The room went silent for a beat before erupting.
“So that’s what that noise was!” Nicole hollered, and we all lost it.
I was almost past my limit and super giggly but even through the rum haze I noticed Dex was missing from the room. I felt a warm body settle onto the arm of my chair. I almost got excited thinking it was him but looked up to find Brandon instead, looking entirely too comfortable in my space.
“You just all in my personal space huh?” I laughed, leaning into the flirtation anyway.
“You look and smell too good for me to stay away,” he said.
I was about to respond when I heard my name cut through the noise.
“Dominique.” It was stern like a father
I turned and saw Dex coming through the lobby with a bottle of water and a small packet in his hand, his eyes already locked on me with that quiet intensity that made the rest of the room feel like background noise. I stood up before I even made a conscious decision to.
Sure Brandon was fine, but Dex had a pull that wasn’t fair. Rich dark skin, tall, built like he was designed specifically to make women lose their good sense. He had muscles that made me want to dare him to pick me up even though I already knew he could.
He wrapped a possessive arm around my waist and pulled me flush against him, letting our family and friends and mostly Brandon know exactly what type of time he was on this weekend.
“Awww shit, here they go,” Kam said.
“Don’t be weak in the knees cousin, stand up,” Paris groaned.
I ignored them both. I watched as Dex used his teeth to tear open the packet, which up close I could see was Tylenol.
“Open your mouth,” he said, and my mind immediately went somewhere it had no business going given where we were standing. My drinks had me wide open. If he had asked me anything else right then I probably would have agreed to it. Luckily he just placed the pills on my tongue, then tilted the water bottle to my lips and held it there like I was a baby he was taking care of.
“So you won’t regret all those drinks in the morning,” he said quietly.
Behind me I heard Brandon let out a low easy laugh. He knew he’d just lost but was trying to play it cool like it wasn’t a big deal.
“These two still act like nobody else is in the room when Nique ain’t beefing with him,” Kyson said.
“She’s just drunk,” Paris said. “Tomorrow she’ll be ready to fight him again.”
Dex looked up at them finally. “I thought y’all were supposed to be singing. Why y’all worried about what we doing?”
London popped up like she’d been waiting for permission. “You right, I’ll kick us off.” She grabbed the mic and scrolled through the song selection.
I stayed tucked against Dex’s side, his body heat grounding me even as the room tilted slightly at the edges.
London let out a little squeal and I already knew she’d found a Beyoncé song. When Dance for You started pulsing through the speakers I was immediately hyped. Sadly London sounded like a dying crow trying to reach those notes but she was my cousin and I was riding with her regardless.
I played my part as backup, hitting the soft yes notes, my voice thick with libations and something I wasn’t ready to name out loud. I pulled out my phone to record her but by the time the chorus hit the camera was pointing at the floor because I had bent over and started slow winding against Dex.
The friction made my head swim. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me upright, his breath warm against my neck.
“Save that for my eyes only,” he said low in my ear.
He was being strict tonight and it was doing something to me. I didn’t bend back over but I didn’t stop moving either. I kept winding my hips, feeling the growing weight of his erection against me, letting the music lead while I sang the parts of the song that hit closest to home. When the lyrics about other women being superficial came up I sang them with everything I had, letting the vibration go straight into his chest. I wanted him to remember, right here in front of everyone and especially after that airport entrance, that I was the one.
“I hear you baby,” he said, his lips grazing my earlobe before pressing a slow deliberate kiss there.
By the time London finished and the room erupted in drunken applause my whole body was running hot and the man had barely touched me. I turned in his arms, hands sliding up his chest, and found his eyes already waiting.
“You okay?” he asked, his voice roughened by the same tension sitting heavy between us.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, my eyes dropping to his mouth. “But I think I’m done with karaoke.”