Never Far Away (The Never #2)(64)

“Oh no. You spent an hour in that bathroom getting ready while I waited patiently. We’re going out. You remember how sexy you think I am at this moment when you try to get me to dance. All sexiness evaporates when I try to dance.” He took her by the hand, pulled her out from his body, and made her spin around. “But we don’t have to worry about dancing because there is no way I am letting you out on a dance floor in this.” He pulled her back to him suddenly, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

“I really like Possessive Porter,” she whispered up to him.

“Well good, cause Possessive Porter is your date for the evening.” He bent down to her and as his lips touched hers, it was as if he’d branded her. Heat torched through her veins and she gripped his biceps to keep herself upright. He pulled away as quickly as he’d swooped in and she couldn’t help but laugh at the bright red lipstick that was now covering his mouth.

“Come on Possessive Porter, we should probably clean the lipstick off you before we go.”



It had been years since Ella had been to an honest-to-God dance club. She was worried to a certain degree that she’d be the oldest woman there, but she was surprised to see quite a few women who looked to be in their thirties. She wasn’t interested in feeling like a chaperone. Porter had her by the hand and led her through the crowd to where Megan and Patrick were seated at a tall table against a wall that lined the dance floor. Ella felt the bass of the music thumping through the floor and when she got to Megan, she was forced to yell in her sister’s ear just to be sure she could hear her.

“Hey, Megs!” She shouted.

“FELLA!” Megan yelled as she jumped from her stool to give Ella a wobbly hug. Ella gave Patrick a look over Megan’s shoulder that said ‘She’s already drunk?’ Patrick just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. If there was one thing Ella knew about Patrick, it was that he loved Megan. He was secure enough to let her be her wild self, but man enough to not take any crap from her either. There were times they fought as hard as they loved, and Ella had always been a little jealous of how passionate they seemed to be about each other. No one could handle Megan like Patrick could, but no one could love Patrick better than Megan.

Ella watched as Porter reached out towards Patrick to shake his hand. Patrick shook his hand and then they did the weird, mannish, half-hug thing that guys did. Porter said something in Patrick’s ear and she watched Patrick nod his head. Porter slapped him on the back and Ella smiled as she watched Porter make friends with her future brother-in-law.

“You started the party without us,” Ella said in Megan’s ear.

“I only had a few drinks to warm up. It’s fine! Once Kalli gets here, we’ll all dance and have a good time!” Ella smiled and took a moment to remind herself that Megan was just twenty-two. She was still in the ‘I can drink every weekend if I want to’ stage of life, while Ella was in more of the ‘I’ll take a glass of wine or two with dinner every now and then’ stage of life. She decided to let Megan enjoy her promotion party, knowing that Patrick would never let anything happen to her.

“Is Kalli bringing that Scott guy?” Ella asked.

“I’m not sure. I know she invited him, but I’m not sure if he’s coming.”

“Have you met him yet?”

“No. She’s been keeping him to herself,” Megan answered with a wink.

Ella felt Porter come up behind her. She felt her body respond with warmth as he placed his mouth right near her ear.

“Do you want something to drink?” His voice sent vibrations along her neck that made her shiver.

“Yes, can you get me a vodka sour, please?” She asked sweetly.

“Sure,” he said, as he placed a small kiss just below her ear. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He walked towards the bar and disappeared in a sea of people, most of whom were gyrating and rubbing various parts of their bodies against each other.

“So,” Megan sang in Ella’s ear. “You and Porter?” She made it sound like a question.

“Yeah?” Ella answered, not really sure what Megan was getting at.

“You’re good? I mean, happy?” Ella smiled at her sister. She was always worried about her and there were times she thought Megan would have made an excellent big sister.

“Megan, I am deliriously happy, really.”

“Good. You guys look good together. It never occurred to me, until just now, that the only time I ever really saw the two of you together was when you were in a coma.” Megan laughed, sensitive sister moment over. Ella had to laugh too.

Just then Kalli came up to their table.

“Kal!” Ella exclaimed. She stood up to hug her friend and realized it had been a while since they’d seen each other. “I’ve missed you.”

“Ella, I’ve missed you too.” Ella pulled away and smiled at her. Kalli made her way over to Megan and gave her a hug as well. Then she pulled up a stool and sat down in between them.

“Where’s your date?” Megan asked.

Kalli rolled her eyes in frustration.

“He’s a little hot and cold, I’m afraid. I invited him and he said he’d try and make it, but I’m not holding my breath.”

Ella frowned and rubbed her hand up and down Kalli’s arm, trying to comfort her.