Bad Rep (Bad Rep, #1)(24)

I wanted him.  The truth was I had never stopped wanting him.  And I hated so much that he and I were not meant to be.  Because I knew, deep down, that we could be beautiful together.  And that just made me sad.

“Why do you look like someone just ran over your cat?”  Riley asked, sliding into the bar stool beside me.  I plastered a smile on my face and leaned over to give her a one armed hug.  She patted my back soothingly.

“I'm fine!  Just waiting for your sorry ass to get back,” I teased.  Jordan came back over then.

“Hey, Riley.  What'll it be?” he asked her.

Riley shot me a look, as if to say she knew what caused my bleak expression.  “Give me a g and t,” she said.  Jordan quirked his lips at her.

“Ah, living large tonight?” he asked.  Riley just rolled her eyes at him, not bothering to respond.  Chuckling, he went about making her drink.

“When will you stop being all depressed over him?  I thought you were over that?” Riley whispered after Jordan had brought her gin and tonic.  My eyes followed Jordan as he went into the kitchen to get someone's order.

“I'm not depressed.  And I am over that.  So just shut up about it,” I snapped.  Riley just raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

“Sure, you are,” she said flatly.  I was about to say something else when I felt a pair of lips against the back of my neck.

I jumped and whipped around to see Eli standing there with Randall, Cicely and another one of their friends.  Some guy they called K-dog.  Though I wasn't sure why.  “Hey!  You made it!” I said overly brightly.  I wrapped my arms around Eli's neck and gave him a hug.

Eli pulled up the stool on the other side of me and sat close.  He laid his hand on the top of my thigh and kissed the corner of my mouth.  “I told you I'd meet you here,” Eli replied, snaking his arm around my waist.

It was then that I noticed Jordan was standing in front of us.  He had a dark look on his face and I saw him dart his eyes from Eli to me and to Eli's arm encircling my middle.  I sat up a little straighter and eye balled him.  No way was he permitted to look like that when it was he who had the girlfriend.

“Get me a Budweiser,” Eli told Jordan, not looking at him.  Jordan's eyes met mine, his expression not happy.

“Yeah, sure.”  Jordan turned from me and took Randall and Cicely's orders.  Riley cleared her throat.

“This should be interesting,” she muttered, downing her drink.

“Whatever,” I replied flippantly, not wanting to admit that my stomach had suddenly tangled in knots.

Jordan slammed Eli's beer glass down on the bar and quickly walked away.  “What the f*ck?” Eli snarled, mopping up beer that had sloshed out of the mug.  I laughed awkwardly and drank the rest of my own drink.

The next hour consisted of Eli and his friends getting lit and Eli spending the entirety of the time trying to get his hands up my shirt.  On what planet had I thought meeting Eli here was a good idea?  I glanced at Jordan periodically and he was looking more and more pissed off.  I would catch him watching Eli as he tried to kiss me and then he would turn away, his shoulders tight.

I was about four drinks in when Eli put his lips to the side of my neck and flicked his tongue along my skin.  “I think it's about time we get out of here,” he growled in my ear, his hand heavy on my upper thigh.  I laughed a little uncomfortably and removed his fingers from my leg.

“I don't think either of us is driving anywhere,” I told him.

Eli's slobbery mouth moved to my chin and I tried not to cringe.  He was a mess.  “Well, I wanna go back to your place and f*ck you senseless.” He removed his mouth and grinned suggestively.  The whole thing was comical considering Eli could barely sit up straight and was swaying in his seat.  Dear lord.  It was suddenly hard to remember when I had found his drunken idiocy remotely attractive.

“Um...I don't think so.  Let's just hang out for a while longer.” I did not want to go anywhere with him right now.

Eli tugged at the collar of my shirt, pulling it down so that the top of my bra showed.  Crap, he was trying to give me a Janet Jackson moment!  I shoved at his hands but he had already put his lips right above my barely covered breasts.  This was deteriorating into bad amateur porn territory and fast.  My face flushed hot in embarrassment as I tried to shove him off.  “Get off, Eli.  This is where I work!  Not cool!”  My voice was hard and I was getting very, very angry.

Eli laughed it off and continued to assault me with his mouth; the other people around the bar were openly staring at us with barely veiled disgust.  “Get off, Eli!!!” I shoved at him again.  One minute he was there and the next he was on the floor.  The stool he had been sitting on toppled over and his beer glass shattered on the bar.

“Get the f*ck away from her!”  I heard a voice say dangerously low.  I blinked in surprise to see Jordan standing over Eli, the veins on his neck noticeable.  Eli sat up on his butt and sneered at Jordan.

“And what the hell are you gonna do about it?”  Bad move, Eli.  Jordan reached down and hauled Eli up to his feet and held him by the front of his shirt.