I run my fingers through my hair and scream out the last few notes to the chorus. Sweat drips from my eyebrows as I give it my all. Any night we play, we play our best because you never know who might be watching and who might be offering us a deal.
But this girl … this girl’s eyes have me in their grip, and I can’t fucking look away no matter how much I try. Not even as I grip my junk while singing, making all the girls in front of me squeal their lungs out.
Nothing seems to faze her.
Why?
And why do I care so much?
I shouldn’t even be thinking about Monica. If I even try to get close to her, I’m sure Ariane would stir up plenty of rumors about me just to punish me.
I’m already a bad guy as it is, and I’m not about to make it worse. Especially with one of Ariane’s friends being in the crowd too.
As the song ends, I put the microphone back on the stand, and my tongue darts out while staring at her, just like she’s staring at me. My eyes fall to her lips as I imagine ravaging them until they’re swollen and pink, and all the other filthy things I could do to those pretty lips.
But I don’t like that she’s looking back at me as though she wishes she was somewhere else. And it makes me want to lash out.
So I grab the nearest girl standing at the edge of the stage and whisk her up into my arms, smacking my lips onto hers as if I already own her when I don’t even know her damn name, and I don’t fucking want to.
But my eyes … they still can’t stay focused on anything other than Monica and the scornful look on her face, even while I’m kissing another girl.
But I don’t fucking care.
I hope she fucking looks as much and as hard as she can.
Because that’s the closest I’ll ever get to her jealous little heart.
Monica
I can’t stop looking. Can’t stop homing in on his eyes when his tongue licks his bottom lip. Can’t stop picturing all the things he could do to me with that same tongue.
But this boy is so much sin wrapped in a single package that I cannot, under any circumstances, ever unwrap.
So I falter and force a frown on my face to send a signal that I’m not interested, and I’m not to be messed with. Even when I secretly am.
But then he picks another girl from the crowd and smashes his lips to hers, and my jaw practically drops. A pang of unwanted jealousy hits me in the stomach.
I don’t know this boy, and I certainly don’t nor should ever want to.
Yet I can’t help but wonder if he did that on purpose to mess with me. Or has he always tried to grope one girl while looking at another?
Because his eyes never stop boring into my soul.
Fuck.
“Earth to Monica. Hello?” It’s only when Mel snaps her fingers right in front of my face that I finally manage to break the connection between Cole and me. “Are you okay?” she asks, laughing a little.
“Yeah,” I reply, clearing my throat. “Is it hot in here, or is that just me?”
“Um … no, not really,” she says, looking confused. “I was just about to order drinks. Want something?”
“Ahh … just a Coke, please,” I reply, and I fish in my pocket to grab some cash for her to pay for the drinks with. “Here.”
“Keep it,” she says, waving it off. “It’s on me.”
I smile as she walks off, but my eyes instantly resume gawking at Cole. I wish I could stop. I should stop. But something about him forces me to look, forces me to find him wherever he goes. But it isn’t a pretty sight. He’s practically ravaging a girl right behind the curtains off stage but close enough that I can still see. He gropes her butt and kisses her voraciously in a way that makes my stomach churn … and my mouth water at the fantasy that it could be me in her shoes.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
“Here you go,” Mel says as she hands me my drink.
I almost gulp it down in one go.
Mel’s eyes widen as she stares at the glass. “Boy, you’re really thirsty, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say, leaving a few sips in so it’s not awkward. “It’s just really hot in here.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, raising a brow. I don’t know how to reply, but she immediately adds, “I can see you staring at him, you know.”
I choke on the Coke and swallow it down so fast my eyes water and turn red. “Staring? Me? No, I was just—”
She snorts. “Save it, girl, I know a crush when I see one.”