friends, Shane! What’s your problem?” I growl back at him.
“That guy was all over you, and you were just letting him!”
“Don’t lecture me about that, Shane! You take home a different girl every night!” I would laugh at the shocked look on his face if I weren’t so pissed off right now.
Shane stutters for a moment before spitting out, “That’s different, Andi, and you know it!”
“Come off it, Shane. It was just a dance—I’m still here. I haven’t left with anyone. Yet.”
Shane clenches his jaw shut, and the muscles on each side are twitching from the strain. His nostrils are flaring with each angry breath, and his face is turning blood red. I wonder if he’s about to have a stroke from his elevated blood pressure.
Through clenched teeth, he spouts, “Andi. So help me God. You are not leaving here to go to some strange guy’s house.”
I smile sweetly at him, knowing that my smile, paired with my next words, might make the top of his head pop right off. “You’re right, Shane. I won’t go to some strange guy’s house. I’ll take him home with me instead.”
I walk off, leaving him to process my words alone as I make my way back to the fresh pitcher of Bahama Mamas. I refill my glass and down a couple more within a few minutes. When I look back up, a half-dressed girl is sitting on Luke’s lap, rubbing her hands up and down his chest. He leans in and says something in her ear, and she giggles, nodding furiously ‘yes.’ My imagination just ran away with me about what she so eagerly agreed to.
LUKE
Going out with the guys feels good. It’s been a long time since I’ve had fun with a group of guys who share my aspirations. They get me. They understand why fighting is in my blood, and they don’t judge me for it. Tonight, we’re going to The Beta Room to have a good time. I try not to let the fact that Andi is there influence how I act. I don’t want to think about her, and I don’t want the guys to know I’m having a hard time keeping her off my mind.
The room smells of perfume and spilled drinks. The deep bass hums through the floor, vibrating my entire body from my toes to the top of my head, but it all drops out when I see her. Shane is still looking for her, but like a homing beacon, I’ve already zeroed in on her. Though I pretend I haven’t. My pulse jumps, sharp and immediate. I feel it in my chest, in my hands, in the way my focus narrows too fast. Heat, distraction—dangerous things if I let them linger.
Her natural beauty is amazing. But seeing her dressed up tonight stops me in my tracks. Black dress. Clean lines. No apology in it. The fabric clings like it knows her, warm and deliberate. When she turns, the open back hits me hard—bare skin catching the light, cool air brushing over it as if it’s meant to be felt, not just seen.
She just took a tequila shot with her girlfriends, and I’m trying to reel my tongue back into my mouth after seeing what she’s wearing tonight. Every other guy with a pulse is doing the same. She doesn’t even realize how many guys are staring at her right now.
I clench my jaw, force my eyes away, and draw in a slow breath that tastes like a mix of jealousy and restraint.
Keep cool. Maintain my composure. Control is the name of the game.
Because if I keep looking, I’m not thinking. And if I’m not thinking, this night is already a problem.
She gets Shane’s attention, and he leads us to their table, where Andi and another girl are setting up chairs for us to sit beside them. I deliberately choose to sit on the opposite side of the table, at the other end. I don’t think I can stand to sit beside her without touching her. I watch her take another shot before she heads off to the dance floor with her friends.
The server comes over to take our drink order, and we ask for a couple of pitchers of beer. We’re talking and looking around the club when Shane freezes, then bolts to his feet. I follow his gaze to see a guy dancing with Andi, his whole body plastered to hers. I jump to my feet, knocking my chair over, and fall in beside Shane as he plows through the crowd to get to her. She sees us and gives mea dirty look as she molds herself further into this guy’s arms.
Even though I know I deserve the dirty look, I can’t stand seeing him all over her like this. Yeah, it was low of me to flirt with her friend like that right in front of her. I realized it was a mistake the minute the words were out of my mouth. Her friend is sexy, and Shane had already made it clear that Andi is off-limits for a one-night stand. But this feeling I get around Andi doesn’t feel like a one-night anything. I don’t know what it is, though, and I’m admittedly hesitant to put a name to it.
I saw the look on Andi’s face, and I know I need to call a truce and make amends. No matter what, we need to at least be friends. But at this rate, we won’t be able to stand each other by morning. Watching Andi press closer to this guy on the dance floor during the slow song doesn’t help my resolve to be only friends with her. At all.
Shane finally drags her off the dance floor, and I see them fighting, though I don’t know what they’re saying. She looks mad as hell, though. From the murderous look on Shane’s face right now, I don’t think I want to know what she said before she walked away from him. While I’m watching Andi, something lands in my lap, and I snap my head around.
A drunk, half-dressed girl is sitting in my lap, giving me an open invitation to take her home. She’s already out of it,rubbing her hands on my chest. The music is so loud I have to lean into her ear for her to hear me when I ask, “It’s hard to walk with those beer goggles on, isn’t it?” She laughs and nods her head exaggeratedly at me.
I smile and politely help her back to her feet, but she doesn’t leave. She’s just waiting patiently beside me. I glance over at Andi and see a similar look on her face—hurt, confusion, and then what appears to be pure hatred. This back-and-forth has gone far enough. I stand to move around the drunk girl, but Shane is standing in front of me.
“We need to talk,” Shane says with such finality, and all I can do is nod and follow him to a spot behind the bar where the speakers aren’t so loud.
He doesn’t give me a chance to ask what’s up before he starts talking.
