I throw back what’s left of my drink and rise out of my chair. Courtney’s lips pull up into a smile and her eyes shine with excitement.
She’s so damn beautiful, but fuck, she knows what she’s doing to me. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted someone before. She’s a little firecracker, wild and fun, and I don’t doubt that same personality is going to shine through while between the sheets.
I don’t know what it is or where this need to act like a fucking dickhead comes from. Why the hell am I so scared to allow myself to be with someone? To be with her? The word ‘commitment’ makes me feel constricted, like a weight is baring down on my chest and I find it impossible to breathe. Maybe it’s the way I’ve watched my mom in an unhappy marriage my whole life, or maybe it’s the way that I can’t seem to ever finish something I’ve started. Whatever it is, it’s turned me into this guy who finds it physically impossible to let someone in. Why the hell is this chick challenging that? But more importantly, why do I want her to?
I stride toward her just as a body moves in beside her. She gasps for a moment and flinches away from the touch and it takes me all of two seconds to realize that it’s Noah Cage, one of the guys from Haven Falls.
He doesn’t look like he’s trying to make a move or anything, but he’s still got his hands on the merchandise and right now, it’s not sitting well with me.
Some chick that I’m pretty sure was trying to fuck Tyson over the summer break appears out of nowhere, latching onto Noah’s arm and attempts to pull him away. Noah groans and it’s as though this chick wants to have some kind of claim over him, and it somewhat reminds me of how Nate is with Ashley, she’s just some chick hanging around to keep the others at bay.
Noah shakes her off as I step up to Courtney and slide my arm around her waist. Her back straightens and as much as I want to revel in the feel of her warm skin against mine, I have something else that needs to be dealt with.
Noah looks at me, trying to work me out and I don’t doubt that this kid is dangerous, but he’s also not the type to come into someone else’s party and start shit unless that someone had done something to deserve it, and right now, I don’t think we have beef with these guys. “This one’s taken,” I explain, hoping I don’t have to put this guy in his place.
Luckily for him, his hands fly up and away from Courtney. “Sorry man.”
With that, Noah swiftly bows out, leaving me to deal with Courtney after I just spoke the few words which are bound to have her saying a few right back. Courtney turns in my arms before taking my hand from her waist and physically removing it. “This one certainly is not taken,” she reminds, using that same attitude that has me wanting to bend her over the bar and fuck her within an inch of her life.
I take hold of her waist once again, this time not giving her an option to remove me. “I know you’re not taken, but that fucker doesn’t need to know that.”
Courtney studies me for a moment before raising her chin to meet my eyes. “I don’t need you to save me, Puck.”
Fuck me. Why do those words ring so loudly within me?
All I want to do is save this girl and right now, I have absolutely no idea what that means, all I know is that I want to kiss her over and over again until we’re struggling to breathe. But I can’t. I won’t. Not yet at least. I can’t allow myself to fall down that trap and let her suck me in.
“I’m not here for a lecture, babe,” I say, knowing exactly how much she hates it when I call her that. I pull her in hard against my body and drop my lips to her neck, kissing the softest skin and loving the feel as she melts into me. I trail my lips up her neck until they’re hovering beneath her ear. “It’s a party, forget about everything and dance with me.”
Courtney’s fingers clench into my shirt and I feel her grin against my shoulder. She slides her hands up my chest and begins moving her body against mine, though something tells me it’s got something to do with her body’s natural reaction to me rather than what her brain is telling her to do. “This isn’t a good idea.”
My hand slides down her back until my fingers are slipping into the waistband of her shorts and able to feel the top of her bikini bottoms. “This is the best damn idea I’ve had all day.”