“You will, right?” Lukas all-but begged, his gaze shooting to the blonde at his left.
My eyes narrowed at him. I was so not wingmanning this. There was zero chance I was taking this girl to her home. Not tonight. Not with Ivy twenty feet away. I wouldn’t have done it even if Ivy wasn’t here.
Because she already owns you.
Shit. The truth smacked me in the face like one of those fishes they tossed around at Pike’s Market.
“Just a dance,” Lukas escalated to full-out begging.
Dancing was something I could handle. It wasn’t like she was going to accost me in a public space.
“Sure,” I agreed.
Vicky squealed again and launched herself at me.
I caught her again so she wouldn’t fall, and quickly got her upright, stepping away at the same time.
I started dancing, doing everything I could to avoid actual contact with Vicky. No matter what I did, she followed, stepping into my space.
My eyes looked over the crowd, finding Ivy’s. Her mouth was open, but it wasn’t in shock or even anger. Oh no, she was flat-out laughing at me.
I sent her a glare and did my best non-bump-and-grind.
Vicky looked up at me and licked her lips. I’m sure it was meant to be sexy, but as drunk as she was, it looked more like she was trying to clean half her face with her tongue.
“I’ve always loved you,” she said, throwing her arms around my neck. “We’re destined to be together. You and me tonight? It’s fate,” she slurred.
If I wasn’t careful, I was going to end up in a dungeon at her house being told to rub the lotion on my skin or I’d get the hose.
I peeled her hands off my neck and moved back, searching for Ivy, who was nowhere to be found.
“Don’t you feel it too?” Vicky asked.
If she meant the extreme need to vacate the premises, then yep, I felt it, too.
She lunged forward again, only to be met with a slender pair of arms on a petite frame.
“Oh! Thank you so much for keeping an eye on him for me! I’ll take my boyfriend from here.” Ivy gripped my hand and tugged me away quickly, moving through the crowd until she found a semi-clear area.
“You’re amazing,” I told her. “Thank you. It’s not that I mind dancing with girls, but she was wicked drunk.”
She looked around my side and quickly popped back up. “Dance with me. She’s headed this way.”
Pony by Ginuwine came on the speakers, and I cursed my luck. This was the last shit I needed to be dancing to with—
Ivy plastered her body against mine and every protest I’d had died a happy death.
Then she started moving, and it took a second for blood to return to my brain long enough to me to form the coherent thought that I should dance, too.
“You suck at this,” she teased me, looping her arms around my neck and running her nails up the base of my head.
Challenge accepted.
I moved so my thigh was between hers, then gripped her hips and started to grind in a rhythm that told her exactly what was on my mind.
She gasped but didn’t stop.
Our bodies moved to the slow, sexual beat, moving together like we’d been dancing—or fucking—for years. It didn’t escape me how similar our pose was to when I’d kissed her, my hands on the curves of her hips, hers sliding into my hair.
Apparently, twenty-four hours was our time limit for keeping our hands off each other, which worked in my favor.
Her curves slid over me, her breasts pressed against my chest, thighs clasping mine in a way that sent my mind straight to what they’d feel like around my hips, her ankles locking behind my back as I pounded into her.
My dick readily agreed with me, more than rising to the occasion.
I saw the moment she realized it, her eyes widening slightly, her lips parting, her breath coming in little pants. When I dipped my head toward hers, she spun, which would have been less intimate had her ass not perfectly cradled my erection.
Yeah, I’d take her this way, too, on all fours, braced against my headboard so she could rock back into me while I fucked her mindless with orgasms. She’d need two—no three, at least to satisfy me, to make sure I was the only one she’d be taking to her bed.
Just me. Only me.
My fingers flexed on her hips, imagining it was her bare skin. Hers lingered at my neck as she slid down me like a siren. I was more than ready to hear her call.
Fuck, I needed to taste her. Here. Now. Needed my tongue inside her mouth, something of me claiming her, invading her. Seeing as my dick or my fingers were the least of the acceptable options in a crowded club, my tongue would have to do.
My hand turned her head toward mine, and I lowered my head until her breaths hit my lips. I didn’t look away from her eyes, which were the most beautiful, desire-hazed blue I’d ever seen.
“Ask me.” She had to. I needed her to make the move this time.
Instead, she ground against my dick and slid back up my frame until her lips nearly brushed mine.
Never before had not fucking a woman consumed me. Driven me to the brink.
“Ivy.” It was a plea. A warning. A damned compliment. Everything.
Her lips parted just as the last bars of the song played out, and just as I was ready to kiss the shit out of her, she whispered, “I can’t,” and stepped out of my arms.
I stood in the center of the dance floor, speechless, turned on, frustrated, and fucking laughing. God, the woman was twisting me into knots.
She grabbed Pepper’s hand and disappeared into the ladies’ room.
“Guess that solves that question,” Eric said, appearing at my side.
“What?” I asked, my voice gruff. I wasn’t in the mood for his shit about Ivy, about how he was all for us flipping the magnet from opposing to attached.
“That girls really do have to go to the bathroom in pairs,” he answered with a shrug.
I laughed again. “She’s killing me.”
“Yeah, the right one will do that to you. Let’s get back upstairs and make sure Porter hasn’t killed anyone.”
I agreed. Besides, it was already ten-thirty and getting late if I wanted to make sure Faith got back to her dorm at a decent time.
We found Porter and Lukas back in their seats, both nursing drinks.
“You owe me,” I told Lukas.
“Why?”
“You ditched the brunette, and she got so pissed she took my evening plans home with her.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“What, after she stalked me across the floor again? She was relentless!”
“What are you talking about?” His forehead puckered. “She took off in a huff the minute you and Ivy disappeared into the crowd.”
Huh. That would mean that Ivy had wanted to dance with me. I was torn between smiling and growling at her. The woman was constantly telling me one thing and doing another. Just once I wish her words matched her actions.
“Ivy?”
My muscles locked at the sound of Crosby’s voice, and I looked over slowly as he sauntered toward me, no less drunk than the brunette had been.
“Not here, not now,” I told him, hoping the warning was clear.
“Where would you rather discuss it? The locker room?” He laughed. “I saw you two all over each other down there.”
“It’s none of your business.” I wasn’t even sure it was business.
“True,” he said, cocking his head to the side.
How the hell had she been with this guy? Let him inside her body and her heart? Let him fuck her over so completely that she’d turned on her own sister?
“Glad we agree. Eric, we should probably leave.”
“I mean, why should I care who’s she’s fucking now? Been there, done that.” His volume escalated, turning every head in the lounge.
I silently counted to ten, using the childhood trick I’d clung to so I didn’t get thrown out any foster homes for punching other asshole kids.
“Don’t listen to him,” Eric whispered. “Just walk away.”
Somehow my feet moved, propelling me toward the door, my fists clenched at my sides.
“Tell me something. Have you kissed that little birthmark she has on the inside of her thigh? Drives her fucking wild. If you can’t get the job done, let me know. I’m happy to give you tips, brother.”
I paused, anger firing through every nerve in my body.
Don’t. You can’t get into bar brawls. Not now.