Hanging On (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2)(52)

I hugged him, liking the warmth of his body. Liking him near me. Hating that trusting another human being could sometimes be so damn hard. Especially when you’d been burned a few times before.

He kissed me and put his mouth to my ear, “We’ve made it past my mother. My issue. We’ve made it past your friend. Your issue. We made it past a lunatic ra**st/murderer. Our issue. What’s next?”

I whispered back, “Gladis’s party.”

We both grimaced and headed back.

Chapter Eleven

The night progressed nicely, if not over drunkenly. The party atmosphere the girls created by being in a new place, a VIP section, and all around just wanting to have fun, spread throughout the whole party. I had been worried that my crew would be the only drunken messes. Turned out we blended in. I always said open bars were dangerous!

We’d decided to burn off a little alcohol and hit the dance floor for the second time. Usually we were dance floor residents in most places, but those danged stairs were just so much work. And the free bar was so far away when we were down there.

William followed us down to dance, Adam and Brad right behind. I had a feeling the boys didn’t want to see heads rolling down the steep incline. Well, except for Brad, who seemed sweet on our little Jane. I caught her running her fingertips up his arm as she leaned in to talk. I bet she was trying to glance her cle**age off him and wasn’t close enough. She was pulling out all the tricks in quick succession, and he was falling for it just as quickly. Horniness on both parts probably explained it. Regardless, he would probably follow her around the club for the rest of the night.

We got to the top of the stairs and the boys stepped up.

“Going down?” William asked, holding out his arm.

“Me, too, Willie,” Lump said, grabbing onto his other arm. She hadn’t picked a man yet, her choice being taken. She was as picky as all hell. Too picky.

When Adam stepped up, he didn’t have to open his mouth before Flem and Claire took their sides, Claire leaning a little more heavily then she needed to. Jane got Brad all to herself. She also leaned heavily. Shameless!

When we got to the dance floor the girls let go of their support systems, except Jane, and headed to the center. We saw a couple more people from our party, including Moose and his girlfriend. William and I danced with them for a second, then William got closer and I lost sight of everyone else.

“So, Mexico, huh?” he said close to my ear.

“Uh…yeah. Not my finest moment. So I’ve been told.”

“You don’t remember any of it?”

“Not past the third shot of tequila. I meant to tell you—watch me closely when I get drunk. I sometimes need a babysitter.”

“I have permission to overprotect, now, huh?”

“Just from myself, yeah. When drunk.”

“Hmmm.”

He slid his leg between mine. I felt his lips against my ear lobe and his hands slip down to my butt, pulling me into him.

“You do look beautiful. Did I tell you?”

“Nope. Thanks. You’re okay, I guess. You know, if being hot is your thing.”

He chuckled and nibbled down my neck.

“Your friends are fun. I see now why Candace wasn’t enough.”

“Yeah, they bring more than their boyfriends to a party. Speaking of which, where is she?”

William smirked into my neck. “Waiting until her boyfriend is available to come to the party.”

“See?”

“You’d come without me?”

“And have, yeah. I’ve had practice, since the guys before you never got me there.”

It took him a moment to realize I was no longer talking about a party. He chuckled, hunger lighting up his eyes.

“Mind in the gutter. Anyway, what do your friends think of me? Good or bad?” William leaned back so he could read my face.

“Horrible. Pretty boy suck-up with a mommy complex.”

“Not going to get a straight answer out of you am I?”

“No, sir. Too turned on for seriousness.”

“Hmmm.”

He pulled me into him a little harder, increasing the friction of our groins, moving his h*ps and his body perfectly to both mine and the music. We weren't concerned about spectators so we let our dancing get more familiar, him touching me, me running my hands over him. We were showing off for each other as well as dancing.

It wasn't until I was pushed aside by Flem that I remembered my surroundings. She danced up close to me with William at her back, then turned to face him and did the same. Then she turned herself in a circle, grabbed my hand, and led me to where the other girls were, where we all danced together without a care in the world. Guys encircled us with a perimeter. Moose's girlfriend and her friends were pushed in with us, and we made them at home. Soon more girls pushed into the fray.

We were surrounded by our whole party, then some, when I stopped. I was a sweaty, nasty mess. I needed air, which in this place, simply meant I needed to leave the dance floor.

I tapped Lump and Jane and nodded upwards. They passed it on, sweaty faces, one and all. I saw William, who was a world away on the opposite side of the dance floor, exiting out his side with Adam in tow. Meeting point: stairs.

As I pushed past the row of sweaty man-bodies, I felt a hand cup my ass and squeeze. I jumped at the same time I heard Jane squeak and saw that someone was grabbing at her breast. Instinct was to freak out, scream and possibly cry, all the while covering myself and waiting for help. But this was a club, and these boys were young morons. This sort of behavior happened, unfortunately, and the best way to handle it was to stay calm, and let Lump take care of it. If Lump wasn’t there, create a huge ruckus to attract the bouncers. Otherwise, kick some ass and get the hell out of there.