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Ava?
Well, this just took a dark turn. Without another word, Alex rushes through the crowd behind him and storms out of the ballroom.
Ava’s breaths are ragged, her chest rising and falling quickly next to me. My gaze tracks down her body and my mouth nearly waters at the deep V of her top. Instinctively, I run my tongue along my bottom lip before bringing my gaze back up to hers.
Her eyes are wide as she gazes back at me. “Shit,” she mutters.
A blonde woman rushes to her side, whispering in her ear while staring at me and I back away slightly with amusement. They talk back and forth before Ava grabs my hand and tugs me into a dark corner, away from prying eyes. Eyes that I know are following our every move. I wouldn’t put it past some people to have gotten a couple pictures of our intense kiss.
“What the hell was that?” she hisses once we are out of earshot.
I shrug as if it’s no big deal even though it definitely is. “Helping.”
That simple answer isn’t enough for her though because she only glares at me before placing her hands on her hips and tapping her foot against the hard floor.
I roll my eyes at her theatrics; at least she doesn’t have to deal with Alex’s shit anymore for the night. Although I doubt he left the party entirely. He’s probably hanging outside to cool off before coming back in.
Because of that, I say, “Stay close to me, okay?”
She shakes her head furiously and the eyes that once showed her hunger for me now look at me in disdain. “What do you get out of it? Let me guess, you’ll go home tonight and make jokes with your bestie?”
I chuckle at her assumption. “Sweetheart, I don’t kiss and tell. I’m only trying to keep him off your back, even if it means I have to deal with him even more than I already have been.”
She cocks her head to the side, clearly confused by my statement.
My sigh is loud, but I understand her dilemma. “You’re the only person he can talk about lately and it hasn’t been fun.”
“Gee, thanks. I’m swooning.”
Sarcasm, my favorite. I give her what I know from previous experience to be a panty-melting smile before saying, “Seemed like that kiss was worthy enough for you.”
Her cheeks heat at my comment as she thinks back to our very public lip-locking. At that exact moment, the entrance doors open to reveal Alex and he heads our way with anger lighting a fire in his eyes.
Without thinking, I grab hold of Ava’s neck and tug her close to my body. From Alex’s view, we are doing a lot more than merely being pressed against each other, and that’s all it takes to have him turning the other way.
Ava finally comes to her senses and pushes away from me, her cheeks tinged pink.
I reach one of my hands up and cup her cheek, smiling sweetly at her, before I grab hold of her hand and pull her through the New Year’s Eve crowd. She tries to pry her hand from my grasp, but I cling tighter to her and continue my trek forward. As long as Alex is here, I’m not letting her out of my sight.
“Is this really necessary?”
She’s breathless when I finally stop in the middle of the dance floor. The bass from the music vibrates against the floorboards and I tug her closer to me, watching as everyone makes room for us in the process. I spin her around until her back rests against my front, not caring that Alex is across the room sending daggers my way with his eyes.
I lean closer to her until my lips graze her earlobe, and whisper in her ear, “He already thinks we’re together. What kind of boyfriend would I be if we didn’t dance a little?”
She scoffs. “There’s no way he’d think we are together.”
Her words make me scowl and spin her back around to face me. “Let me make something clear. You’re beautiful, don’t doubt that.”
As expected, she wraps her arms around my neck even with the flush of embarrassment tinting her cheeks, and gives me a nervous smile. Her moves are clumsy, like it’s not something she’s done much before, so I guide her the best way I know how and mold my body to hers. Once I think she gets the idea, I let my hands fall to her hips and set my own pace with the music.
She starts to back away when she catches the gleam in my eye, but I slip my arm around her waist to stop her. “Show me your moves, sweetheart.”
It takes her a few minutes, almost an entire song, to get into the music but soon enough she’s swaying her hips side to side while I move right along with her. I spin her back around the way I had her the first time, loving how right she feels pressed up against me. Her hair smells like coconuts, but I don’t dare voice how intoxicating that smell is.
We spend the next couple of songs getting lost in each other and moving to the beats before a slower song comes on, the last song before the countdown starts. I turn her into my arms. She’s breathing heavily from all the grinding, but it starts to slow as I sway her back and forth beneath the lights.
I can’t pinpoint the exact color of her eyes, but I take note of the deep blue that washes into light brown. They are so mesmerizing that I don’t take my eyes from hers until the crowd starts counting down from ten. Ava doesn’t move her gaze from mine, and as soon as the crowd screams “One!” I slam my lips to hers.
