She released the lime and pressed her fingers to her lips, still wincing a little.
Connall was still chuckling. “Sorry. Told you it was cheap.”
“Why would anyone drink thaton purpose?” she asked, laughing with him. “That’s kind of awful.”
“Because it’s quick and effective.” He cocked his thumb toward the dance floor. “Plus, it makes dancing easier because you forget you have no rhythm. Or that might just be me.”
She glanced at the people dancing. Quyen was already making her way to the dance floor with Daniel. “I don’t think it’s going to get me out there.”
“One more shot and you’ll probably change your mind.” Connall handed her another glass. “Take it from someone who wouldn’t even be able to talk to a pretty girl like you if I hadn’t already had a few.”
The compliment threw her off for a minute, and she dipped her head. “Uh, thanks.”
He lifted the salt shaker, asking the question. She could already feel the alcohol working, her muscles loosening, her nerves softening. It was like…magic.
She licked her hand.
CHAPTERNINE
“What the hell are you doing?” Lennox asked, sounding vaguely horrified as Auden pulled up in front of a brick building with a flashing sign and peeling paint. “I thought you had an errand to run.”
“I do.” Auden parked the car on the street and shut off the engine. “We’re going to the Railway Club.”
“The Rail—have you hit your head? Taken a narcotic? How many fingers am I holding up?” Lennox waved both of his middle fingers in front of Auden’s face. “This is the worst of the campus bar scene. I don’t even drink and I know that. Crawling with frats and football players.”
Auden gripped the steering wheel, trying to talk himself out of this and failing.He looked toward the front of the club. “O’Neal’s here. Frat guys invited her and her roommate to a freshman welcoming party.”
Lennox groaned. “God. Do those lines actually work?”
“I think she went to be nice to her roommate. She texted because Quyen wanted her to ask us if we’d go, but she basically told me she didn’t need a babysitter. I was going to let her be.” He unlocked his phone. “Until I got this.”
Lennox looked at the screen. It was a text of gibberish—allbs andfs from O’Neal. He squinted. “I think this says….wow, I’m super fucking drunk.”
Auden took the phone. “Right, so…”
Lennox was already opening the door. “Yep. Let’s go knock the flies off her because you know those bastards will be circling.”
Auden was out of the car a second behind him, happy that Len was on the same page. He didn’t know if it made him feel less like a stalker, but it made him feel less alone in his stalking at least.
The line at the door of the club was massive, and Auden could feel his worry growing like an oil spill inside him. What if O’Neal had already left? She hadn’t texted him back after he’d responded to hers.
“This is going to take fucking forever,” Lennox said, eyeing the line, his fists clenched at his side.
“Screw this.” Auden stepped out of line and strode to the front, Len following. It took him approximately eight point two seconds to find two kids near the front who were willing to take fifty bucks to switch spots with them.
Once he and Len got into the club, it took a minute to adjust to the colored lights and the noise. Lennox grimaced. “Goddamn, it smells like armpit and asshole in here.”
“You’re being generous. Look for her,” Auden said, trying to crane his neck and see over the crowd.
“I’m looking. Everyone looks the same. Sweaty and plastered.”
They walked around the left side of the club, but neither of them spotted her. The place was too crowded with too many flashing lights. And the heavy bass of the club music made it hard to concentrate. “Where the fuck is she?”
“Isn’t that the roommate?” Lennox asked, pointing toward a table off to the side of the makeshift dance floor.
Auden looked that way, spotting Quyen chatting with some guy, and relief flooded him. “That’s her.”
They maneuvered their way over to the table, the press of people around them making it difficult to move quickly. Quyen saw Auden first. She broke into a big, lopsided smile and stepped away from the guy she’d been talking to. “Oh wow, y’all came,” she said with open enthusiasm. “O’Neal said you couldn’t make it.”