Her eyes gleam defiantly in the soft blue light, her mouth set in a stubborn line. “I’m tired of being told what to do. Wait, how’d the whole thing go again?” She cocks her head, pretending to think. “How to act, what to wear, what to do for the rest of my life? Isn’t that the way you put it?”
Anger scorches my chest as I force out a heavy, hot breath. “I didn’t mean it like…” I turn my head away, collect my thoughts. Then I look down at Beck. “I’m going to kill you if you do not get your fucking crotch away from her right now.”
His hands fly up. “Ryde, it was just messing around.” My glare reinforces my threat. He gently pushes a scowling Ari upright by her shoulders, but my fury doesn’t diminish in the least. All I can do is stare at where her naked thighs touch his big
, fat, jean-clad knees.
My head pulses in sync to the beat vibrating the walls, sound whooshing in and out of my ears, as my anger mounts. There’s no reeling it in. I’m grabbing Ari around her trim waist and pulling her away before she can protest.
“Hey! I’m sick of you manhandling me,” she snaps. “Like some freaking caveman. What, are you going to throw me over your shoulder again?” She smacks at my hand.
She means it as an insult, but I’m thinking that idea sounds pretty damn good right about now. Anchoring my hands to my hips, I survey the small room. Most of the guys’ attention is on the stage, where Carly is still dancing, and the others are waiting their turn for private dances.
“Are we done?”
Ari’s annoyed voice draws my focus back on her. Arms crossed over her chest, pressing her silver bikini top upward, her glittering breasts pushed over the triangles. What the fuck happened to all her modest layers?
I shake my head. “Far from it,” I say to her. “Get your clothes.”
“The hell I am,” she mutters, then starts to walk off, but I catch her arm. “I came here for Vee. And I’m going to dance.”
“What are you trying to prove?”
Her eyes hold mine, then she steps into my personal space. A mischievous glint lights her eyes as she presses her body against mine. I suck in a quick breath at the feel of her hands on my chest, roaming down, as she swivels her hips against me. Fucking hell.
Hollers rise around us, the guys cheering Ari on.
“I came here to dance, Ryder,” she says again. “And I’m not asking for your permission. I’m not asking for anyone’s permission.”
Tension thrums through my body. A shout sounds out about me finally “getting some,” and I snap. Just like that first night, I swoop down and haul Ari into my arms, but this time, I grab her around her back and legs. Not wanting the guys to stare at her bikini-clad ass.
The whistles and shouts grow louder as I cart Ari off to a secluded section far in the corner, enclosed by curtains running ceiling-to-floor. Then I set her on her high-heels. “Dance all you want,” I say. She sends me a slitted glare that could flay me, but I only shrug. “When you’re sober tomorrow, you’ll thank me.”
Before, I smelled alcohol on her breath. I’m sure a lot of this is coming from a need to rebel, lash out at her conservative, controlling parents—and to prove something to me. I’m not exactly sure what, but I must have hit a nerve with her the other night. And I’m sure her mock bravery stems from a good bit of alcohol. I can’t see Ari getting this loose, otherwise.
“You want a bottle of water?” I ask.
She laughs. Then she’s lunging up against me, backing me toward the bench seat. The back of my legs hit the cushion and I fall backward. “Is this what you wanted, Ryder?” she asks, trapping one of my knees between her thighs. “Did you bring me here for a private dance? Doesn’t that kind of defeat the point, though? I mean, no one will be able to see. But then, I guess they can assume what will happen, right? That works just as well.”
I grit my teeth. “I thought… Didn’t I prove that I wasn’t out for anything like that?”
She lifts her hair off her shoulders as she rolls her hips. I avert my eyes. “Still,” she says, “you like that it will get around. That you won’t technically be the bad guy. And I know you like this…” She slides a knee along the seat, bringing her body above me, and my gaze is drawn right to her spread thighs.
As she strokes one hand across my chest, she moves fully above me, caging me in with both knees on either side of my thighs. My heart leaps to my throat, the ache beating in time with the music pumping out of the speakers. Some Korn song, the lyrics drumming their way into my skull—talking about never having to justify…run and hide.
It’s so fucking fitting for this moment.
My voice isn’t as sure when I speak next. “I need you to stop.”
She smiles down at me. “As long as I’m giving you a dance, I’m not giving any of them one.” She cocks her head to the side. “Isn’t that what you want? Why you brought me here?”
Shit. No, it’s not… But I can’t argue with her logic. I’m already thinking of a million ways I’m going to hurt Beck tomorrow just for looking at her. And if I witness Ari straddling anyone else…I would lose my shit and start dropping fists.
But I can’t sit here and let her degrade herself like this. Not when I know that she really doesn’t want to be here. She’s angry with me, and from the way she’s behaving, I assume also angry with herself.
I clasp my hands around her wrists and look up into her face. “Let me take you home. You can slash me with as many insults as you want, but let’s get out of here first.”
I am not prepared for what happens. Ari dips forward, pushing her chest right up against mine, her lips just brushing my ear. A hard shiver racks my body, and I close my eyes. Trying, and failing, not to be fucking turned on. I’m a shit.