All three of them are looking between Brenda and Cassie, which is fine because I want to look at Lane. I’m about to excuse myself and walk over when Lane touches his ear, like he’s listening to something from the earpiece, and turns quickly on his feet. He walks three feet in the opposite direction before turning to look at me. Even from across the room with a fleeting look, he commands all my attention. I know that look. It’s almost like I can feel him saying it in my ear. Don’t move.
Too bad I’m not a girl that listens because it hits me then… I know how I’m going to get him to talk to me. Every time someone has asked me to dance, I’ve said no. Well, not today. No, today I’m going to the dance floor. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll have to come and get me. And damn do I want him to come and get me.
“All right – so who wants to dance?” I ask.
Brenda and Cassie are immediately out of their seats and grabbing on to the guys that are closest to them. The man in the middle at least has the decency to hide his disappointment as he waits for me to come around the table.
He puts his hand at the small of my back, and I pick up speed. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Him dancing with me is one thing. Him touching me is another.
The music is loud and bumping, and I can’t keep from moving if I try. I look over my dance partner’s shoulder and all around for a glance of Lane. Then I look up on the balcony, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Determined and knowing he can be looking at me from anywhere in the club, watching me right now, I dance. I dip my hips, shake my butt, and let the music move me. I’m all but lost in the song when I feel hands on my hips. My whole body freezes. My dance partner has moved up on me and is grinding against me. I pull away, and knowing he can’t hear me, I shake my head side to side, letting him know that I don’t want him to touch me.
I continue to dance, but with less butt shaking. When the man reaches for me again, this time I stop and make sure he can hear me. “I’m not interested.”
I look at Brenda and Cassie, and they’re dancing with their partners, so I walk off. I’m going to go to the ladies’ room and then to get another drink. I’m almost to the bathroom when I’m pulled in the opposite direction and backed into a wall.
It takes me a second to catch my breath, but when I do, I’m pushing against the asshole’s chest. “I told you I’m not interested.”
But he’s not letting me loose. He uses his body to hold me against the wall, and I can feel his hard manhood pressed into my belly. I feel sick and try to push him off me. People are walking by, but to them it probably looks like we’re making out. He’s so much bigger than me, I can’t do anything but relax my body and give him the idea that I’m into it. Only then does he loosen his hold enough to lean back so he can look into my face. As soon as he lets his guard down, I give him a shove and then punch him in the face.
I try to keep wailing on him, but he catches my arms. He smiles a lethal smile that tells me he’s getting off on the fact that I’m fighting back. He brings his hand back, and it’s then I know he’s going to hit me. I clench my eyes shut as I try to wrestle away from him.
2
Lane
My girl didn’t listen. And even though I’ve never talked to her or even touched her, she’s my girl.
There was an incident at the door, and one of the guards needed back-up. I left my spot of watching Brooke after giving her the look, telling her not to move. But she didn’t listen. She and her friends are gone from they had been sitting. I look over the balcony and spot her friends, but Brooke is nowhere to be seen.
I walk through the club searching for her. I talk into the mic. “Any eyes on Angel?” That’s right. They all know Brooke is mine. They’ve all helped me keep an eye on her just because there’ve been times I couldn’t leave and needed to make sure she made it home safe. So everyone knows Angel, and they know she’s mine.
“Fuck, Lane. I saw her go toward the bathroom, but I just got called to the bar for a skipped tab so I had to leave her.” Mike’s voice is on edge and it’s no doubt because he knows how hung up on Angel I am.