Crazy Stupid Love (Crazy Love #1)(19)
“Ever?” I ask, surprised by her response.
“I mean, I have before but I don’t usually. Besides, I’m only nineteen, and I don’t want to get you in trouble.” The color of her cheeks only deepens.
Fuck me; this girl is going to be the f*cking death of me.
“Nineteen...” I let it hang it there for a long moment. I knew she was young but f*ck, I didn’t know she was that young.
“How old are you?” She hits me with curious eyes.
“Twenty-five.” I give her a short answer before changing the subject back to the matter at hand. “Now how about that birthday drink? I insist.” I hit her with a reassuring smile when she opens her mouth to protest, snapping it shut when she finally accepts that I’m not going to take no for an answer.
Proceeding to fill the shaker glass with ice before adding a variation of liquids to it, I can feel her eyes on me as I pour the purple drink into her glass and slide it towards her.
“Purple Hooter.” I laugh lightly at how apprehensive she looks. “It’s good, I promise; very fruity.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” She narrows her eyes at me.
Leaning across the bar, I stop only when my face is just a few short inches from hers.
“You can’t,” I speak low, my gaze holding hers.
I’m close enough that I can hear her sharp inhale and see the way the heat floods her eyes. It’s the first time I’ve ever been convinced that her mind is exactly where mine is.
Without another word she slowly lifts the glass to her lips, her eyes not leaving mine as she pours the liquid down her throat.
Chapter Seven
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Kimber
I know he’s watching me. I can feel his eyes burning into the flesh of my back as I move freely across the dance floor, my blue A-line dress swirling around me. Harlee and Angel finally managed to drag me out here after four shots of the purple liquid Decklan has kept on endless supply for all three of us over the last hour.
Every time we go to the bar there’s another set of shots lined up. After the first shot Decklan made me, he gave me three yellow bracelets and told me to have fun. I feel guilty for taking advantage of him in this way; I can only imagine the trouble he could get into if someone found out that not one of us is actually old enough to drink.
Even still, I can’t deny how good it feels to finally just let loose. I came here to shed the girl I was in West Virginia; to reinvent myself. Since I’ve been here, I have done very little in the way of that. I guess it’s harder to branch away than I realized it would be.
“Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot.” I hear Angel chant beside me before I feel her arm loop through mine and begin to pull me from the dance floor.
“You really don’t need me do you?” I object, not ready to stop dancing yet; my body high on the warm buzz running through my veins.
“Considering it’s your birthday.” Harlee appears at my other side. “Yes, we do.”
We finally manage to fight our way through the crowd and reach the bar, but to my disappointment it is Gavin, the sexy bartender/co-owner I met last weekend, who serves us and not Decklan. Of course, the other two seem quite pleased by this fact, considering they know Decklan is off limits.
Not like I have some claim on him or anything. But having heard me go on and on about him all day today, I think they pretty much gathered that I am very interested. Not to mention that is why they insisted on coming here tonight. They had to meet the man that had me all sorts of flustered and babbling like an idiot after the kiss he laid on me last night.
My hand instinctively goes to my mouth, my fingers tracing lightly across my bottom lip as I remember the feeling of his touch, his taste, how powerfully he commanded my entire body.
Snapping out of my daze, I try to act unfazed by Decklan’s absence. Taking one of the six shots Gavin sits in front of us, I tilt it to my lips, pouring the sweet liquid down my throat.
Setting the empty glass back on the bar, I catch sight of Decklan just as he appears from a door to the right of the bar with a spunky little red head fast on his heels.
My stomach twists violently and an instant rage swarms my body. I don’t have to think very hard about what they were doing behind wherever that door leads. I can tell by the girl’s disheveled hair and the way Decklan adjusts his shirt.
It’s only seconds before his eyes meet mine, and I know instantly that my face must give away my reaction to what I just witnessed. I can tell by his own reaction, the way his features seem to tighten. Ripping my eyes away, I grab another shot and pour it down, then another, ignoring the cheers of my two friends who are clearly enjoying watching the uptight good girl from West Virginia pound shots like a mad woman.
“Let’s go,” I holler over the music, not waiting for the girls to join me as I push my way back through the crowd.
I don’t stop until I have reached the center of the dance floor, the effects of the shots starting to take hold as the music pounds through my ears. Within seconds, I feel two arms slide around me. Turning my face slightly, I’m met with a waft of cologne and the cocky smile of a good looking twenty-something.
I have no idea who the guy is, but I don’t have it in me to protest when he tightens his grip on me and starts grinding against my backside. Normally I would be appalled by the action but tonight, tonight nothing is off limits. I’m sick of being Kimber Lynn James, the sweet, privileged girl from Wales, West Virginia. Tonight I’m just Kimber.