Page 23

I sent a map pin to my location and then held my phone to my chest, praying they would get here soon. I thought about ordering a rideshare, but waiting outside this place at night seemed just as dangerous as spending more time with Houston.
If they didn’t text me back in fifteen minutes, I’d suck it up and get an Uber. See what happened when I told him no. It wasn’t like he could force me to do anything with all these people around. As strange as it sounded, as long as I was here, I would be okay.
When I walked out of the bathroom, I nearly bumped into Houston, who was standing in the hallway.
“Took you a while in there,” he said.
What kind of a comment was that? “Takes girls a little longer,” I muttered.
“But not with me.” He winked.
When I realized what he was alluding to, I almost excused myself to go throw up. “Can you get me another drink?” I asked instead.
“Sure.” He walked toward our table. “But you barely touched this one?”
Desperate to get some time away from him, I tried my hand at seduction, licking the plain rim. “I’m thirsty.”
It must have worked, because his jaw went slack for a moment. He cleared his throat. “I’ll get that for you.”
As soon as his back was turned, I got out my phone. No new text messages.
Shit.
I quickly typed in my location for a rideshare, but we were farther away from my house than I thought. It would take at least thirty minutes for a ride to get here. That was too long. I needed to be gone five minutes ago.
I ordered it anyway, hoping I could stall long enough before he suggested we leave together.
He came back with the drink, holding it up. “Why don’t you finish these and I’ll take you back to my place?”
Shit. Think fast.
“Let’s dance,” I rushed out. “You—I mean, we were having so much fun doing that.” I just had to suffer through, what, five songs? I could do anything for five songs.
“Anything for my sexy girl.”
Barf.
He led me to the dance floor, his hands resting even lower on my butt, and began grinding his hips into me. My eyes widened in shock, because I could feel him growing hard.
“Do you feel that, baby?” he said. “You turn me on so much.”
My instincts took over, and I shoved him as hard as I could. “Get away from me,” I snapped. But he might as well have been a brick wall for all the effect my efforts had.
He chuckled. “Playing hard to get?”
I closed my eyes, wishing I could be anywhere but here when I felt his body pull away from me. I snapped my gaze up, wondering why he would give me space for the first time all night.
And then I saw him.Tyler.
He had Houston pushed up against a wall, his hands clenched into Houston’s silvery shirt. Even though Houston outweighed Tyler by at least fifty pounds, he cowered away from him.
Tyler jerked his hands and growled, “If you touch her again, you'll die.”
Terror was clear in Houston’s eyes as he held up his hands and said, “I don't want her anyway.”
Tyler shook his head, a vein in his neck throbbing. “Get the hell out of here.”
He watched Houston stumble away, out of the bar past everyone who acted like this was just another night.