His brows knitted together before shifting to block my view so I focused solely on him. Pressing his lips together, he ran a hand over his hair, appearing anxious and somewhat nervous from my cutting reply.
“I didn’t think it’d affect you. I’m sorry for that.”
He was sorry? For choosing the woman who incessantly hounded him while he was secretly engaged to me? Nah, I didn’t care for his arguments or reasons behind his decision. Intentional or not, it was fucked up. But that was all in the past, right? So, he didn’t need to be sorry. Evidently, he was single and could do and fuck as he pleased. What I thought on that score wasn’t of importance.
Gingerly making sure my hair was still in place, I tried to smile, but it came out forced and artificial. “I’m leaving in the morning. I think it’s for the best. And as for the friendship, we’ll try again down the road. For now, I don’t want this anywhere near me.”
His mouth hung ajar like he couldn’t believe what I was spouting about. “How can you say that after what we’ve been through together?” Ashen, he was beyond bewildered. “Nothing I do is ever enough anymore. But if that’s what you really want, if it’s the last thing I can do to make it right so that you can be happy, then I’ll stay away from now on.”
Our eyes clashed with such earth-shattering force that I could almost feel the impact explode in my chest. We were on the verge of something ugly and beautiful, but I was past letting it dictate me.
I disconnected from the powerful grip of his gaze, brushing past him and walking away.
It took a few minutes for me to sense him behind me, but I continued on, eyes forward with steely determination, never looking back, mentally and metaphorically speaking.
The group detected the grave mood that River and I had for each other, but they had enough sense not to breach the subject. Instead, they banded together to make sure that we were all having fun. I appreciated their effort. And with River busy doing the meet and greet with fans, Anton and I danced our little booties off. Kells joined Phoenix in the booth while he spun upbeat jams that made the partygoers go wild.
We were then joined by Mint and Lauren who awesomely brought me a bottle of Dom to share while be danced about. I was not particularly close to the girls, but Lauren seemed to be such a darling with a great quirky personality. Mint, on the other hand, was nice enough, but I could sense a little jealousy when River used to shower me his exclusive attention. I was almost sure that she would be rejoicing that I was out of the picture. She would then have Hailey to contend with. Best of luck to her.
When Rihanna’s song came out, I became excited as I guzzled down the bottle of champagne while swaying to the beat, lost in the simplest pleasures of life.
“Can I steal you for a dance?” a stranger’s voice came up from behind.
I twisted my head to check out who it was.
The man was blond and gorgeous, athletically built.
“Yes, you may steal me just for one dance,” I cheekily quipped back before my emboldened hand curiously gripped his muscles. “Gym rat?”
He snickered, closing the gap between us. “I’m a Trojan,” he cockily stated like that credential alone should impress me.
My brow rose before I coquettishly bit my lip, lavishing on the man’s unrepressed reaction. It gave me a sense of control, a twisted kind of power trip that I could command and mine to exercise.
“The condom or the team?”
His eyes lit up, his interest went ten-fold. “Both, I’m definitely both.”
I was becoming a lethal flirt. Flirting was an art, and I was honing my artistic skills. What happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas.
“If you can dance and manage to impress me, maybe you’ll have a chance in executing one or two of the dirty thoughts you’re thinking right now.” I could tell he was quite the typical arrogant jock, but since I was ruling and commanding his usual game play, he wasn’t sure how to handle me. Good, unpredictability always gave the upper hand. A vital of importance when around men of new acquaintance.
“You’re unbelievably hot. It’s so fucking hard to keep my cool around you,” he admitted, boosting my confidence even more.
Capturing his hand, I placed it on my hip before leaning over him and strategically brushing my lips against this ear. The man smelled delicious, too.
“Let’s dance. That way, I can slowly warm you up.”
“Damn, how are you even real?”
The real me would probably bore him to tears. Sassy Vegas Cara was ready to come out and play.
We were just getting our groove on when Anton tapped me over the shoulder.
“I’m her side bitch. And who’s Mr. Muscle Man?” he asked, ogling the jock like a piece of dessert about to be devoured.
Good question. I was so caught up with the whole ordeal that I had forgotten to ask his name.
Grinning, I slung my arm around the jock’s toned arm before gazing over his face. “This is …”