He presses against my backside in a move that both shocks and excites me. My hands shake at my sides, and the empty bottle in my hands falls to the floor. The clink catches Daniel’s attention, but his only move is to kick the bottle under a nearby chair. As he lifts his leg, his hard body presses into the bottom of my butt. It’s not his built thighs that catch my attention, nor is it his muscular lower legs. It’s his dick that surprises me. I don’t even like Daniel half as much as I like Jeremy—which is a lot—but he doesn’t scare me the way Jeremy does. Maybe it’s the beer or the casual nature of it. Maybe it’s the place we’re in or the fact that I’m not looking at him. I count my blessings that we’re at the wrong angle to see anything in that stupid mirror. It just makes everything so visible in here. I can see people and things I wish I couldn’t. So instead of focusing on all the bullshit around me, I let myself drift into this and enjoy what Daniel might have to offer.
Right now I’d be okay with seeing where this goes because I don’t worry what he’s going to think of me tomorrow or if my dad is going to approve of us. Not sex exactly, but a little fooling around and maybe third base. There won’t be an us, and I’m not pairing my first name with his last in my head, getting attached to a future that is sure to fail because he’s Forsaken and relationships don’t start like this. Well, unless you’re Nic and Duke, but those two are screwed up and do everything backward anyway.
“I’ll go slow. I’m going to make you feel good, baby,” Daniel says. His voice sounds slick, like he’s selling me a car or forcing me to listen to his pyramid scheme. At some point, I thought he sounded charming. But not now. Now he’s not the guy who flirts with me and pushes my buttons. No, he’s the man who wants to take my virginity. It’s not something I’m ready to give up, and that’s frustrating the hell out of me because I feel like a damn child.
His hands slide up and down my sides, up to just beneath my breasts where he drags a finger along the lower line of my bra, then back down to the top of my jean shorts. His warm breath covers my neck as his lips softly trail from my collarbone up to my jaw. I let my eyes close and just enjoy the moment. They briefly flutter open long enough to see Tracie and Diesel pass by. Diesel’s gaze catches mine just before my eyes close. His angry stare bounces off my dueling desires—to let loose and to be smart—and I find myself suddenly insecure. Diesel’s basically been my babysitter the last few months. He’s either taken me to school or has let me follow him in my Bug, but he screwed my best friend, so I’m not sure he can really serve as some kind of moral compass.
Soon the image of his disapproving glare fades from memory, and it’s just me with Daniel’s lips on my neck, his hands traveling the curves of my body. His hands slip under the legs of my shorts a few inches before circling most of my thigh and then dragging down a little lower on my leg. He’s careful not to touch me any place too private, which helps keep this being okay in such a public place.
“Happy birthday, big boy!” Chel’s voice rings loud in my ears. My eyes snap open and immediately search my surroundings before landing on her barely clothed frame. Her dyed red hair is down in waves, and her makeup is heavy, which I assume is typical on a night like tonight. She’s slowly swinging her body in sultry dance moves with her eyes focused on something in front of her.
The crowd slowly parts as Fish brings a folding chair through the throngs of people. He sets it down in the center of the room, and it’s only then that I see Jeremy. The back of his cut stares me down, judging me for letting Daniel touch me in ways I wouldn’t let him. I want Jeremy to turn around and see me, to stop Daniel, and to tell me how sorry he is for pushing me when I wasn’t ready. I want his arms around me. I want his lips on mine, marking me, claiming me as his. I want him to turn to his right and to see me in the mirror. Just a few degrees and he’d know I was behind him.
But he doesn’t turn around. His shoulders roll as he claps his hands together and shouts, “Hell yes, baby!”
Not even Jeremy’s booming voice breaks Daniel’s concentration. His mouth moves up to my ear, where he sucks gently on my pliant flesh. One of his hands gently rubs my right breast as he bucks his hips into my ass. I give him a small moan that I’m unable to contain. It only serves to encourage and hasten his movements. His hand roughly pinches and twists my breast as he moans into my neck. I wince, but not at the pain. It hurts, sure. But it’s Jeremy being pushed into the folding chair and his pulling Chel into his lap that causes the flash of pain in my chest. He doesn’t care about me.
I’m an idiot.
Chel strips her tank top off and then her bra. She presses her breasts together and shoves them in his face. Greedily, he grabs hold of them and sucks them into his mouth.
“Enough of that,” Duke says as he moves to Chel and taps her shoulder. She nods and taps Jeremy’s nose so he lets go. “You can finish her off later if you want. Right now I got something to say.”
Duke commands the attention of the room with ease. Even the man next to Bear removes his hand from between the naked woman’s legs and looks to Duke. Only Daniel ignores him.
“Butch Whelan is a hell of a man and an even better brother,” Duke says. Jeremy jumps up from his chair and gives Duke a hug, obviously knowing something I don’t. From the angle he’s standing, I can see the blinding grin on his face through the mirror. His eyes sparkle that beautiful dark blue with excitement.