Page 20 of Game Changer (Hidden Attractions #2)

Ethan

As expected, Leo and Cameron hit it off. It took them less than five minutes to jump into a deep conversation about whether or not aliens are real. I’m pretty sure Leo was the one who broached the subject, and Cameron is tipsy enough by now to start entertaining conspiracy theories.

Mark came to Happy Endings dressed as Fred Flintstone, his muscular body on display like a Greek statue in the scrap of fabric that barely reaches his thighs. It’s an effort not to roll my eyes, but it’s very Mark. He’s never cared what anyone thinks.

We’ve all been occupying the edge of the dance floor, and it’s not because we’re trying to get lucky.

Maddie and Maya have been dancing their asses off for the past hour, and with men swarming around them like vultures, we decided to stay close just in case one of them got too handsy.

I’m not Maya’s protector, and I have full confidence she’d be able to tell these douchebags where to stick it, but selfishly, watching her hips move to the sultry beat has me glued right where I stand.

“When are you going to make a move?” Cameron shouts in my ear. The light from the DJ booth casts his face in an orange and red hue.

“I’ve been asking him the same thing,” Leo interjects. “She’s clearly into him.”

I heave a sigh of frustration. “You guys don’t know her. That’s just how she is! She’s flirtatious. It’s her personality.” Cameron whacks me upside the head. “Ow! Fuck was that for?”

“You’re being an idiot,” he says, taking a swig from his beer. “Dude, she asked you about sailing over spring break. She asked you to kiss her. She’s made every fucking move so far, and you’re questioning whether or not she’s into you?”

“That was before she fucking ghosted me. Or did you forget that part?”

“Look.” He throws an arm over my shoulder. “I’ve had my fair share of experience with women, and I don’t know what happened to make her ghost you, but she’s not over you in the slightest. It’s obvious.”

“It is not obvious.”

“She told you to find someone who would ride this cowboy hat off of you,” Cameron says slowly, as if I’m too dense to understand him. “Who do you think she meant?”

Mark slaps a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing while Leo, who’s dressed as a hot dog, blatantly chuckles.

“I don’t know!” I toss my hands up in frustration. “Maybe she wants me to find someone else so I can finally move on from her. Maybe she thinks I’m too obsessed with her, so she—” All three of my friends whack me on the head now. “Jesus!” I hiss. “What is wrong with you guys? That fucking hurt.”

“Good,” Mark replies. “Maybe we knocked some sense into you, then. We wouldn’t be pushing you to do this—all three of us—if we thought there was even a chance that she’d reject you again.

She’s into you, man, and it’s time you do something about it before someone else swoops her out from under you. ”

“Girls think it’s hot when a man takes charge,” Cameron adds.

Mark scoffs. “Not all of them.”

Leo’s eyes snag on a girl dressed as Little Bo Peep, and with full confidence he strides toward her. “I need to find my buns for the night!” he shouts over his shoulder. “I hope you do the same, Ethan!”

Mark tilts his head to the side. “Is he always like this?”

“Dorky and embarrassing? Yeah. He got his braces off and is trying to fuck everything with a pulse. Emphasis on trying .”

“Didn’t you say you woke up to him screwing someone?” Cameron asks.

“Thanks for reminding me of that, but, yeah. I guess his moves worked once . Although he hasn’t gotten lucky since. And I haven’t seen that girl come around again, so . . .”

“I like him,” Mark says. “He knows exactly who he is.”

I wonder what that must be like .

Before I can respond, two girls with obvious intentions saunter up to Cameron.

A girl with red hair and freckles dotting her nose and cheeks reaches him first. I’m used to girls hitting on Cameron over me, so when the blond wedges between Cameron and me and attempts to strike up a conversation, I know it’s to pass the time until she can shoot her shot with the six three football star. I got used to it a long time ago.

“Let me get your number,” the girl with freckles suggests. She blinks up at him with innocent baby blues, but Cameron keeps his eyes locked on the dance floor where my sister is having the time of her life.

“I’m taken,” he replies. He doesn’t give her the time of day, which seems to deflate the redhead’s ego.

And now that Cameron is off-limits, she shifts her eyes to Mark, who seems oblivious to the interaction.

