Both of the guys asked for beer. Riley ordered tequila for herself and Kitty. The girls traded a look and slammed the shots back, then passed them to the bartender for a refill. The guy shrugged and topped them up, shaking his head when they did it again.
"You ready to show them how this is done?" Kitty yelled over the music.
Riley just nodded, but Logan grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. Kitty laughed at them as Riley followed.
"Don't tease the boys," he said, grinning devilishly. "Not too much!"
"Never!" Riley agreed, the corners of her lips quirking up. She glanced at his mouth once, waiting for what she knew would be coming next.
"Kiss me," he said, too low to be heard over the music. It was exactly what she'd expected.
She obeyed, crushing her mouth to his as she stepped into him. Logan moaned against her and grabbed her hips, his fingers catching at the front pockets of her shorts. He sucked the tequila from her tongue, teasing her with his own, then pushed her a half step back and smiled. Riley bit her lip and caught his eye. He didn't need to say it; she knew that kiss had been a promise.
"Go play," he said, then took a long drink of his beer.
Kitty just grabbed her wrist and tugged. Side by side, the pair writhed their way onto the dance floor until they claimed a spot for themselves. Sharing a smile, they turned to each other and began to dance just a little too closely. Around them, the crowd was made up of mostly men - since it was a video game event - and it didn't take long before the guys were starting to crowd closer.
Riley saw Kitty grin a split-second before she felt hands on her hips. They pulled her against a long, tall chest, and she looked up to see Murder watching, waiting for her reaction. She slid lower on his body, just a bit, before reaching up and twining her arms around his neck. When he smiled, she laughed and glanced away. He waited only a second before he grinned and bent lower, his mouth against her ear.
"Tell Void he owes me," he said.
"Think so, do ya?" she taunted.
He grabbed her waist, pinning her against him before biting at her neck once - and just stepping away. "I do."
"Oh!" Kitty yelled. "A tease!"
Riley caught her eye, and Kitty just nodded, understanding the plan without needing a word. Murder had no idea that he'd just issued a challenge too big for the best friends to ignore. While Kitty lifted her chin, encouraging him to come closer, Riley just moved to the side, none of them breaking their rhythm. With her hands over her head, she writhed, dancing with her entire body while Kitty pressed close to Murder, grabbing his shirt to hold him against her.
He immediately turned his attention to Kitty, one hand tracing the line of her spine, but he was the one that gasped when Riley pressed against his side, reaching up to turn his head to her.
"Oh damn," Murder breathed. "I can take you both. C'mon."
"Prove it," Kitty said flirtatiously.
She pulled him down, brushing her tongue against his lip before her mouth met it, her fingers on his jaw keeping his attention on her. Riley just slipped her arm around his neck, her hand next to Kitty's, and bit at the side of his throat while Kitty controlled his mouth. They both could hear him groan.
"Yeah," Kitty said. "He's hard."
Riley just laughed. "All yours, girl. Tell me how good he is in the morning."
"I love my life," Murder said as Riley stepped away.
She'd taken only one step when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye that seemed strange. After what had happened in Columbus, her senses were on high alert. That was probably the only reason she looked over. After all, this was a club filled with gamers. Everything tonight could be considered strange.
But at the edge of the dance floor, Riley saw a man pushing through the crowd. Something about him stood out. Their eyes met, and he clenched his jaw, reaching into his pocket at the same time. It was the look on his face that told her this wasn't right. In a club full of people drinking and partying, he wasn't happy. He also wasn't pissed, bored, or anything else. He simply looked resigned, but his eyes never blinked. It was as if he'd already given up.
"Fuck," Riley breathed, because his attention was locked on her.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She turned, intending to grab Kitty, but before she took a step, she saw the gun. He raised it, using only one hand, and pointed it right at her. She screamed a warning, but it was inaudible over the music. As his finger tightened, the first thud of the bass line hit, and the crowd started jumping, pounding to the music. Someone stepped back just far enough to hit his shoulder.
Even with the loud music, the sound of a gunshot rang out clearly. Riley flinched, dropping to a crouch, and she wasn't the only one. Immediately, the screaming started. She looked up to see Kitty's face, with her eyes wide, looking directly over Riley's shoulder. Fear was written in her expression, and her mouth hung open.
There was no way to know if she was screaming. Everyone was. Riley whipped her head around to follow Kitty's gaze and saw a young guy holding his chest, his knees slowly buckling. The guy reached out, grabbing at anything, and Riley was closest. She caught him, their eyes meeting. The guy was pleading with his look, desperate for help, and she understood. Then she heard a second shot.
"Call 9-1-1!" Riley yelled before turning to him. "Can you breathe?"
He said nothing, just looked at her, those eyes begging for her to fix this. They were blue. Behind her, Riley could hear a commotion, but what was before her was something she knew how to handle. She hadn't made it through a degree in biology and a few years breeding horses without having a pretty good idea of how to perform first aid.
A distracted calm settled over her mind even as chaos erupted around them - and she held onto it, knowing that if she let herself stop to think, she'd lose it. As she was struggling to see the wound, Kitty grabbed her shoulder and knelt beside her.
"I think he shot himself," she said, her voice quavering and filled with panic.
"No, there's a guy back there with a gun," Riley told her, tugging the shirt from the guy's jeans.
"Yeah," Kitty said. "Him. I think he's dead. What do I do?"
"Call 9-1-1," Riley told her. "I need my hands."
Kitty nodded, fumbling for her phone, needing to try twice before she managed to dial the three numbers. "It's busy!" she wailed, ready to panic.
Riley looked up, seeing nothing but a crowd of people encircling them. "Kitty, breathe. How many phones are in this room? Just hold it together, sis. We got this."
The wound was bad, but no one else was willing to help. They all stood, looking at the two girls for direction, completely dumbstruck. Beneath her hands, the young man was bleeding out, yet everyone was waiting for someone to take charge, too scared to even move.
"Gamer dude," Riley said to her patient. "Talk to me, man."
"I'm shot," the kid managed. "I," he sucked in a breath, and the blood on his chest bubbled, "I got shot!"
"Shit," Riley breathed. "I need plastic!" she screamed at the idiots standing around her. "Plastic bag, cellophane from a pack of smokes, give me something."
She shoved her hand over the wound, pressing hard, and the poor guy made a noise that no human should ever make. It was something between a groan and a scream.