Page 111 of Rush the Edge
“I have to get back to work,” she says, shoving Malaki’s arm off her shoulders. “Malaki said you were in here, so I wanted to say hi real quick before getting back to work.”
After giving Reese another hug, she heads for the door, where Malaki follows closely behind. They look to be in a heated conversation, except Malaki is half-smiling. I watch him open his phone to show her something, and before I know it, she’s heading back over to me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
She flips her warm brown locks over her shoulder and pulls me by the hand toward the bar. “I guess I’m staying.”
A bartender appears in front of us, bypassing most of the other customers, and takes her order. I decline another drink and lean against the bar. “What about work?”
Reese sighs, glancing at Malaki from across the dance floor. I keep my attention far away, knowing that Kane is probably getting dry humped by now.
“He…” Reese purses her lips before leaning close to me. “He just paid me more than I’d make Ubering to stay.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s a long story. But if I’m being paid to stay, I’d be stupid to leave, right?”
“Right. And not to mention…” I quickly glimpse over my shoulder, and a fire erupts in my stomach when Kane’s steely jaw catches my eye right away. There’s a girl dancing in front of him with her arm winding up his chest. “I could use an ally.”
I turn back toward Reese, and she’s smiling at me. “You’ve got it. Let’s dance.”
She pulls me onto the dance floor while scoffing at Malaki as he raises his glass to Reese, like he’s proud of her or something. I laugh and put my back to my brother, who is clearly having no issues letting loose, and grab onto Reese’s shoulders. We start to dance to the tempo of the song, and it doesn’t take long for my gaze to snag Kane’s through the sea of people.
My throat closes when I see him staring directly at me.
Not even a second passes before he skims his nose against his victim's neck. He whispers something in her ear, and suddenly, she grinds herself even faster against his front.
With my eyes still pinned to Kane, I reach my hand out and grab the first willing guy I can find. He replaces Reese, who happily moves to the other side of the bar to avoid Malaki.
I turn and press against the tall man behind me. His hands fall to my hips, and he moves them back and forth to the song. “You’re gorgeous,” he says, brushing his mouth against my ear. “I’m Nick, by the way.”
I hate that his sultry whisper does nothing to my body.
The only thing I can think of is Kane. I’m desperate to see if he is watching me with a jealous rage, like I was just doing to him.
In reality, neither of us should care or even engage in this stupid game we’re playing, yet here we are.
Too eager to catch his eye again, I spin and put my arms around Nick’s neck. His green eyes are vibrant and stand out against his olive-colored skin, even beneath the strobing lights. But they do nothing to spark any excitement inside of me.
My attention slips off to the left for the briefest of seconds, and my heart crashes to the floor.
Kane and the girl are both gone.
I drop my hands and spin around. My shoulders fall.
“You okay?” Nick asks.
“Um…” I nod. “Yeah, I just…” I spin again, in search of the bathroom so I can berate myself in private for the way my chest aches with hurt.
A soft gasp slips from my lips when I spot him.
With his broad shoulder propped against the wall near the darkened hall beneath the neon bathroom sign, he raises an eyebrow at me.
He’s asking me if I’ve had enough.
I’m scared to say no, but I’m afraid to say yes too.
Nick is waiting for me to finish my sentence, but I can’t figure out what to say. I search for River in the crowd, and when I find his back toward me, I take it as a sign.
