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I raised my brow accusingly. “Why do you keep asking about James?”
He rubbed the back of his neck as he refused to meet my gaze. “I guess I’m trying to figure out what I’m competing with.”
He’s flirting with me.
“There isn’t much to compete with,” I muttered, trying to remain cool. “He never walked next to the street. Or held doors open for me. Or pulled out my seat at dinner.” Not like Carter had earlier tonight. “It just wasn’t that kind of relationship, I guess.”
Carter’s face contorted. “The kind where a man treats you the way you deserve to be treated?”
I snorted. “Yeah, apparently.”
My stomach knotted when I looked at Carter’s reaction. He thinks I’m the victim, but really, I’m the villain here. James may have taken advantage of the fact that I was an awestruck, naive, barely-legal college freshman. I was astonished by his accomplishments, his intelligence, and the life he’d made for himself. But I took what I wanted too, and his consequences for our actions were much more severe than mine were.
I smiled softly. “It’s fine.”
I skipped ahead to meet Macie and Jeremy at the corner they were waiting at. We crossed the street and finally arrived at the club Macie had insisted on. Once we made it inside, we found a couch in the quietest corner, though it was still far too loud to hear ourselves think. Macie offered to get us all another round of drinks from the bar. The club had two stories. We were on the second where most of the sitting areas were located. The bottom story held the large dance floor, bar, and main entrance. It was particularly crowded tonight.
I had two drinks at dinner but wasn’t fully feeling the effects of alcohol yet. I decided I’d make a temporary amendment to my two-drink-rule and asked Macie to get me something from the bar as well. She returned ten minutes later with a round of shots.Dammit.I shook my head in protest, but she pouted about how much they cost so I took one anyway. Then one more.
It was tequila. I hate tequila.
“Alright, alright. That’s it for me!” I shouted over the music. She patted my head like I was a dog. I was already feeling the warmth settle in my stomach. She was mouthing something at me, but I had no idea what she was saying through the pounding of the music. She started pointing downwards at the level below us. She looked at Jeremy, but he shook his head and settled onto the couch across from Carter and me. She pouted and looked at me pleadingly. “I’m going to have to go dance with her,” I groaned at Carter.
“Might as well go get it out of the way so she stops hounding you.” He playfully elbowed my ribs. “I’m going to stay here and wait for Dom.”
I slapped my knees and moved to stand up. I knew that if I truly refused, Macie wouldn’t force me into anything I didn’t want to do. As the alcohol flowed through me and flushed my cheeks, a small part of medidwant to go dance. A part so small that if I wasn’t with the people I was with, I wouldn’t do it. Macie could read me in a way very few people have ever been able to. She’s able to read the line between the things I want but am too scared to take. She pushes me into being the person I want to be. Almost as if some of her boldness, her adventurousness, and maybe a little recklessness, rubs off on me. Whereas I’m normally reserved, she makes me daring. It wasn’t something I ever noticed until Carter came back.
Because Carter makes me feel safe. Safe enough to be bold, and adventurous, and daring, without fear of falling because if I do, he’ll catch me.
I stood up but found myself to be a little more buzzed than I had initially realized. Losing my balance, I began to wobble when something steadied me. I glanced down to find Carter’s hands on each side of my waist, holding me in place. I became hyper-aware of the fact that my ass was in his face, so I jumped to turn around and face him. Only, it was now my boobs that were in his face. His hands didn’t move away as I turned. They stayed exactly where they were, and my body spun within them. He was still holding me by the waist as his line of sight narrowed directly at my chest. Slowly—so slowly—his gaze moved up to meet my eyes. He looked almost as if he was panting, a blush coming to his cheeks.
“Sorry, I lost my balance.”
“Don’t be,” he said gruffly.
I was steady now, there was no reason for his hands to remain on my body. Regardless, I didn’t move. Neither did he. I wanted his hands on me. I didn’t want to walk away. “Do you want to come dance with us?” I asked.With me. Just dance with me.
He took a long time to answer. After a moment, he shook his head as if he was trying to clear his mind of something. “I told Dom I’d wait for him here.”
I frowned, covering it quickly with a non-convincing smile. Maybe that moment wasn’t for him what it was for me. Maybe none of these moments mean to him what they mean to me. Maybe it’s all in my head. I nodded and stepped over him, his hands falling from my waist. I ascended the staircase and waded through the pool of bodies in search of Macie.
Once I found her, I was surprised to see the dance floor hadn’t been cleared for her. She looked like something out of a movie. Her tight blonde curls whipped back and forth, moving in unison with her hips. Her red dress sparkled in the light as she threw her head back and moved in the exact rhythm of the music. She didn’t even care that she was by herself. Didn’t care who was or wasn’t watching. Perfectly content in her moment.
I grabbed Macie by the hands and started to dance with her. I was sure that in comparison to her, I resembled a wounded giraffe. As the music flowed, I let all my insecurities go and focused on moving along with it and with Macie. I twirled with her and wrapped my hands around her neck as we danced. I made a few noticeable glances at the second floor where Carter stood over the railing with a beer in his hand. His gaze pierced through me. He wasn’t even trying to hide it. I ran my hands up my own body and through my hair. I knew I was attempting to tease him. I didn’t know why. I guess I wanted him to see what he was missing.
The longer we danced, the more his face began to harden. After a while, I caught sight of Dom. They were dressed similarly, except where Carter’s shirt was white, Dom’s was black, complimenting his skin tone, which was slightly darker than Carter’s. It appeared Dom now kept his hair cut short, but when we were younger he’d grow it out like Carter still does now. Dom’s curls had always been tighter and more coiled, while Carter’s fell onto his forehead. Dom’s teeth flashed at me and he waved, but I pretended not to notice. The two of them were almost annoying, looking like twin Adonis’ staring down at us.
I turned away and continued dancing. Not long after, I felt a pressure on my lower back. I whipped around to find a pair of blue eyes looking down at me. The man was tall, couldn’t be older than thirty. He was decent looking. His hair was buzzed, his beard was long, and he had a tattoo of a cross splayed across his forearm. He smiled at me. “Hi, I’m Hunter.”
“Penelope!” I shouted over the music.
“Penelope, do you want to dance with me?” His smile seemed sincere. I wasn’t sure how these things worked. Is this how you met people at clubs? You just asked utter strangers to dance with you? That seemed weird to me. I looked up at the second floor again, and Carter wasn’t even there. He wasn’t even watching me anymore.
With that, I shrugged and nodded at Hunter. He brought his hand back to my hip when his shoulder was pulled back suddenly by an invisible force.
No, not invisible. It was a hand. A dark hand, with a way-too-fancy watch on its wrist. Hazel eyes blazed at us, fixated on Hunter’s arm that splayed across my waist. “She’s not available,” Carter said. To Hunter, it sounded like a stern statement accompanied by a stoic face. For me, it was a growling assertion in comparison to his usual demeanor.
I tried to determine if I was embarrassed or turned on. Or if I should be embarrassed that I’m turned on. I couldn’t believe he was doing this. At the same time, this was exactly the reaction I wanted from him earlier. Hunter’s hand left me and he gave me a look that asked:who the fuck is this guy?I looked at Carter and saw pure fury in his eyes. The only color winning the war tonight was red. Or maybe green. I wanted to hate that I loved it. Really, I love that I love it. Looking back at Hunter I mouthed:my brother.Hunter only shrugged before sauntering away.
