Page 13 of Play It Sinful

“I don’t know.” I rise on my tiptoes, trying to locate our friend. It’s pointless. I’m five foot nothing.

Kadence, who’s much taller than me, looks over my head, and a moment later, says, “Found her. She’s currently busy.”

“Busy with what?”

Kadence smirks. “What do you think? She’s sucking face with a hottie.”

My brows arch. “Oh. Are you sure it looks like she’s having a good time?”

Kadence’s smile broadens. “Oh yeah. I don’t think we’ll be seeing much of Scarlett tonight. What do you want to drink?”

From the corner of my eye, I see a group of girls holding purple-colored shots. “Maybe what they’re drinking? It looks good.”

Kadence turns to the bartender. “Four shots of whatever those purple drinks are.”

“Four?” I ask.

“I’m trying to optimize our time. It took forever to get to the bar.”

“Then maybe you should have ordered more drinks.”

“Hold on. Let’s see if we like the purple shots first.”

She should have thought about that before she ordered two shots each. But they turn out to be quite delicious, so we order a second round. By the time we head to the dance floor, my ears are buzzing, and it seems like I’m floating on air. Then “I Got a Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas starts to play, and everyone sings at the top of their lungs. We’re all believers. I laugh to myself, because that thought was ridiculously amusing.

“What’s so funny?” a guy next to me asks, loud enough to be overhead. I think everyone will lose their voice by the end of the night.

I have to crane my neck to stare at his face because he’s so damn tall. He’s wearing a mask like me, but that doesn’t hide his square jaw and mischievous smile. I’m getting all fizzy inside from only staring at his mouth.

“My thoughts are funny,” I reply.

“Oh, yeah? Care to share them?”

I tilt my head, scrunching my nose. “Hmm. I don’t think it’s wise to share my thoughts with a stranger.”

“I disagree. It’s extremely wise. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. No one will ever find out the owner of any ludicrous thoughts.”

“Hey! How did we jump from funny to ludicrous?” I try to sound pissed but I’m smiling. Must be the drinks, or the yummy guy in front of me. Probably both.

He laughs. “It was a wild guess, since you wanted to keep it a secret.”

I want to keep talking to him, but I don’t want to be a bad friend and abandon Kadence. Quickly, I look for her, but she’s dirty dancing with a guy already. Gee, my friends are fast. I turn to the cute guy at the same time he’s leaning down to whisper in my ear. Our lips touch by accident, but instead of pulling away, we both lean into each other.

Suddenly, I’m kissing him, and it feels wonderful. I rise on my tiptoes and throw my arms around his neck. His tongue tastes sweet, and my guess is that he had the same purple shot I did. But there’s nothing sweet about they way he claims my mouth, or how his hand twists a lock of my hair possessively. Flames of desire spread through my body, making me hot all over.

He grabs my ass, digging his fingers in a little as he pulls me closer to him. I can feel his arousal press against my stomach. It’s been months since I hooked up with anyone and now, I can’t think about anything besides how turned on I am.

I pull back a little, out of breath. “Do you want to find someplace quiet?”

His lips curl into crooked smile. “Yeah. Let’s explore.”

He takes my hand and steers me toward the back of the church. I glance over my shoulder, but Kadence has disappeared with her guy. I stare at my mystery man’s back and appreciate the view. His shoulders are wide and, even though it’s dark, I can see the muscles move underneath his shirt. I can’t wait to run my fingers down his back.

After a minute navigating the busiest part of the party, we emerge on the other side of the dance floor. It’s much darker here, and it takes a moment for my eyesight to adjust. “Which way should we go?”

“I have an idea.”

We head in the direction opposite the restrooms and find a hallway that’s been corded off, but there’s no bouncer keeping an eye on it. Mystery man steps over the cord with ease, but I’m much shorter than him, so my intention is to go under. He picks me up before I have the chance, lifting me by my waist as if I weigh nothing.

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