Birthday Girl(98)

Can she?

Just then, a gang of women pull a young blonde on stage, and I see Jordan resisting them, laughing but shaking her head nervously.

What the...

I can’t hear her, but I see her lips mouthing no over and over again as she digs in her heels and tries to pull her arms away from her sister.

Someone from behind reaches in front of her and unzips her little, white sweatshirt, and I launch forward, but then a pitcher of water is dumped all over her chest, and I halt, momentarily frozen.

Her eyes go wide, her mouth falls open, and she looks like she’s in shock from the undoubtedly cold water as she just stands there with her hands out in front of her and her sweatshirt now draping down her bare arms.

The ends of her hair are wet, but her long, sexy layers wisp around her face, and water streams down her stomach, making her skin glisten.

Where did she get that lingerie top? It’s cream-colored and lacy, thin straps over her shoulders, and damn-near see-through. Her dark nipples are visible from here, as are the curves of her breasts as the wet fabric clings to her body.

And my eyes burn as they drift around the room to every guy watching and catcalling her. She should be wearing that in my fucking bed. Not on a goddamn stage. I ball my fists.

She seems to break out of her shock, because she suddenly hugs her arms to her body and darts off stage, leaving her sweatshirt behind. She launches down the steps and runs along the wall, toward the hallway where the bathrooms are. Some girls at a table grab for her, calling her name, and she keeps going and turns her smile back at them and blushing to her friends. Or her sister’s friends.

Suddenly, she looks up and locks eyes with me, coming to a halt. The girls at the table see her stop and follow her gaze, glancing between the two of us.

The two vertical dips in her stomach on both sides of her belly button glimmer, covered in drops of water, and the sight of her skin makes my cock fill with blood.

She wore that. She purposely put it on, which means she was considering going up there. I raise my eyes from her body and stare at her, taking a step forward.

Mine.

She backs up a step.

I move again. And so does she.

“It was an accident,” she snaps, her eyebrows pinched in a scowl. “She was just playing around. I don’t need any crap about something that wasn’t my fau—”

I rush up to her and wrap my arm around her waist, taking her face in my hand and pulling her mouth to mine.

She whimpers, surprised, and I don’t care who sees us at the moment. Without breaking the kiss, I walk her backward, into the hallway, and around the corner.

She tears her mouth away. “What are you doing?”

But God, I’m so hungry. I dive for her lips again, tasting her tongue and threading my hand through her soft hair.

“No.” She pulls away from me.

I drop my arms, my heart pounding and my fingers still buzzing with the feel of her skin.

“I’m not going to fight with you,” I tell her, breathing hard, “and I’m not going to ask you to come home. I just want to say I’m sorry.”

She lifts her chin, feigning ignorance. “About?”

“The pizza, the movie…”

“Forgetting me,” she adds.

I approach her, trying to stay calm and keep my hands off her. “I didn’t forget you. I can’t…forget you.”

She’s quiet, holding my eyes, and I’m not sure what’s going on in her head, but I just needed to say it to her face. I don’t want her acting out because she thinks I was being careless with her.

Without another word, she twists around and heads down the hallway, pushing through the exit.

“Where are you going?” I follow her.

“My sister has a change of clothes in her car,” she answers, still sounding impatient with me. “I’m fine, and I’ll be home later, okay?”

She reaches Cam’s white Mustang in the crowded parking lot and goes to the driver’s side.

“Stop.” I come up behind her, putting my hand on the door in front of her. “Just let me explain.”

She twirls around, a sympathetic look on her face. “Oh, I’m sure you have an excuse. A really good one. No worries.”

She turns back around and reaches for the handle, but I need her to listen. Just for a second.

“Stop. Please.” I breathe hard, staring at the back of her head. “Jordan, I…

I swallow, just wanting her to turn around and look at me with her sweet smile and gentle eyes again.

I drop my voice to barely a whisper. “I can’t lose him,” I tell her.

She stills, and all I can hear is her breathing. Did she have any regrets when she woke up this morning?

She finally turns and looks up at me, nodding calmly. “I know,” she says softly. “So you have to lose me. I get it. I don’t want to hurt him, either.”

She spins around again to open the door, but my head falls forward into her neck, and my eyes close. She’s like water slipping through my fingers, and I’m dying here.

“I’m falling for you,” I whisper.

Slowly, she turns around again, and I don’t know if I should’ve told her that, but I raise my weary eyes, taking in her quiet expression. Her eyes look equally floored and something caught between desire and struggle to hold back.