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Before I can turn my head to follow her gaze, Ares slides up beside us, tossing his arms around me and Avery to join our little group huddle. “Ladies!” he greets jovially, hand clamping down on my shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “Mind if we join you?”
Ares is just being Ares, but something about the weight of his arm around my shoulders feels wrong in a way it never has before. I duck to slip out from beneath it, teetering on my heels as I retreat a step and bump right into a hard chest. A familiar hand grasps onto my hip to steady me and I suck in a breath, craning my neck to peek up at Javi through my eyelashes.
His dark-eyed gaze collides with mine and my heart stutters in my chest. Although I knew he was coming tonight, I’m never prepared for the response my body has to his presence. My pulse races, my palms go clammy, and the tug of the bond between us is so potent that it feels like electricity is crackling through my veins.
“Hey,” he rasps, flexing his grip around my hip and staring into my eyes with so much intensity that I feel like I could combust.
I subtly sink into the heat of his body against my back, my heart beating a riot in my chest. “Hey,” I whisper.
He wets his lips with his tongue, parting them to speak again, but I’m suddenly yanked away by the hand, nearly falling on my face as Andie drags me over to resume dancing with her.
Thisfuckingsong.
I’ve always humored her weird obsession with it, but I’ve never hated it as much as I do right now.
The rational part of my brain reminds me that I need to keep up appearances, though, so I do my best to fake it. I force a smile to my lips, trying to match Andie’s enthusiasm as she bops around like a maniac.
Her energy is contagious and I’m a little tipsy, so it doesn’t take long for me to loosen up again. When I steal a glance at Javi, I find him watching us with an amused grin, looking so devilishly handsome in his black button-up that I can hardly stand it. I swear that rolled sleeves are like the equivalent of cleavage for men.
Not only are those veiny forearms on full display, but he’s even grown his stubble back, looking so rugged and manly and effortlessly sexy that it’s no surprise other girls are looking his way in interest. Even so, he’s still looking atme, and I shake my ass to give him a show, smug as fuck that I’ve got the full attention of the hottest guy in the room.
The song finally ends, fading into a new one with a low, sultry beat. Ares is putting in a valiant effort to try to get Avery to dance with him, and Andie suddenly leans in close, cupping her hand around her mouth and whispering in my ear.
“The new guy is totally checking you out.”
“What?!” I jerk back in surprise, a little panicked that she’s picked up on something between us. “No he’s not,” I insist, chuckling uncomfortably.
Andie eyes me dubiously, lifting a brow. “Girl, you may not be well versed in this department, but I am, and that guy’s totally into you. You should dance with him!”
I give a little shake of my head, about to object, but then she decides to be aggressively helpful, shoving me toward him without warning. I trip over my heels, but a pair of strong arms is there to catch me before I fall backwards and hit the floor.
“You alright?” Javi asks as he sets me back on my feet, his face way too close to mine. Hislipsway too close to mine.
“Uh, yeah,” I reply awkwardly. Straightening, I quickly regain my balance in the physical sense, but being this close to him always makes me feel off kilter.
The floor pulses beneath our feet with the heavy bass beat, every vibration coaxing me to move with it. I glance toward Andie, still nervous that she’s caught onto my secret affair, but she looks positively giddy as she mouths ‘go on!’, not so subtly gesturing for me to get closer to Javi.
So I do.
I mean, she’s encouraging it, right? If anyone asks, I can always blame it on my bestie’s insistence. And dancing is as good of an excuse as any to get close to someone without it being obvious that there’s something more going on.
I turn toward Javi again, locking eyes with him as I move my hips in time with the music. His hand lands on the small of my back, drawing me in until I’m pressed up against him, his body moving in sync with mine as the beat of the music pulses through us.
The knuckles of his other hand brush my arm, leaving a trail of sparks in their wake and sending a shiver racing up my spine. I sling one arm up over his shoulder, resting the palm of my other hand against his chest so I can feel the heavy thud of his heartbeat beneath it. His is racing as fast as my own, the sexual tension between us ratcheting up to a hundred as our bodies grind together.
Every little touch is a tease and dancing with him like this is a tortuous exercise in restraint. I want nothing more than to jump up, wrap my legs around his waist, and crush my lips against his, letting him carry me away and lay me down and touch me like only he can. Just the thought of that has me all worked up and panting for more. Everything around me seems to fade away until it’s just the two of us, our eyes locked, bodies moving in time to the music.
The sudden presence of someone at my back breaks me out of the lustful haze I’m in, and I whip my head around with a start to see that it’s Avery grinding up against me, looking like a damn sex kitten in her skimpy black dress and smoky eye makeup. She wags her brows mischievously as she meets my gaze, sliding around to my side before trying to squeeze her way in between me and Javi.
Oh hell no.
My inner wolf surges forward with feral possessiveness, clawing painfully at the inside of my chest and throwing a damn fit. I raise an elbow, trying to box Avery out before she can wiggle her way in, but it’s too late. She’s dancing like a vixen, sandwiching herself between Javi and me and rubbing up on both of us. Suddenly I want nothing more than to grab her by the hair, ripher away from Javi, and screamMINEso everyone here knows exactly who this man belongs to.
Then I feel another body at my back, a pair of hands landing on my hips and tugging me away from Avery and Javi. “Just go with it,” Ares murmurs in my ear, banding an arm around my belly to secure my back to his front.
But I don’t want to ‘go with it’. I don’t want Avery dancing withmyman, and I sure as hell don’t want to dance with anyone else. Javi’s not touching her, but the way Avery’s trying to drape herself around him is making my wolf go nuts.
My panicked gaze darts up to Javi’s face only to find his hard stare focused on Ares’ hands on my body, his jaw clenched tightly and his wolf swirling gold in his irises. I’ve never seen him look so murderous, and given how close my own wolf is to the surface, I’m betting I look about the same way right now. I bat Ares’ hands away, trying to put some distance between us, but he’s stuck to me like glue.