He’s staring at the bar where Tabi waits for a round of drinks, and his lips twitch into a smile when he sees that along with the Happy Endings uniform, she’s wearing cat ears and has painted black whiskers on her face.

“I’m going to go irritate the Tabi cat,” he says with a wicked grin, abandoning the redhead before she even had a chance.

This leaves me, the last option on the table, but the girl doesn’t have an opportunity because Maya grabs me by the hand and tugs me toward her instead.

My sister has found Cameron again, and he pulls her in for a kiss before sliding his hands down her back.

I was an idiot for thinking he couldn’t change, when he’s clearly so obsessed with Maddie.

His gleaming eyes meet mine. “I think we’re going to head back to the hotel. I’ll see you tomorrow? Mark said you guys are coaching youth football.”

Of course he did .

“ He is coaching. I’m just a guest.”

“Cam.” Maddie childishly tugs on his arm, and when he stares down at her, it’s clear how strong of a hold she has on him. His entire face melts as he kisses her forehead.

“Sorry, baby. Let’s go. Do you need me to carry you?”

“Yes.” Maya responds for her. “She’s had three shots tonight.”

For Maddie, that’s more like six.

Cameron nods in understanding. “Got it. Thanks. See you tomorrow, Ethan.”

Maya turns to me with pleading eyes as he carries Maddie out of the bar. “Dance with me.”

I don’t have a chance to refuse before I’m pulled onto the dance floor during a Bad Bunny song, which happens to be her favorite artist. The beat is sensual.

Sexy . And I’m completely unprepared when she spins around and presses her ass up against me.

I have no idea where to put my hands. No idea if she wants me to touch her.

I mean, she’s dancing on me, but that doesn’t mean . . .

Cameron, Mark, and Leo’s remarks a few minutes ago make me cringe.

Okay, so maybe she does want this.

The question is, what am I going to do about it?

Maya puts her hands on her knees, and her hips take control.

I’m hard as a fucking rock as I stare at one of my biggest weaknesses bouncing in circles on the crotch of my jeans.

I know she can feel it, yet she doesn’t pull away.

The music takes over, and with the crowded dance floor, the heat is getting to be too much.

My control is slipping, and the sanity I’ve tried so desperately to hang on to crumbles when she stands upright again and presses the full length of her back against my chest.

I groan when she reaches behind me to grab the cowboy hat off my head and places it on hers instead.

Then she interlocks our fingers and drags our hands to her thigh.

I’m panting heavily as she grinds against me and moves our hands a little higher every few seconds.

If we get any higher, I’ll touch the thong that’s been teasing the fuck out of me all night.

“Are you drunk?” I pant into her ear.

Please say no .

She twists her head to the side, that devious smile returning to her pink lips. “No. I stayed sober in case I needed to ride the hat off a certain cowboy tonight.”

The rope has already snapped.

My sanity is gone.

And before I let myself overthink it, my lips meet hers in a ferocious hunger that consumes every ounce of my being.

I don’t care that we’re in a bar with our friends. I don’t care that it’s ninety degrees in here when I spin her around so I can push her against the wall and slide my hands down her waist. All I can think about is her lips on mine. I can’t get enough of her. My lips can’t kiss her fast enough.

I want to devour her.

Who cares if I don’t know the reason that she ghosted me? It doesn’t matter when she wants this. She wants me , and we’ll figure out the rest as we go.

She gasps when my tongue runs up the column of her neck, and when I bite her earlobe, she slumps against the wall and tilts her head to the side.

Just like the first time, lust seems to be a blanket for my anxiety. It overpowers my nerves, and adrenaline takes its place, making me the most confident version of myself. I suddenly know exactly where I want my mouth. I know exactly what I want to do with her.

And I can’t do those things in a crowd full of people.

“We need to leave,” I growl. “Right now.”

She nods while attempting to catch her breath.

“Your room or mine?”

“I—” She closes her eyes as my hands skate down her sides. “What if I told you I had a place closer than the dorm? A place we could go right now?”

My eyes darken at the thought. “I’d say what are we waiting for, then? I’d tell you to take me there so I can give you your real birthday present.”

I don’t have to tell her twice. Maya laces our fingers again, and drags me through the bar to a hallway in the back, and the entire time, I can’t fight the smile on my face.

Happy Endings might live up to its name after all.