She snatched another cup from the nearby table for herself and pulled Jess and Kevin to the dance floor.
“I’ll stay here with Hayden for a bit. I’ll join you later,” I told her when she glanced at me in question.
“Suit yourself.”
Hayden sat between Steven and Masen, who both had girls on their laps now, and pulled me onto his lap. I giggled, thrilled that he held me like this, which turned into more when he kissed me and erased everything from my mind but the feel of his lips and hands on me.
I moaned into his mouth when he slid his hands down my back and gripped my hips to draw me closer to him. I was restless as I explored his chest and shoulders, enjoying the way his muscles flexed under my touch. I was affecting him just like he was affecting me, and both of us were lost in our small bubble.
Hayden broke our kiss a couple of minutes later and reached to take a cigarette from Masen.
I frowned. He shouldn’t be smoking because of his brain injury. “Hayden, you know smoking isn’t good for you because of your condition. You can make things worse—”
“One cigarette won’t kill me.”
“Not smoking also won’t kill you.”
He rolled his eyes and grabbed a lighter from Masen. He looked too eager to light his first cigarette after almost a month. “Right now, I feel like it will.” His eyes held mine as he put the cigarette into his mouth. “I promised I wouldn’t drink tonight, which is already hard enough, but I need a cigarette. Just one, so stop pushing it.”
“Come on, Sar,” Masen told me, stroking the redhead’s back idly. “Give him a break. One cigarette won’t make a difference.”
I pursed my lips together. I wasn’t convinced, but I didn’t want to start an argument when Hayden was so set on doing it. I didn’t want to make him angry. At least he wouldn’t drink tonight, which had to count for something.
After a few years of constant drinking, Hayden was finally making an effort to give up alcohol, and his brain injury made this decision easier. His condition would take a turn for the worse if he returned to drinking, so he had to refrain from it, at least for some time. I was well aware alcohol was his buffer against his dark emotions, so I appreciated all the more when he tried quitting.
I went to get a beer for me and Coke for him and returned to his lap. At the same time, Steven and his girl stood up and headed out of the room, with his hand plastered on her butt as they walked away.
“So, Decker, is your friend available?” one of Hayden’s friends asked. He was sitting on the couch’s armrest, pointing at Melissa. “She’s hot.”
Mel was currently swaying her hips to the rhythm of the music, her eyes closed. She was attractive with curves in all the right places, so it was no wonder she’d caught his attention.
“She doesn’t have a boyfriend, but I don’t think you stand a chance with her,” I told him and took a sip of my beer, thinking about what she told Jess and me just an hour ago.
He gave me a sideways look. “Why not? All chicks dig me. Unless she’s a lesbian?”
I snorted and took another sip. Such overconfidence. “She’s straight.”
“Then why not?”
“The real question is why you’re interested in that nut case,” Masen countered. “You seriously think she’s hot? Look at her. She’s like a circus attraction with all that scary makeup. Of all chicks in the room, you had to pick her.”
I glared at him. “Don’t talk like that about her. Besides, she’s your friend’s sister.”
“Even he knows she’s cray cray,” he replied nonchalantly.
“He’s right,” Blake said and took the seat Steven had left next to Hayden and me. He chugged his beer and glanced at me with unfocused eyes. “She’s crazy. You sure know how to pick your friends.”
“Blake,” Hayden hissed, his body growing rigid.
“It’s okay, Hayden,” I said and looked back at Blake. “It’s not a secret that up until recently I was also one of the ‘losers.’ Isn’t that right, Blake?” I needed alcohol if I was going to say what was on my mind, so I downed my beer in one go.
“Don’t ruin this evening, Sar,” Masen said. “It’s New Year’s Eve! Come on, we didn’t come here for this.”
“Then when do you want to talk about it?” I glanced between Masen and Blake. “Like it or not, Melissa and Jessica are my friends, so if you can’t treat them nice, at least ignore them. Don’t make their lives more difficult.” I looked at Blake entreatingly. “Please leave Jess alone. She feels horrible each time you take a dig at her, and it’s frustrating. She’s my friend, and I don’t want her to be treated that way, just like you wouldn’t want anyone to treat Hayden that way.”
A tiny voice from the corner of my mind whispered at me to me to stop talking, reminding me that he might bully Jess more whenever I interfere, but I hated seeing him do her wrong.
Hayden held my waist more tightly, but he didn’t say anything as he waited for Blake’s response. Blake wasn’t even looking at me but out the window. His jaw was clenched hard, and I could clearly see a vein pulsating along it, telling me I’d overstepped.
I’d never felt this bold before, and I didn’t know if that was because of Hayden’s presence or I’d become tougher. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay silent. Not when my friends’ and boyfriend’s happiness was on the line.
“Fine. Whatever,” Blake spat out at last, and I gave a sigh of utmost relief.
“Thank you,” I replied. I truly hoped this was a turning point in the way he treated my friends.
Two cups of beer and two shots of tequila later, I left my purse with Hayden and let Mel drag me to the dance floor, feeling sloshed. I stopped next to an equally drunk Kevin and Jessica and sent them a goofy smile.
“Are you having fun?” I asked Kevin, who danced quite awkwardly but still managed to make it look cute. At least he was trying.
“Yep. It’s awesome, but Jess didn’t let me s-s-stop even for a s-second.”
“Hey! Don’t whine!” Jess smacked his shoulder playfully. Her glazed eyes attested to the amount of alcohol she’d consumed. “We should enjoy this night! It’s the best time of the year!”
“Exactly!” Mel agreed and shook her hips. “And I don’t plan to spend it sitting! No, sir!”
I stuck my tongue out at her and went into a fit of laughter when Jess spun me around. Her happy face was covered with a thin layer of sweat, just like mine. Her bubbly excitement was contagious.
She pulled me closer to her and brought her lips to my ear. “Blake has been watching me all night.”
I gaped at her. What? I glanced at Blake as subtly as possible, and there he was, reclined on the couch with his legs wide open and eyes set on Jessica. His expression was unreadable, but something told me it wasn’t animosity that drove him to watch her this intently.
Feeling bold thanks to the alcohol, I voiced something I’d wondered about for quite some time. “Do you like him, Jess?”
She stilled, which was followed by a brief glimpse of sadness on her face. “I don’t know, Sar.”