I reached into my closet and pulled out the dress. It gripped me in all the right places and fell just below my knees. It was a dress I’d originally purchased to try and seduce Ike and get our love life back on track to where it used to be. But now? It was going to be a symbol of my ability to claim my life back. It was crimson red and fell off my shoulders and clung to every dip and curve I had. I put on a matching red lacy panty and bra set I’d bought years ago and never wore, then I rolled the tight fabric over my head and down my body.
I looked like a million fucking bucks.
I fluffed out my hair and put on some matching lipstick. I layered on the mascara, tinted my cheeks with a bit of blush, then rearranged my breasts so they were nice and full and just peeking out of the top of the dress. I slipped into a pair of black heels with red soles and surveyed myself in the mirror, and I was very pleased with what I saw.
It was going to be a hell of a night.
“Oh. My. Gosh!”
Jane squealed as she ran up to the porch and took my hand.
“We are so going to find you the hottest man to fuck your world upside down,” she said. “That dress looks fabulous on you! Where did you get it? When did you get it?”
“It doesn’t matter, and I don’t care. All I care about is turning over a new leaf tonight. Now let’s go get a drink.”
Jane and I strode into the bar, and all eyes were on me. Men were gawking, and women were getting jealous that their men were staring at me. Jane and I walked up to the bar and ordered our drinks, and I opted for a Long Island Iced Tea. I could wrap my lips around the straw as I locked eyes with men around the room instead of ruining my lipstick on the side of a martini glass.
Then, the music came on.
People cleared the floor in the middle of the room and I dragged Jane out there with me. All those dance classes my mother had forced me to take when I was younger were finally put to good use. I gyrated my hips and moved my legs, jiggling my ass and watching as men’s eyes widened around us. Even Jane was impressed as a smile spread across her cheeks. What started out as the two of us hogging the floor turned into men pushing their way through the crowd to get to us.
To get to me.
I loved it. Craved it. The power. The sensuality. I had a man’s hands on my hips and another man in front of me with his hands caressing my thighs. Two more men were at my sides whose necks I hooked my arms around. I swiveled my hips and danced in my heels, pressing my ass into one before rolling my breasts into another.
And Jane was having the time of her life with the men that had surrounded her. Hollis was going to be sorry he didn’t fuck her when he’d had the chance.
I’d never felt so powerful and wanted before, except for when I’d been with Grant. But that was all in the past, and I was determined to focus on the present. Focus on the man’s hands on my hips and gripping my thighs and begging to get a taste of the luscious alcohol painted on my lips.
Their eyes drank me in, and I knew I’d have my choice of men to take back with me to devour.
Grant had made it very clear that I was just an obligation to him. Someone he felt he had to look after and keep protected. And that was far from the truth. I could take care of myself. I’d found my inner strength to throw Ike out of the apartment. To put my foot down with that abusive man and tell him he was no longer wanted. I knew I had it in me. The power to protect myself and fend for myself and pave the way for myself. I didn’t need Grant and the burden he thought I was to him.
I wasn’t a burden.
I was a wanted woman, judging by the looks on the faces of the men surrounding me.
“Turn around!” Jane exclaimed. “Look who just walked in!”
I swiveled my hips and turned to face the guy behind me as my eyes cast themselves over his shoulder. I grinned at the group of men coming into the bar. Of course, they’d all be here. Hollis, Grant, and Jim. The three of them had been inseparable in high school, so it didn’t shock me that Jim knew Grant was in town. They all walked through the doors of the bar, and their eyes scanned the dance floor, trying to see what all the fuss was about.
And when Grant’s eyes connected with mine, his expression fell.
His face hardened, and his eyes grew dark, and it served him fucking right. He had his damn chance, and he blew it by treating me like nothing but Hollis’ kid sister who needed a bodyguard. I swiveled my hips deeply into the man behind me before I passed off my drink, and another one was promptly set in my hand.
Grant’s face was seething with anger as Hollis’ eyes connected with Jane.
“Oh, they’re pissed,” Jane said.
“Good. They should be,” I said. “Show Hollis what he missed.”
“And you show Grant what he could’ve had if he’d stopped dicking around while he was in town.”
I smiled at the little secret I had deep inside of me as I leaned forward. I straddled the leg of the man in front of me and wrapped my arms around his neck. His hands fell to my waist, squeezing my ass as another man ground his cock into my jiggling ass. I saw Grant’s fists balling up at his sides. I saw the way his jaw clenched in anger. He looked like he wanted to murder someone. I looked over at him and smiled, letting him know that I was fully and completely in control of what was going on.
Then my attention fell back to the guy in front of me.
The guy who smelled a little too much like beer and not at all like Grant.