Page 100 of Destined To Fall

“Two vodka cranberries. Doubles.” Our powerhouse drink. It goes down easy, and we don’t wake up feeling like we’ve been hit by a baseball bat.

I scan the rest of the club as we wait. The lower level is mainly the dance floor, but there are a few vibrant red booths in a sort of alcove created by the upper level. My eyes go skyward to the wrap around balcony-like section when a familiar tingling sensation brushes my skin. My heartbeat picks up as my eyes scan the crowd hovering around the railing, and that’s when I see him. Further back, sitting with a group of guys.

Oh, god, he’s actually here, and he’s looking this way.

As I spin back around to the bar, my subconscious ungraciously reminds me that the reason I’m here is Jeremy. She’s a spiteful bitch, that one.

“Oh, so that’s how we know, huh?”

“Know what?”

“The cutie at twelve o’clock, and the club. Client of yours I don’t know about?”

“What? No. He’s just a…”

“Friend?” she says with a raised brow as she leans back on the bar, appraising me.

“I guess.” My blood is racing with electricity. I can still feel him looking at me.

“I thought you didn’t dofriends, especially of the male variety?”

“I don’t.” Until him.

“Oh, don’t look now. Hisears must be burning because he’s still looking our way, and he’s on the move.”

“What?”Shit. The bartender places our drinks in front of us, and I down them both in quick succession.“So are we.” God, I’m going to regret that later. Throwing some cash at him, I grab Laura’s hand and drag her into the throes of dancing bodies.

“Well, this just got interesting.” I can hear the amusement in her tone, even with the loud music and the pounding of my heart in my ears.

“Shut up and dance with me,” I holler back, desperate to lose myself in the masses.

“You’re all…affected. By a boy. This? This is too good.”

“I’m going to hurt you so very much.”

“You like a boy! Is this what’s been getting into you lately? Or is that the issue—that he’s not been getting into you?”

“With my stiletto, no less.”

“If it embeds, do I get to keep them?” She throws her head back and hollers, the sound lost as the bass overtakes us.

“Never.” I grin, pulling her further into the center of the crowd.

“You know you’re going to end up telling me about him at some point, right?”

“Nope.”

I close my eyes and try to lose myself in the beat, disregarding the tingling I still feel on my skin and the burning curiosity in Laura’s gaze. Eventually, she gives up and joins me, dancing like we’re twenty again, when the world was our oyster just waiting for us to conquer it. It doesn’t take long before sweat beads on my body. Stifling heat radiates from the other dancers, all moving in time with the music, like a furnace. The beat’s fast, rhythmic, and sensual. It’s magic, and I’ve missed this.

I smile when I eventually open my eyes and see Laura is completely lost to it too, her eyes closed, her body in its own charged state. My grin grows when a pair of masculine handswraparound her hips from behind, making her open her eyes and give me a pointed look. He looks all right in the limited light, so I wink, answering her unspoken question. Laura smiles in return and raises her arms to wrap around his neck, closing her eyes again.

Some things never change.

Chuckling to myself, I swivel my hips around, changing direction, not exactly keen to watch my friend being manhandled by a stranger. I trail my hands up to the wavy strands sticking to my back, pulling them up. My eyes close as I relish the feeling of air hitting the damp skin at the nape of my neck. It sends tiny shivers down my body as I continue to sway to the now-slow trance coming through the speakers. The shivers morph, turning into warm pulses running along my curves, like soft hands tracing the lines; so much so that I open my eyes, certain I’ll find just that. Instead, I’m surrounded by a sea of dancing, albeit oblivious, bodies. With my pulse still vibrating, I can’t help but look to where I last saw Jeremy. My breath catches on the way in when I find his burning blue eyes looking right at me, his hands gripping the railing hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

My heart rate soars as I continue to stare, drowning in the heat glaring back at me. It’s intoxicating, and I’m completely rooted to the spot, transfixed. I’m struggling for breath when a body bumps into me, pulling my attention from Jeremy and breaking the spell. I turn to find a short, stocky guy drunkenly swaying to his own beat. He leers at me, and I decide now is as good a time as any to get another drink. Chancing a quick glance at the railing, I find it empty and stumble, bumping into the drunk. Apologizing, I hurry to sidestep him and fight the urge to search Jeremy out, looking toward Laura instead, finding her preoccupied with a tongue down her throat. She’s more than fine, I conclude.

I weave through the thick mass of dancing bodies, dodging elbows and toes left, right, and center, when my heart stills moments before a familiar warmth comes up behind me and a firm hand presses to my side.

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