“I’m not arguing that. It’s the…pineapple.”
“I take it you’ve had this before?”
I nod, wiping my mouth. “My first lunch here, actually. My friend Niall took me here.” I point over in the direction of the guys, and Niall has a pissy look on his face. Weird. “I was just surprised to find Detroit style pizza here. It’s so random.”
We both finish our slices, and our drinks. “Can I buy you a drink? Since, you bought dinner after all.”
Jackson stands and grabs my hand. “I was actually going to ask if you wanted to go out and dance.”
“Oh. Umm…yeah, sure.”
“Such a confidence booster.” Jackson pulls me out onto the dance floor. I start standing in front of him, not sure what to do with my body. The song changes, Bad Bunny filling the bar.
Jackson slides behind me, pulling my body into him. I feel his hard chest pressed against my back, his hands running down the front of my body. His hard cock pressing against me. His lips brush the back of my neck, causing my head to roll to the right.
Where I find Niall staring at us. I give him awhatlook, but he turns and starts frantically gesturing towards John. And, in seconds, is marching out the front door of Doom Slice. Or Pawn Shop, whatever.
What the fuck?
“Hey, sorry.” I pull away from Jackson, turning to face him. “I just saw my friend rush out of here, the one I came with. I need to see if he’s alright.”
“Oh, erm…okay. Did I do something wrong? Was that too much?”
“No. Yes. No…just unexpected. But I should go.” I start to walk away, but run back to Jackson and give him a hug. “Thank you, for this. It was nice.”
I run out the door.
25
I’m almost back to Niall’s apartment by the time I see him, pacing outside the building. Muttering to himself.
“What’s wrong?” I call out. Niall stops pacing, frozen in place. He starts to turn towards me, but quickly reverses course, heading towards the door.
I catch up to him as he fumbles with the keys. I grab his arm and he spins around. His face is…wet. His eyes are red. Shit. Has he been crying?
“Niall. What is going on. Talk to me.”
He shakes his head, goes back to fumbling with his keys. “It’s nothing. Go back to the bar.”
I grab his hand, the one with the keys, but he yanks it away.
“Please Danny, no. I just…I need to get upstairs.” He’s crying again. The keys slip in his grip and fall on the ground. “Fuck!”
Niall leans against the wall, his head in his right arm, taking deep breaths. I don’t know what’s wrong, what happened to him or if it was something I did. But I reach forward and lean into him, hugging him from behind. He turns and buries his head into my shoulder, embracing me.
“I’m sorry,” Niall whispers, his face still pressed into my shirt. “I’m acting like such a fucking idiot. I should have known better. Now I’ve ruined the night. Ruined everything.”
“What have you ruined?” He shakes his head against me. “Niall. All I know is that one minute I’m in the bar, dancing. The next I see you storm out. Did I do something—”
“No, you didn’t do anything.”
I sigh. “Then what—”
“Because it should have been me!” He yells, pulling away from me. “I mean, I wanted it to be me. I wanted to dance with you Danny! I wanted to be the one whispering in your ear. I wanted you to feel my hands on your body, not the hands of some ridiculously hot random from the bar.”
“I…Niall. What are you talking about?”
“I knew I messed things up. I just need—”
