A warm hand skimmed up my arm and into my hair, before cupping the back of my head. Forgetting the aquamarine eyes that flashed in my mind just then, I met the dark gaze of my dance partner and held perfectly still as he closed the distance between our lips. I mentally prepared myself to like it, but the kiss never made contact.
Muscle Guy was ripped backward and replaced by a very blond, very furious Ezra.
“Absolutely the fuck not.”
I wasn’t sure if it was anger or embarrassment that lit me up like a sparky Christmas light, but I was ready to burn some shit down. How dare he. How fuckingdarehe! Ezra had no right to break up what I was sure would have been a pleasant evening of me being pressed against a wall.
Instead, he cockblocked me. I was stuck with a wasted buzz,noaction, and forced to wait like a naughty child while he stared like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to yell or spank me first. I stared right back. So I should have left a note.Bigdeal. It didn’t give him the right to get between me and my coping mechanisms.
Not that he knew what I was trying to achieve tonight, but by the way his gaze caught on my legs, he probably had a good idea. They were just shy of being indecently exposed in this skirt, and I shifted in my boots as the silence stretched on.
At least, until Muscle Head decided to speak up.
“Come on, man, what’s the deal? Find your own hook-up.”
I winced and wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe because I hadn’t decided if I was going to go that far yet or not. Groping was on the list. An orgasm for sure. But a full-on dick down? Doubted it. The more the alcohol waned, the more I remembered why I wasn’t that attracted to the guy in the first place, and I winced again. There would have been regrets in the morning for sure.
Ezra wasn’t here for him, a fact made obvious when he didn’t even bother to turn around and answer. No. He only had eyes for me. Or…glaresfor me. I watched him take in my messy hair, half fallen from dancing, my flushed cheeks, and semi-glazed expression.
His nose wrinkled when he caught a whiff of the spilled beer all over me, and I wanted to hide in a hole. He looked disgusted. My arms wrapped around my waist as he finally glanced away to address the muscley elephant in the yard.
“She’s clearly drunk,” he said, nostrils flaring in annoyance.
I was not! I mean, I wasn’t going to drive a car or anything, but I was present enough to know if I wanted to play with this guy’s dick. Wait… I shook my head. That wasn’t the point. Who the hell did Ezra think he was to judge me or tell me who I could make completely regretful decisions with? The audacity.
“She’sclearly right here and can speak for herself,” I pouted. It definitely came out a little less bitey than I wanted.
“Yeah,” the guy agreed. “Let the lady make up her own mind.”
See, he got it. I heard Ezra scoff, and my fists clenched in response.
“What part of ‘she’s had too much to drink,’ did you not understand?” he growled, and I swore the temperature around us dropped a couple degrees.
“I haven’t had so much that I can’t make my own decisions on who I want to fuck.”
Ezra spun around in disbelief. His brows rose until I thought they’d fly off his face, but his mouth was set in a firm line. I crossed my arms, daring him to argue. He thought he could just follow me here and drag me back to the house like a petulant teenager? I was a grown-ass woman who dealt with her problems in grown-ass ways… usually.
He was definitely deep in my personal space, close enough that I caught the scent of something crisp and fresh, but I refused to back down. His glare intensified, and I met it with the heat of my own.
Asshole, I’m not going anywhere.
He cocked his head to the side, as if he heard me, and then smiled. A sliver of suspicion rose as he stepped back so he was no longer between me and the guy I’d completely forgotten about until then.
“Just as long as you’re home for the morning bottle and diaper change,” he told me, then winked.
My mouth opened and then closed when I couldn’t come up with a response fast enough. “What?” was the only thing that squeezed out.
Muscle Head coughed uncomfortably.
Ezra looked back and forth between us before faking a frown. “She didn’t tell you she’s a mother? Not very responsible when it comes to prevention, that one.”
Oh, I was going to kill him. “You fucking—”
“I-I don’t want any kids.” Muscle Head was backing away, hands waving as if that alone could keep his sperm firmly in his balls.
“Me neither, my guy,” Ezra whined, all sad and pathetic. “But look at me now; up for late night feedings, shitty diapers, and chasing down my baby mama because she only wants to party.”
His hand rested on his chest, and… Was that asniffle? He was not—
