“Oh, no. You’re not getting away that easily,” Dani says, grabbing my wrist after I put the bottles down. She pulls me back on the dance floor and I let her. This time, she places us face to face, her eyes about the level of my chin.
“I didn’t realize how short you were, brat,” I tease.
Dani chuckles. “Oh please, you’re hardly taller than me.” Adjusting my position, I move my head so my chin is over the top of hers and I’m looking around, searching.
“Danika? Where did you go? Dani?”
She swats my arm before pulling me in closer. “Ass.”
I’m chuckling as I lay my hands on both of her hips. She feels soft to the touch, the fabric of the red dress so thin it’s barely there.
The tempo has slowed considerably so we’re swaying our hips more than moving our feet. I’m not mad. In fact, I pull her hips a little bit closer to mine, showing her even more clearly that yes, I can dance. Quite well, actually.
Danika takes the moves in stride, her hands making their way up to my shoulders. She’s looking at everyone but me and I can’t help but feel a sense of pride at the way she’s clearly nervous around me.
I pull her closer.
We sway back and forth for a little bit longer and my hands have settled closer together on the small of her back. My thumb traces a small circle along her back and she lets out a slight gasp at the touch.Fuck, I wish I could bottle that sound.
I pull her just a little bit closer…and then the sound builds, changes speed and suddenly, it’s over.
“You ready to go? I think we’ve stayed long enough.”
My instinct is to stay and get to be close to her. But she’s right, it’s been a while and I’ve got an early shift in the morning.
“Ready,” I reply and we head toward the door.
“Where are you heading, baby?” a voice calls from behind us and we both turn to see an incredibly drunk dude stammering over to Danika. “I want your next dance.” He grabs Danika’s wrist, pulling her against his wrecked body and I move without thinking.
Ripping his hand off of Danika, I punch his face so hard I’m almost positive I broke a knuckle. He hits the floor immediately but I don’t stop. I can’t stop.
From over my shoulder, someone is yelling my name. Shouting it, breathlessly. Pleading.
Danika.
The man’s face is bloody under my fists when I come to my senses and climb off of him. Before I can say another word, I’m pulled away by my shoulders and pushed out the door. The cool air brings me back to myself a bit, but I still feel crazed.
Calm the fuck down.I need to get control of myself. What would Melissa say? I need to breathe. I need to count. Fuck. I need to get out of here.
Turning on my heels, I immediately jet down the street toward my apartment. I hear footsteps hurrying behind me and it’s the only indication that Danika is coming.
Fuck. I stop immediately.
“Arden! Slow down.” She sounds breathless. “Hello? Are you just going to ignore me?” I let her catch up to me but I don’t turn to face her.
“Arden.” It’s the crack in her voice that causes me to look her way. She looks absolutely heartbroken.
Grabbing her face, I look back and forth between her eyes. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
Danika rips herself from my grasp. “Areyouokay? What the hell was that?” I don’t understand why she’s looking at me like I’m the bad guy. Did she just experience the same thing I did?
“He grabbed you. I was defending you.”
“I don’t need you to defend me.”
“Sure, but—”
“Did you ever think for one second that maybe I could defend myself?”