The Consequence of Seduction (Consequence 3)

So I did nothing.

Like a real invisible nerd, who’d suddenly been discovered by the captain of the football team, I froze.

Reid placed his hands on my hips, his breath tickling my ear. “Let the music move you.”

“Uh.” I wanted to ask how. I’d never been asked to a school dance and I’d never actually danced in public. I wasn’t that girl, the woo girl who partied on the weekends and stuck her face out of limos and shouted into the night air just because she could.

“Come on.” He tugged me harder against him, his lips moving fluidly down my neck as his hips ground slowly into me, moving faster as he lifted my hands into the air and twirled me around.

I finally relaxed enough to let go.

We danced for a few songs while Reid continued torturing me by touching every inch of my body that he could without being indecent. By the time the fourth song ended I was ready to lose my mind.

The teasing had to stop.

“Drinks!” Max shouted, waving us over to the table, where he’d apparently ordered several rounds for everyone.

Control was my thing.

So drinking more than a few drinks in one night seemed . . . well, the exact opposite of being in control. I pulled one of the bottles of water and chugged, only to have it slapped out of my hand.

“No!” Max scolded me. “Girls who wear Dolce don’t drink water.” He shrugged. “Probably don’t eat either, but that’s not the point. The point”—he shoved a drink into my hand—“is that part of this night is about you letting go and being awesome. So be awesome.”

“The man has a point, Sebastian.” Reid lifted his glass into the air.

I sniffed the drink.

“What was that?” Max frowned. “Did you just smell your drink?”

“Well, what if you drugged me?”

Max laughed. “First, I would never drug one of my best friends—”

“We aren’t best friends,” I said shaking my head no.

“Second”—he elbowed Reid—“your innocence is showing. It’s impossible to smell drugs in your drink unless you purposely pour NyQuil into the glass, but people who do weird shit like that end up in prison, and you don’t want to end up in prison, do you?”

I had no idea how me getting drugged had turned into me going to prison, but I went with it. “Are you there?” I asked sweetly.

Max seemed to think about this for a while, then slowly shook his head. “No, not at the time of your arrest.”

“Oh, good, then I choose no NyQuil.”

“Aren’t you glad I was present during DARE week?” He grinned. “Even won the damn bear because I pledged to be drug-free for LIFE.”

“Yet you’re drinking.” I pointed at his glass.

“This?” He lifted it into the air. “Amateur. This is cranberry juice. Like I would drink in Vegas when I have to babysit you guys.” He knocked his drink back. “It’s my gift, take it or leave it.”

“I’m confused.” I looked to Reid, but his eyes were narrowed in suspicion, so maybe I should be more than confused. Alarmed? Maybe alarmed was the better word.

“Chill.” Max held up his hands. “My crazy days are over, all right? I just know this one”—he pointed to me, so clearly I was the one—“won’t let her hair down, so to speak, because her job is to be worried about publicity and actors not wearing underwear.” He lowered his gaze to Reid’s pants. “Dude, you are wearing underwear, right?”

Reid didn’t answer.

I grinned.

“See?” Max rolled his eyes. “Now, say you two were drunk and Reid started stripping in the elevator—”

“There will be no stripping in the elevator,” Reid interjected.

“And his light saber just pops out!” Max shuddered. “Can you imagine the ramifications?”

“The empire strikes back?” I joked.

Colton’s eyes got wide as he eavesdropped on my conversation, then steered Milo far away from us.

“Ha.” Max cackled. “Good one—ain’t nobody gonna be striking with that saber, feel me? At least not in public, that’s what you have me for!”

“So let me get this straight.” I cleared my throat. “You’re not drinking, so you can watch me and Reid and make sure he doesn’t pull out his light saber?”

Max frowned into his drink. “Well, it’s not like I’m going to watch him whip it out, but you get the picture.”

“Great mental picture.” Reid groaned. “Really, it’s like you’re trying to kill sex for me.”

“I always had a thing for Chewbacca.” I felt my cheeks heat.

“Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Max mimicked Chewbacca, then slapped Reid on the back. “May the force be with you, my son.”

“Max—”

“Reid, I’m not your father—”

“Max.”

“But . . .” Max handed us both new drinks, apparently I’d sucked mine down during his speech. “I’m more like the Obi-Wan to your Kenobi.”

“What’s a Kenobi?” I asked.

“It’s what happens when his light saber meets your . . .” Max squinted. “Force.”

“Good talk, Max.” Reid slapped him on the back, turned him around, and then waved down Becca to take him off our hands.