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Chapter One
The lights pulse withthe music–perfectly timed flashes that make the room dance with color. The heavy beat of the drum vibrates the floor beneath my feet as I move with the rhythm of the upbeat song.
This isn’t my scene. Well, not usually. I’m more of a dinner and a movie kind of girl. I can count the number of times I’ve stepped into a club on one hand. But tonight is not about me. It’s about my best friend, Emma.
“You only turn twenty-two once,” she had said to me earlier in the evening. I bit my tongue, choosing not to remind her that’s exactly what she says every year.
Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t suck it up every once in a while and step outside of my comfort zone for my best friend of ten years?
So here I am, smashed into a room with way too many people, in a dress that might as well have been painted on it’s so tight, throwing back cosmos like this is an everyday occurrence for me.
When Emma goes out, she goes all out. And I mean that by she spends more money than she can afford on a new little black number and a minimum of two hours on her hair and makeup. Of course I’m expected to follow along.
I’ve learned to roll with it, as I have most things with Emma, choosing the path of least resistance. Trust me when I say, she always gets her way in the end anyway.
I have to admit, even when I don’t really want to do something, I usually end up enjoying myself just the same. Not that I would ever admit that out loud. Admitting Emma is right about something is a sure fire way to make sure you never live it down.
As the song winds down and a slower one takes its place, I turn to see Emma a couple feet away, pressed firmly against a twenties something hipster with a dark man bun tied at the back of his head.
Ignoring the way the man looks at me as I step up next to them, I immediately lean into my friend’s space.
“I’m in need of another Cosmo. Stat,” I announce a little louder than necessary.
Emma turns her head toward me, a small smile playing on the corners of her lips. Even red faced with sweat collecting at her brow, Emma is a complete and total knockout. Her skin the softest brown–a perfect combination of her father’s dark skin and her mother’s fair. Her long brown waves fall perfectly to the middle of her back and she has legs that go on for days. But what really puts her over the edge is her crisp green eyes which are so bright they stand out even in the dimness of rooms.
We really are polar opposites. At least on the outside. I’m about as fair as they come–ghost white even in the dead of summer–despite the fact that I live in Florida which is pretty much sunny year round. My hair is light–a dirty blonde with natural highlights. Unlike Emma, I’m not tall or model skinny but short and curvy. No matter how hard I work out I’ve got a butt and thighs I simply cannot get rid of.
Emma says that’s why guys fawn all over me. I’m not sure what planet she’s living on, but she’s the one that has the male sex eating out of the palm of her hand. Has as long as I’ve known her.
“Order me one. I’ll be over soon,” she says, nodding her head ever so slightly to the guy whose hands I’m now noticing are resting comfortably on her ass.
“You got it.” I flash her a knowing smile before quickly turning and maneuvering my way through the crowd of people that stand between me and the bar that resides along the far back wall.
Snagging the only empty stool I can find, I lean forward on my elbows and let out a slow breath, feeling slightly overheated and a whole lot buzzed.
“Two more?” My gaze lands on the muscled bartender that stops in front of me.
“Please.” I bat my eyelashes in a way that makes me cringe internally, followed up by a wide smile.
“Coming right up.” He winks, quickly turning.
“You’ll have to tell me your secret.” A deep voice resonates next to me and I instantly turn toward the sound, sucking in a sharp breath when I meet a pair of deep brown eyes.
“Huh?” It’s the only word I can manage, completely transfixed by the yellow speckles that pepper the brown eyes currently locked on mine.
“Your secret.” The man smiles and my gaze immediately dips to his mouth. Full lips shadowed by a dusting of dark facial hair.
“Secret?” I try to shake off the fog that seems to have settled around me and refocus.
“Considering nearly everyone on this side of the bar has been standing here for ten minutes and muscles hasn’t even looked our way once.” He gestures toward the bartender.
“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” I find myself teasing, fueled by the alcohol and how damn attractive this man is.
I’d guess him in his mid-twenties. He has two length dark brown hair–short underneath and longer on top–pushed back away from his face that’s sporting neatly trimmed facial hair. He’s hands down the hottest guy in here, and by the smirk on his face, I’d guess he’s perfectly aware of this fact.
“I might be dying of thirst. I think I’ll take the risk,” he immediately counters, his smile growing. A deep dimple makes an appearance on his right cheek.
My stomach instantly whooshes and it takes me a full ten seconds to gather my bearings enough to come up with a response.
