I punch him again. I know, I need to stop, but the kid won’t shut his face.
“Damn it, Jay!”
“What?” I ask innocently, and finally he walks away, grumbling that I’m an asshole.
“Jeez, what was that about?” she asks
me then before taking another shot. Her eyes are glazing over, her cheeks rosy from the bitter liquid. She looks like she did that night, and man, I wanted her then and I want her now.
“He’s an idiot,” I say, taking one of her shots. Wanting to change the subject, I say, “Four more, all yours.”
“Jerk.”
“Baby.”
She glares before downing all four in a row. She looks up at me and says, “I think I’m gonna puke.”
“Probably. Need me to hold your hair?”
She swallows hard and shakes her head. “A respectable, classy girl doesn’t need her hair held.”
I raise a brow. “I don’t know about that.”
“Eh. Me either, but I’m good. I swallowed it.”
“Because that’s hot,” I joke and she smiles, her cheeks matching her lips. “So that’s the reason you don’t want friends? Because of those assholes?”
She shrugs. “One of the reasons,” she says slowly as she draws in a breath through her nose. “I mean, why make friends when I have a one-way ticket out of here?”
I pause for a moment as she takes a long pull of Coke. Looking up at me, she meets my gaze as I say, “Because it’s better than being lonely, don’t you think?”
“So what, you want to be my friend?” she asks, her eyes challenging me.
Flashing her a grin. “We can start at that.”
When Sia’s “Chandelier” starts to blare through the party, her eyes light up and she starts singing. And when I say singing, I mean screaming the words at the top of her lungs. Laughing, I watch as she slowly slides her jacket down her arms, throwing her arms up in the air. Soon everyone in the kitchen is singing and dancing along. When the chorus comes on, though, she’s on top of the counter, spinning and singing like a madman.
It’s so fucking awesome.
When Markus and Jace all of a sudden jump up there with her, dancing and being goofy, I can only sit back and grin. She’s dancing around, carefree, and I love it. When she looks at me though, her eyes are dark before she reaches for my hand, pulling me up there with her. It’s unexpected, but I would never say no to dancing with her. Moving our bodies close together, my arms around her waist loosely, she sings, badly, in my face and I can only laugh.
As the song ends, a sweet little grin on her face, I drink her in because I know I won’t get many moments like this. We dance for a while, but then I want to be closer. Pulling her in, I slide my hand down her hips as she moves against me. When she looks back at me though, her eyes go wide and she takes a step back at the end of a song, almost falling off the counter, but I pull her back to me.
She eyes me and then points at me. “This is weird.”
“Weird?” I ask as she breaks free of my arms. “I was thinking great, nice, perfect even.”
Climbing down, she looks over at me and says, “Yes, but we don’t get along.”
“But we could,” I say as I get down with her, grabbing my beer and meeting her gaze.
“I’m sure it won’t last.”
Shrugging one shoulder, I tip my beer to her. “It would if you’d forgive me.” Her brows come together, and then I hold her gaze. “You haven’t forgiven me for what I did back in Florida.”
She waves me off, looking away. “I don’t even think of it anymore.”
“You’re lying,” I say automatically.