Page 25 of Running Risk

A few minutes later, a tray full of shots slides across the table, and Rylee licks her hand and sprinkles salt on damp skin. She turns toward me and hands me the salt shaker. Her eyes sparkle as she looks at me, making it impossible for me to say no.

“Alright.” Avery holds up his glass, and we follow suit. “To a night of fun with no regrets.”

We clink our glasses, lick, and throw back our shots.

The tequila burns as it glides down my throat, and we all bite the lime wedges.

“Country Girl” by Luke Bryan begins playing, and the girls cheer, shooting back another drink, and sliding off their bar stools to dance.

Avery grabs another and arches his eyebrow at me, waiting for me to do the same.

We throw them back, toss the limes on the table, and bump fists as we follow after the girls.

My steps are a little more wobbly than the last, but it takes me no time to find Rylee in the crowd of people.

I already feel more at ease thanks to the alcohol, and she lets me pull her against me with no resistance.

Her ass rubs against me, and I splay my hand on her stomach, forcing her to press further into me.

She pulls her hair to the side, and I take that as my invitation to bring my face down to her neck.

Breathing her in as my lips ghost over her perfect skin.

Her hand grabs the back of my neck, encouraging me not to stop as she continues to create friction between our bodies.

There are people all around us, but I don’t care.

I bring my lips up to the shell of her ear, and she shivers under my touch.

God, if that doesn’t make my cock strain more against my zipper.

My fingers trail up her arm, and I grip her hand around my neck.

Her chest rises and falls faster, and all I want is to hold her all night long.

But if she keeps swaying against me like this, it might have an embarrassing ending for me.

Gripping her fingers, I spin her out and bring her back into my arms so she faces me.

The warmth of her hands against my chest has me gripping her hips, wanting to bring her in closer.

Our rhythm is not anywhere close to how fast the song is, but I don’t care, and from the looks of her, neither does she.

Her hands trail up my chest, and her eyes follow the movement as she intertwines her fingers behind my neck.

I tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear, getting a glimpse of her flushed face.

I don’t know if it’s the alcohol, if I bring this reaction out of her, or maybe a little bit of both.

Cupping her cheek, the pad of my thumb rubs against her jawline.

Looking at her full lips, I lean closer, ready to finally feel what it’s like to kiss her.

Having her in my arms is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

I know kissing her would be more, and I want more.

I want all of her. Her breathing hitches the closer my lips get, then she’s yanked out of my arms.

“Come on! More shots!” Trish yells, pulling Rylee off the dance more.

My chest aches, knowing I was close to kissing her. Rylee peeks over her shoulder as she’s dragged away and reaches her hand out toward me. I interlace our fingers and follow the women. I ask the waitress for water. I need to keep my head clear when I’m around her.

“Oh, come on.” Rylee’s big blue eyes bore into mine. “Let loose a little, Clay.”

Rylee grabs my hand, and I take a step closer to her.

I grab onto her hip with my free hand, needing to touch her again.

It feels like we are the only two people here as she brings my hand to her mouth and licks it.

My eyebrows shoot up as I watch her sprinkle salt on the now wet area before her tongue licks it again.

My eyes slowly take her in as she doesn’t take her eyes off me.

She throws a shot back, and I hold out a lime wedge.

Her lips part as she sucks on it from my fingers.

This entire night is unlike any other. I’m always a person who goes to bed early for work the next day.

It’s getting close to midnight, but I have no desire for tonight to end.

I’ll stay here with her all night if she wants me to.

Sitting at our table, Avery and I watch the girls dance together without a care in the world.

They sing at the top of their lungs and ignore the world around them.

We switched to drinking water over an hour ago and have been eating appetizers to help soak up the alcohol, but the girls are three sheets to the wind.

“So you and Rylee were getting pretty cozy out there,” Avery says, then takes a bite of a potato wedge.

I shake my head. “You have no room to talk.” Trish and Avery danced together the whole time, and it wasn’t like she wasn’t asked to dance by other men. She stuck to him like glue.

He smiles. “Yeah. She wants me.”

“We probably need to break up the party soon,” I say to Avery without taking my eyes off Rylee. Her hips are moving, showing slivers of skin when her shirt slides up her hips.

“Already ahead of you.” Avery holds all our jackets, handing me mine and Rylee’s .

We wrangle the girls as they continue to dance back to the table. I can’t help but smile as I watch Rylee move without a care in the world.

Rylee loops her arms around my neck, her head lulling back to look at me. “What are we doing?”

Grabbing her hands, I get her to release my neck and put on her jacket. “I’m getting you home.”

Her face pinches as she groans. “No. . . I want to dance.” Spinning around, she reaches for Trish who is already trying to get out of Avery’s grasp. “Come on.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” I tuck her under my arm and lead her outside.

Avery brings Trish out right behind us. “We can get their vehicles tomorrow,” I say to Avery over my shoulder.

He nods as he gets Trish into his front seat.

I help Rylee get into my truck, and even though she wanted to keep dancing, she’s now struggling to keep her eyes open.

As I lean in to buckle her, she brings her hand to my face, tracing the scar over my eyebrow.

I freeze, closing my eyes at the contact.

“You’ve always been sexy as hell, but this”—her finger drags across the scar again. “It makes you more irresistible.”

I open my eyes. I never knew she thought of me like that back then, but how much can I believe when she has had so much alcohol? She’s either telling the truth or the liquor is impairing her memories. “Okay. Let’s get you home.”

After parking my truck in her driveway, I lift her sleeping body into my arms as I carry her into the house, placing her on the bed.

She moans and grumbles something incoherent.

I get her a cup of water. “Here.” I sit on the edge of the bed and gently lift her head up.

“Drink this.” She takes a few sips, and I place it on her nightstand.

I go to get up, but her fingers lace around my wrist and squeeze, pulling me back onto the bed. “Where are you going?” She sits up, and I place my hands on her hips to keep her steady .

“Easy, Ry.”

“Let’s have some more fun.” Her arms wrap around me as she falls into my chest.

“We had a lot of fun already. Now, it’s time to sleep.” I push her back, but this is hard as hell. This woman is gorgeous, and I want nothing more than to be with her. But I won’t do anything with a woman who’s completely wasted, especially not this woman.

“Come on, Clay.” Rylee gets off the bed, pulling her shirt over her head and shimmying her pants down her legs.

I take in her lace bra and thong, and my mouth goes dry at the sight.

She takes a step closer. She grips the bottom of my shirt and pulls it off my body.

She stands between my legs, and my hands instinctively go to her hips, feeling the soft skin against my fingertips.

My cock going rock hard for what feels like the hundredth time tonight.

Her nails rake up my chest and through my hair as her chest presses into me.

“Ry. . .” I stand, moving her so the back of her thighs press into the bed, and she sits down.

Her body laying back as her chest rises and falls with each breath, and she explores my chest through half-lidded eyes.

Her teeth bite her bottom lip, and it only makes this more difficult.

She’s irresistible and seeing her like this, I’m more likely to waver.

But I can’t. I have to do the right thing.