Page 31 of I Hate You More

“Ally, you don’t belong here.”

“Idon’t belong here?” Her voice was raised, and I gave a slow shake of my head as I glanced at my friend. Did he even know his sister? He’d just said completely the wrong thing if he wanted to get her to leave.

“I belong here just as much as you do, if not more so,” she snapped. She turned and pushed through the crowd. Determination seemed to steady her limbs as she walked with confidence toward the DJ booth. She barely broke her stride as she started to climb up onto one of the raised podiums next to the DJ.

The blood drained from my face, and my eyes darted toward another girl who was dancing on one of the other podiums. The girl was putting on a real show for the crowd of guys standing before her, and it didn’t take a genius to know that Ally planned to do the same.

Shane’s posture became stiff as he realized what Ally was planning, and anger radiated off of him as he shook his head. Only someone as difficult as Ally could turn my normally cheerful friend into the aggravated mess at my side. He tore his eyes off her before she could start to dance and turned to me.

“She’s so damn stubborn sometimes,” he complained. “I give up, I’m not sticking around to watch her try and prove a point.” He threw his arms up in the air and stormed off into the crowd. Shane didn’t butt heads with his sister very often, and I felt like he’d given in way too soon.

I, on the other hand, was far more experienced with Ally’s unreasonableness and wouldn’t be so easily deterred. When I turned back to focus on Ally, she had started dancing. Her hands were slowly moving down the sides of her body as her hips swayed to the deep thumping beat of the music.

She seemed in no rush as she allowed her hands to trace across her tempting curves. Her dancing was seductive, and I was completely enthralled by her every move. I tried to remind myself she was only dancing this way because she’d been drinking. I couldn’t seem to make the thought stick though, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

My hands clenched into tight fists at my side when she grabbed onto the pole behind her and started to spin herself around it. The club normally had go-go dancers performing up on the platforms, but Ally was putting those dancers to shame. I had a bad feeling that if we didn’t stop her dancing soon, she was going to get mobbed by the crowd of guys who were starting to gather in front of her.

Someone bumped into me, pulling my gaze from Ally for the briefest of seconds. It was enough to break the disturbing grip her dancing had held over me though, and I realized how much of a scene she was making. Grown men were lingering in front of the platform, practically drooling, as they looked up at her, and a bunch of guys from our school had their phone cameras trained on her performance.

I wasn’t comfortable watching either of those things happen to Ally, and since Shane had already given up on his sister, I knew it was up to me to intervene. I huffed out a frustrated breath as I stormed across the dance floor toward her. My night was already a bust, and of course, it had only gotten worse since Ally had shown up.

I shoved my way through the men crowded in front of Ally’s podium so I was standing at the base of it. Some of them were easily in their forties, which only made the whole thing more disturbing. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at Ally, waiting for her to notice me. She seemed to be avoiding looking in my direction though, which probably meant she was perfectly aware I was there.

“You need to get down, Ally,” I shouted to her over the music. I really hated nightclubs.

She glanced down as she heard her name and smiled at me. If I needed any more evidence she was tipsy, this was it—Allyneversmiled at me. “Oh, hey, Chase, I didn’t see you there.”

“Of course, you didn’t.” She was so full of shit. “So, are you coming home?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m having fun.”

I rolled my eyes at this. “Dancing by yourself is fun?”

“Maybe I don’t plan to dance by myself,” she replied with a cheeky smile.

“Well, I sure hope you’re not looking at me to be your dancing partner.” There was a slim chance in hell of that happening.

She scoffed and shook her head. “Of course not,” she replied, making my stomach dip uncomfortably. I didn’t want to dance with her, but I didn’t like the way she’d so happily rejected me either.

Her gaze lifted away from me and started to skim over the dance floor. They started to sparkle when they landed on someone, and she smiled widely as she waved them over.

I turned as a body knocked into mine, and Declan pushed past me. His eyes were dark with lust as he approached Ally, and he was swaying heavily from drinking too much. Ally might have been tipsy, but Declan was wasted.

“Declan, do you want to dance?” Ally asked him.

Was she freaking serious? She was inviting Douchebag Declan of all people up to dance with her? He’d been in the group of guys who were videoing her dancing on their phones, so there was no way I was going to let this happen—especially when Ally wasn’t sober.

“No, Declan doesn’t want to dance,” I replied, pushing the guy back. I’d never been a fan of Declan and was only too glad to stop him from getting his way now. He was too full of himself. He always came across as smarmy and insincere, and since dating Jenna a few years back, he seemed to think he could get any girl in school.

“I didn’t realize you spoke for him.” Ally folded her arms across her chest. “And I’m not letting you come between me and Declan like you did last time.”

Her eyes were hard, and for a moment, I could almost see her recalling the school dance from years ago. She might have wanted to be with Declan then, but surely, she’d come to realize what a sleaze he was now. He’d been so quick to give her up when a better offer came along. Was that really the kind of guy she wanted to be with? It wasn’t for me to decide, but right now, I didn’t really care. She’d hated me since that dance, so I wasn’t too concerned I could make it any worse now.

“So, are we dancing, Ally, or what?” Declan shouted over my shoulder. His words were somewhat incoherent from all the alcohol and sounded slightly aggressive

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