“Yeah? Or to a certain Scotsman who’s had your attention for weeks now?”
Snickering, I flicked my eyes over to the bar. “Trust me, he’s got his distraction for the night. I’ll be dancing. Please pray I don’t get trampled.”
And before I could talk myself out of it, I walked down the stairs of the club, ignoring the biting pain in my feet from these too-high heels, down into the pulse of the dance floor.
I danced, letting the music swallow me whole, bodies pressing in around me, heat and sweat and rhythm blurring together as I threw my head back and let myself go. I wanted to forget the way his voice sounded when he called meloveand how his hands felt on my skin. But no matter how hard I tried to dance him out of my system, he was still there. When I exhaled and finally dared to look up… I fucking froze when I found him looking at me.Finally, I thought, caught off guard by the relief I felt. And oh, I was so screwed when I realized he no longer ignored the world around him.
He was standing at the railing above the dance floor, hands in his pockets, his body a picture of thinly veiled restraint. His eyes burned into me like a goddamn wildfire, scorching, unrelenting, and so fucking heavy.
The heat between us snapped tight, dragging me in, an invisible leash wrapped around my throat. The crowd moved around me, butall I could feel was him. God help me—all I wanted was him. If this were fan fiction, he’d storm down here and kiss me like I was the only thing worth burning for, but this wasn’t a chapter someone else could write.
I was tired of running. Didn’t want to keep trying to prove a stupid point. It would be so much easier to relinquish controland cave to this aching intensity growing between us.
And I realized… I wasn’t the one chasing, I was the one running—straight into his fucking arms, ready to be caught and claimed.
I snaggeda drink from a passing server and threw it back, the tequila burning all the way down and warming my skin in its wake. The music pulsed through me, and for the first time all night, I felt weightless. The crowd moved as one, the beat dictating every sway and grind, and I let myself be pulled along.
A second drink found its way into my hand—vodka this time, tangy with cranberry—and I sipped it more slowly. I let the alcohol settle in, humming through me like static. For the first time in weeks, something other than the pressure of work or my rampant sex drive sparked in me.
At some point, Kimi appeared beside me, grinning like the devil himself. “Dubois, you’re glowing,” he shouted over the bass.
“Maybe I’m just finally having fun,” I shot back, spinning away from him as the music shifted to something slower, darker, sexier.
As if drinking my weight to drown my emotions wasfun.Maybe the person the public was seeing now, the confident, unbothered female driver who was dancing with her teammate, appeared fun. But in reality, an hour ago I was begging to be fucked in a hallway by someone who was notoriously untouchable.
I just wanted to be one of those girls for one night. Let the sex run its course and get it out of our systems so we could goback to normal. If there even was anormalto return to, because this attraction had been boiling from the moment we met.
Kimi caught my hand, spinning me back with a laugh. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging!”
We fell into an easy rhythm, his touch floated near my waist, light and respectful, but enough to anchor me in the moment. He’d been by my side for so long, and having him as my teammate now could not have been a better fit.
He spun me again, my laughter bubbling up as we moved together. The crowd around us roared their approval, and I couldn’t stop the giddiness in me.
I didn’t have to look to know Callum was watching. My skin prickled, the searing heat of his attention more intoxicating than the alcohol coursing through my veins. I turned my head slightly, catching a glimpse of him at the edge of the dance floor.
I knew the look he was giving me. It was the same one on his face right before he slammed my hands to the wall and tugged my panties to the side. My thighs pressed together at the memory, my pulse tripping over itself as I remembered the feel of his stubble on my skin.
Kimi leaned in, his lips brushing my ear. “Look who’s here.”
I didn’t respond, my focus entirely on Callum, weaving through the crowd with an ease that was both infuriating and magnetic. My breath caught in my throat as he reached us, his hand brushing against Kimi’s shoulder in a silent dismissal. His presence swallowed the space beside me and my body reacted viscerally.
“Go on, then. You’ve got unfinished business,” Kimi said into my ear, then backed away with a playful salute. “You’re on your own, Dubois.”
I hesitated, glancing between Kimi and Callum. The drinks I’d had made my decision for me. I didn’t want to think anymore; I just wanted to feel.
There was no time before Callum stepped toward me. The crowd around us blurred as he reached for me, hands settling lightly on my hips, mine naturally holding onto his shoulders.
“You looked like you were having fun,” he murmured—a callback to earlier in thenight.
“I was,” I replied, my voice steady despite the way my pulse raced. “What are you doing? There are so many people around.”
“Making sure you don’t forget who your real rival is,” he said, his lips quirking into that infuriating smirk. For once, I’d like to see him actually smile.
Before I could respond, he pulled me closer—no, not just closer. He turned me, my back to his chest. It felt so natural the way our bodies fit together, how our hips moved in time to the music. He wasn’t making a scene. He was making a memory. One only I would remember in detail for the rest of my life.
The moan that left my lips was instant, because fuck,it was too much and not enough all at once. His hands gripped my waist, fingers flexing over my hips, holding me so tight I could feel the pulse in his fingertips. The feel of his body consumed me, all muscle and restraint, his breath hot against the shell of my ear.
Holy fucking hell.
