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Eric motioned to the server and had her pour us two more shots. I knocked mine back and went to find Avery.
"Where're you going?" Eric yelled after me, over the music.
"To find my girlfriend." I jerked my thumb toward the throng of dudes in skinny pants and too much hair gel. "Gotta protect her from the natives."
I did want to find her. I'd brought her here; she was my responsibility. I didn't want to tell Eric that I was starting to like her; it was a) none of his damned business, and b) I didn't want to hear him praise himself and say "I told you so" again so soon. I pushed my way through the crowd, smiling and nodding when I was recognized. I didn't stop until I was parked outside the ladies' room.
A frizzy, strawberry blonde stumbled out, wearing a sequined tank top and too much lipstick. She almost fell over when she spotted me. "Chase Layne?" she yelped. "Shut the fuck up!"
I grinned at her. "Can you do me a favor?"
The girl started twisting her coarse hair, her eyes glittering. I'd seen that look before—often from a defensive end who was about to tackle me.
She grinned back at me. "Oh yeah, I can. You betcha."
I jerked my thumb toward the ladies' room. "Can you go ask my girlfriend if she's okay? She's blond. Black dress. On the taller side."
The girl looked crestfallen for a second, but then she obediently ducked back into the bathroom. Women had been throwing themselves at me my whole life. I never once took one up on it. I was a big, star quarterback, but I was not a hookup kind of dude. What I'd said to Eric was the truth. I didn't do desperate. Not only because I didn't have to, but because to me, desperate was the opposite of sexy.
"Found her," the strawberry blonde said, her bottom lip jutting out. She had Avery in tow. My escort tentatively smiled at me when she found me guarding the door to the ladies' room.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey yourself." I grinned at her and then turned to the other girl. "Thank you. That was really nice."
She perked up a little and shrugged. "No problem. Can we take a picture?"
"Sure. D'ya mind if my girlfriend's in it?" I didn't wait for her to answer. I pulled Avery against me. Eric said I was supposed to touch her, so I was going to touch her. I had other reasons for wanting to, but I ignored them. I also forced myself to ignore the fact that my cock was lengthening and heading in her direction.
The girl snapped some selfies with us and then sniffed and walked away, as if we'd served our purpose. That was fine with me. I turned to Avery, not letting her go. I was very aware that her skin was hot to my touch. My vodka-befuddled brain started wondering if the heat was from her or from me, but I was getting too confused to think it through. I just knew I wanted to keep my arms around her. "Would you like to dance?"
She looked stricken. "Uh…yes?"
"Is that a yes that's actually a no?" I asked.
Avery composed her face and smiled at me bravely. "It's a yes. I'm not really a big dancer, though."
"Me either. It's not like there's a lot of room down there for my moves anyway. I can do a mean robot, but that's about the extent of my talent." I laced my fingers through hers and pulled her down the stairs.
Another server met us at the landing and offered us more shots. "On the house, Mr. Layne," she said and winked. "Go Warriors!"
Avery and I each did another ill-advised shot, and then I pulled her into my arms on the dance floor. "For someone who's not a big drinker or a big dancer, you're sure managing nicely tonight," I said.
She put her arms around my neck, eighth-grade dance style. "I'm at your service, Mr. Layne. Remember?"
I leaned down to her ear. "I'm sorry I was a dick when you first showed up."
Even though that was the booze talking, I meant it. A drunken man's words are a sober man's thoughts. Cass, one of my "deep" football buddies, often said that. Usually when we were drunk and he was telling me how I could improve my game.
Avery trained her clear blue eyes on me. "S'okay. You've been through a lot lately."
I wanted to know what it was she'd been through, what her story was, but the loud, thumping base and the crowd of people around us weren't really the best place for a deep conversation. So I just wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me. That same server showed up next to us with more shots. "Your buddy told me to keep 'em coming," she yelled and pointed at the mezzanine. Eric leaned over, smiling and giving us the thumbs up.
Avery looked at me nervously.
"One more for courage," I said, downing it. I needed courage tonight. My cock twitched again, trying to reach out and touch her. It'd been a long time, and at this stage of my buzz, I couldn't lie to myself. I was totally attracted to her. I ran my hands down her back. I was about to cross some lines, I could tell. My hard-on was getting thicker by the second.
Still, I wanted Avery to make her own choices. That was the only way I'd be able to live with myself.
