Sticky bodies bump into us, and I’m ready to walk back to Viv’s condo alone if she’s not ready to go.
I turn, and almost run head first into some preppy-looking guy. He smiles, and I try to return it, but my face doesn’t want to comply.
I glance around and realize Viv and I must’ve migrated away from each other during the last song because she’s talking to someone several feet away.
Preppy leans into me. “Dance with me, pretty girl.”
My first impulse is to decline, but then I remember how easy it was for Ethan to go out with another woman. “Sure.”
My new friend is handsome. Tall with black hair and a cute smile that sadly does nothing for me.
Thankfully, my body moves to the music automatically, the driving rhythm animating my limbs when all I want to do is crawl into bed and veg out in my pajamas.
I’m already glistening with sweat, but I’m breathing hard by the time the beat breaks into a new song five minutes later.
As I’m twisting my long hair back and out of my face, the guy moves closer.
“I’m David,” he yells as his hungry eyes take me in.
I take a step back, realizing I don’t want to go down this road. Ethan might not want me, but I’m not interested in hooking up with anyone else. Eighteen-year-old me would’ve been delighted to kiss away bad memories, but the college-dropout me is tired of this crap.
The club lights strobe, engulfing the room in darkness when they shift away. I scan the crowd for my friends, but I can’t make out more than bodies and long shadows.
“Thanks for the dance, but I have to go.”
“Wait! I thought we were having fun.”
He wraps his hand around my wrist, and I shake my head. “Sorry. I can’t.”
I start to walk away, but he yanks me back, and I stumble into him.What the fuck? He didnotjust grab me.
His meaty hand slides up my arm, and I’m opening my mouth to bitch him out for touching me when he flies backward, flailing into people on the way down.
I gawk at the guy, who’s sprawled on the floor.
My skin tingles, and I glance over my shoulder. Beneath the flickering strobe lights, I see him.
Ethan.
He steps closer, his brows furrowed as the music drops out, leaving the steady beat of the drum.
“You okay?” Somehow, over the din of the club, I hear his rumbling voice.
He’s here.
My chest swarms with boozy-headed butterflies.
I blink, wondering if I’m imagining him. But nope, he’s here.
He takes a step closer and gently grazes his fingers across my arm where David gripped me. “Tori.”
The way he’s looking at me, like he’s worried and pissed and maybe misses me? Makes me want to snatch that kiss I never got the other night.Yes, kissing. I definitely wanna do that with Ethan.
Except…
Except he’s probably here with Sandra.
On his date.
