Page 9 of Salacious Park Avenue Prince

East waved me away with a flick of his hand. “Go work that tongue on someone receptive. You have a whole smorgasbord to choose from tonight.”

I scanned the crowd that filled the living room, searching out someone to pass the time with, and my eyes skidded to a stop on a hot guy shaking his ass on the dance floor in tight leatherpants and a cropped shirt. He was having a good time, that was for sure, but when his gaze locked on mine, I knew I could make it agreatfucking time.

Another sip of my drink and I made my way through the crowd as West wolf-whistled behind me. He was always the quickest to encourage my wicked ways—one of the reasons I kept him around.

Colored lights flashed throughout the darkened room, lighting bodies up in shades of blues, purples, reds. With the Manhattan skyline as the backdrop, the whole scene was decadent and just the right side of sinful.

And what do you know, I didn't have to search out that hot body on the dance floor, because he found me first.

“Looking for me?” he said, hooking his fingers in my waistband without bothering with introductions.

That was fine by me. I didn’t need to know his name. I only needed the lust for me in his eyes.

I rolled my hips, nice and slow, and he licked his lips. Then he wrapped an arm around my neck and joined in, matching my pace as I sipped on the absinthe East had special-ordered for me. I could already feel its effects making their way through my veins, giving me that intense buzz I craved.

This was what I’d been after—a distraction. A sexy body to fill my mind and hands with. A quick and easy way to forget that somewhere in this apartment was the reason I chose a drink that had hallucinogenic effects. Too bad it hadn’t set in yet, as my eyes latched on to a familiar figure through the gyrating masses.

Caleb stood off to the side of the dancers, no doubt trying to melt into the shadows. But dressed in his run-of-the-mill jeans and button-up shirt, he stood out like a sore thumb amongst this crowd. Not to mention the head of casually messy strands that he somehow made hot just by running his fingers through it. He looked like he belonged in some arty jazz café over in Soho—his side of town—not standing in a fancy-ass penthouse that overlooked Park Avenue.

Why was he even here? Why had he said yes to JT’s invite? He’d done the same thing last year, but I’d figured it was to keep an eye on the “new kid.” He had no goddamn excuse this time around, unless…

Caleb’s gaze shifted to the eager guy rubbing against me, and my pulse began to pound a little faster until his lips twisted in disdain.

How fucking predictable. If there was one thing I could always count on when it came to Caleb, it was a healthy dose of judgment. Well, might as well give him something to really get up his ass.

As my dance partner ground up against me, I ran my hand down his back and over the curve of his ass before giving it a squeeze. Then I winked at Caleb.

His reaction was what I expected—he rolled his eyes and shook his head before turning away from me.

This was what I did. Provoked a response any time he was around.

You’d think by now I’d stop caring enough to bother, but I could admit to myself I was petty enough to want a reaction any way I could get it, as fucked as that was.

I took another long swallow of absinthe and turned my partner around so that my cock nestled in between his ass cheeks. It wasn’t because I didn’t want him to see the way I looked around the room to see where Caleb had gone.

I definitely didn’t notice the way Caleb had attracted a group of eager women. Or that he zeroed in on the only blonde in the group, giving her all his attention.

I wasn’t feeling anything at all about that.

As I downed the rest of my drink, I saw East in my periphery hopping onto the bar. He let out a piercing whistle, and the DJcut the music, causing many in the crowd to groan, including my dance partner. Without the pulsating beats that had sent me into the crowd, I found myself backing away and moving toward the bar.

“Quiet, fuckers, I’m speaking,” East said, towering over everyone from where he stood on the bar. The martini he held in one hand threatened to spill with every small movement, and a couple standing under him got the hell out of the way. “Congratulations on being invited to our annual ‘Welcome back to Astor’ party. We don’t let just any of the riffraff enter our sacred space, do we, West?”

West shook his head by the bar, his arm thrown around JT’s shoulders. Usually he would’ve joined East up there, but apparently his hip was glued to his boyfriend’s.

It made me want to gag. Everyone was hooking up, being monogamous, keeping secrets… What the hell ever happened to having a good time? At least East wasn’t the type to settle down. Like he’d ever find anyone he didn’t think was beneath him.

My eyes caught on Caleb leaning in close to the blonde, and I couldn’t tell if he was whispering sweet nothings or kissing his way up her neck.

Seriously? He came to this party just to find someone to fuck?

My jaw clenched so tight I could’ve spit molars, and I shoved my empty glass at West.

“Excuse me,” he said, holding it away from him. “I’m not your maid— Wait, what are you doing?”

I moved a couple of liquor bottles out of my way, planted my hands on the bar, and pushed myself up on top of it with relative ease, considering I was feeling a little tipsy already. East definitely hadn’t diluted that absinthe enough, but I didn’t care.

East smirked as I joined him. “It’s not time for the stripper portion of the night.”

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