“I can help with that,” he said. “Just listen to the song, don’t think so much.”
He started to jump in place, waving his arms like a maniac and I laughed. “What the hell are you doing.”
He held his hand to his chest, his offense all for display. “Having fun. You should try it.”
“I might need more alcohol.”
Wilder’s smile turned smug as he stared over my shoulder. “Well, lucky for you Gwen and June are here to save the day.”
“I got you another beer, I hope that’s okay?” Gwen asked.
I took the bottle from her hand. “Thank you.”
June handed Wild a shot and he shook his head. “I think I’ve had enough.”
She looked at me and handed me the small tumbler filled with clear liquid. “You have some catching up to do.”
“He has to work tomorrow,” Wild shouted.
The room got louder as the song changed, and the crowd reacted with whoops of appreciation. Someone bumped into me and I almost dropped the glass.
“I’m off tomorrow,” I said. “There was a delay.”
“You’re off tomorrow?” Wild shouted over the noise and stepped into my space.
“Yeah… I can stay longer. If that’s okay?”
“Stay as long as you like, especially if you plan on drinking that shot.”
“I’ll pay for his Uber,” June said.
I swallowed the fiery liquid and whistled. “Shit, what the hell was that?”
“I never ask,” she said. “I just get what I get and I’m good.”
The alcohol had singed my tongue, and I chugged my entire beer to get rid of the medicinal taste.
Gwen clapped. “Now that’s how it’s done,” she said, taking the empty bottle from my hand. “Should I get you another one?”
My shirt was tight against my skin, my head foggy as the shot made its way through my system. Lightheaded and relaxed, I said, “I don’t drink that often, I think I should probably stop while I’m ahead.”
“That’s a good idea.” Wild took my hand and pulled me deeper into the crowd. “How do you feel?” he asked, bouncing to the music.
“Buzzed.”
His smile stretched wide across his face. “Think you can let go a little now? Look around, Jax, no one gives a shit here.”
Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the giant smile on Wild’s face that had me bouncing with him. The room lived and breathed as bodies swayed, and I wanted to breathe with it. I danced, feeling ridiculous and uncoordinated as each song changed to the next. As time went on, the alcohol wore off, but I didn’t need it anymore. I was free for the first time ever in my fucking life, I wanted to be here with Wild, smiling and laughing. Stay in this bubble where I could be myself. Where I was confident again. Where I knew who I was, and I didn’t care what anyone thought about it. But the crowd started to thin, and I couldn’t stay here forever.
The upbeat electronic music turned over to a lower rhythm that made me think of sex as smokey vocals filled the room. The couple next to us started to kiss and Wild laced our fingers together. The quick ebb and flow of his breath made me wonder if he was just as keyed up as I was. He looped his finger under my belt, pulling me close, his hands found my hips. Soft black curls fell across his forehead, and I brushed them back, removing the shadow from his eyes.
“This okay?” he asked, and I nodded.
The tip of his thumb grazed against the skin of my hip and my heart hammered as I slid my hands under his shirt, placing them on the hot skin above the curve of his ass. His eyes were hazy with lust as I pulled him against me, both of us hard and needing friction. Wild moved with me to the beat and I followed his lead. He turned, brushing against the bulge in my jeans and I grasped his hips. For a few seconds there was no music, no loud chatter, no lights, just us. His back to my chest, his ass grinding into me, I was drifting as he rested his hands over mine. I didn’t think about the consequences as I brought my lips to the curve of his neck and tasted the salt of his skin.
He stopped breathing, and I let go of his hips as he turned to face me. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have—”
Wild pushed his hands into my hair as his mouth captured mine in a rough collision. My hand covered the back of his head and I dragged him closer. He dropped a hand, his fingers curled into the cotton fabric of my shirt, as the other held the nape of my neck. His thumb pressed into my jaw, and I opened for him, tasting his tongue as it dipped into my mouth. He groaned and our hips, seeking release, impulsively pressed together. I bit his bottom lip as his hands found their way under my shirt, his nails digging into my back. I held his face in my hands, tipping my head to the side, deepening the kiss. He tasted like lime and alcohol, and as he licked my upper lip, I cupped his ass with my other hand. He whimpered and I grinned against his mouth. Nine years, and our bodies hadn’t forgotten a thing.
“Last call,” June said, her voice filled with humor.
“Fuck,” Wild was out of breath, and I rested my forehead against his.
“You boys want a drink to cool down before they close up shop?” she asked.
Wild pulled away first but kept the bottom hem of my shirt in his fist. His cheeks were bright red, his chin pink from the day’s growth of scruff on my chin. I looked around the room, filled with people, and waited for the panic to set in.
“Give us a minute?” he asked June.
“I’ll be at the table with Gwen when you’re ready to head out.”
“You’re shaking,” he said once she was out of ear shot.
“So are you.”
He reached up, pushing a wayward strand of hair off my forehead. “Are you upset?”
“Why would I be upset?”
“Because I kissed you, in the middle of a room with a shit ton of people.”
I leaned down and pressed my lips to his, and the panic I’d been waiting for never surfaced.
I was safe here.
I was safe with him.
WILDER
Jax was kissing me. In public. Caught up in the way he tasted, different but the same, I let his hands lift my shirt, letting the coarse pads of his fingers scrape along the lines of my ribs.
Breathless, he rested his lips against my cheek. “I don’t want this night to be over.”
“Who said it has to be?” I asked.
He leaned back, looking around the room. Most of the people on the dance floor had wandered toward the door, others lingered, chatting now that the music was low, and the lights had turned on. “They’re closing.”
“Doesn’t mean the night is over,” I said, afraid to ask him outright to come home with me, worried I was thinking more with my dick than my brain.
His green eyes searched my face as he swallowed, and I wanted to kiss his throat.
“Are you—”
“Our ride is about a mile away. We better head out,” June said, interrupting whatever Jax was about to ask me.
Irritated that the night had come to an end faster than I had prepared for, I snapped at her. “Can you give me a second?”
She raised a brow. “Who pissed in your Cheerios? Next time you can call for your own ride if you’re gonna be like that.”