Page 7 of Rebellious Hearts

SOFIA

Ididn’t do one-night stands. I didn’t fuck around, I didn’t pick up guys for no good reason, and Idefinitelydidn’t go home with strangers.

Usually.

But a girl has needs, right? And since dating wasn’t my deal, once in a while I let loose and allowed myself to do something crazy.

“You’re sure you’re going to be okay?” Elena asked when I whispered to her that Ben wanted to take me home and that to say no to a god like him would seriously be a carnal sin.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll send you my location.”

“Good,” Elena said. “In that case, honey, have fun.”

“You look like you’re not doing too bad yourself.” I nodded at Luke.

“Yeah… we’ll see how it goes. He’s not exactly my type and his sister is a buzzkill.”

I giggled. “Just let him down easy.”

Elena chuckled and squeezed my hand. “Have fun.”

When I turned to Ben and told him I would go home with him, he looked surprised. Like he’d taken a long shot and hadn’t been sure it would work.

Truthfully, I wouldn’t have allowed someone to talk to me like that, but he wasn’t disrespectful. In fact, he was charismatic as hell, and something about him drew me. Maybe it was the square jaw, the perfectly straight nose, or the stylishly tousled dirty-blond hair and the Adonis-like muscular build that made my lady parts tingle.

Maybe it was the black ink curling around his throat and spilling down his chest, bold lines accentuating every hard plane of muscle.

Or his quick wit and the way that he actually understood my jokes. That didn’t happen a lot. Guys didn’t usually want me to speak all that much, and I wasn’t the type to believe in a silent woman by your side.

But maybe it was the look in his deep hazel eyes, the way he looked like a small part of him expected rejection by default, and when he was accepted, it lit something inside of him that was just…

You’re thinking too much, I scolded myself.

When I did something like this, thinking wasn’t a good idea. That was usually my downfall because after thinking came overthinking, and when that happened, I was screwed.

Ben leaned over and whispered something to Luke, who nodded and jutted a thumb out to his sister, who scowled. Despite the two of them being real-life people, and Ben’s friends, they both looked like they’d fallen out of the pages of some elite magazine and into the real world. They were polished and bronze and beautiful with equally blonde hair and blue eyes and the kind of sheen that only a metric fuck ton of money could buy.

Then again, most of Jester’s clientele were like that.

The only reason we were drinking here tonight was because Elena’s boss had given her a hell of a raise and we’d decided to splurge a little.

Which now we didn’t have to even count because Ben had said he’d cover the bill after I’d taken a chance and made it his problem.

As he talked to them, I watched Ben.

Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. He wore expensive jeans that hugged his hips and ass just right, and the polo shirt stretched across his muscular back.

When he stood and turned, his profile again made me think there was something familiar about him, but then he strode to me with long legs and powerful thighs.

“Let’s get out of here.”

I nodded, and we stepped outside. A black car waited for us, and Ben opened the door.

“Private chauffeur?”

He really had to be loaded.

“It’s not safe to drink and drive.”