Not missing a beat, Alec’s hands shot out to cup Casey’s barely concealed breasts.
“Are you seriously touching my tits?”
“You’re touching mine,” Alec shot back, waggling his brows at her. “Seems like a fair trade to me.”
“You have some pair on you, boy.”
“I was about to pay you the same compliment.”
“This is the part where they neck on,” a familiar voice shouted over the music, and I turned to find an amused looking Podge. “Told ya.” Winking, he pointed back to where Casey and Alec were now mauling the lips off each other. “So predictable.”
Laughing, I shimmied over to one of my favorite lads from our year and held my hand out to him. “Help a loner out, will ya, Podge?”
“The things I do for friends,” he chuckled, taking my hand and pulling me in for a dance. “Don’t be getting any notions now, ya hear?”
“I’ll try my best.” Grinning, I wrapped my arm around his neck and danced along to the music. “So, where’s your friend tonight?”
“Which friend would that be, Aoif?” he teased, knowing full well who I was referring to me.
I rolled my eyes. “Funny.”
“Lynchy’s in here somewhere.”
”So, he actually knows how to dance?”
“I don’t know about dancing, but he definitely knows how to get a naggin of vodka past the bouncers.”
“Aoife!” Ripping me clean out of Podge’s arms, my boyfriend clamped his hand around my arm and roughly pulled me back to him. “Come here for a sec—“
“Hey,” I snapped, yanking my arm free, as I turned around to glare at him. “That hurt.” I reached up to rub my arm. “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t be such a drama queen,” he protested with a roll of his eyes. “Come outside with me.” He reached for my arm again. “I want to talk to you.”
“No.” Yanking my arm free once more, I glared up at him. “You called me a slut.”
“I didn’t mean that the way it came out.” Pulling me into a hug, he leaned down and planted a kiss on my lips. “Come on, babe, it was a slip of the tongue. Don’t fall out with me over it.”
“You said that I look like a slut,” I hissed, shoving at his chest in order to escape his hold.
“Look at you,” he shouted back at me, losing his cool. “You’re practically wearing underwear and rubbing yourself against another fella!”
“Hey,” Podge warned, coming to my defense.
“Stay out of this, Podge.”
“Don’t grab her like that, lad.”
“It’s okay, Podge, I’m grand,” I told him before turning my glare back on Paul. “This is a Halloween costume, and Podge is my friend. I’m allowed to have friends, Paul.”
“It’s too revealing,” he argued. “I can see the cheeks of your ass under that thing you call a dress. It makes you look like a whore. You’re better than that.”
“Whore?” Drunk and furious, I shoved at his chest. “You prick.”
“Aoife— “
“I was dancing with my friend – enjoying myself. I wasn’t do anything wrong, and you insulted me.” I glared at him. “Twice. That’s a hard fucking limit for me, Paul.”
“Yeah, but you’ve been drinking.”
“And?”
“And I’m not comfortable with it.”
“With what exactly?” I demanded, voice slurring. “Me drinking or dancing?”
Paul opened his mouth to reply but I quickly cut him off.
“You know what? Don’t answer that. Don’t even speak to me. In fact, why don’t you consider yourself relieved of boyfriend duties for the night. At least that way, you won’t feel embarrassed by me.”
“Don’t do this, Aoife,” he warned, snatching my hand up. “Not here. Not like this.”
“You started this, Paul.” Snatching my hand back, I wagged a finger in his face. “You called me a slut, remember? And a whore.” Shaking my head, I backed up a step or two, bumping up against a hard chest. “Whoops.”
“How are ya, Aoife?” Mack, one of the lads from my class, asked, offering me a friendly smile. “You’re looking well.”
“Hey, Mack.” I smiled back at him before returning to glower at my boyfriend. “You’re going to eat your words, asshole.”
With that, I turned back to dance with my smiling classmate, who was only too happy to dance with me.
“Yeah, girl,” Casey hooted in support, as she and Alec danced over to us. “You show that prick who’s boss.”
“Jesus Christ,” Paul growled, grabbing ahold of my arm and roughly yanking me back towards him. “You’re a messy fucking drunk.”
“And you’re just plain messy,” I snapped. “Now leave me alone before you ruin my whole night.”
“Let her go, Ricey, lad,” Mack said in a concerned tone. “She was only dancing with me. We’re friends, lad. No harm done.”
“Yeah, prick,” Alec interjected, with Casey’s red lipstick smeared all over his face. “I wouldn’t put hands on her, if I were you.”
“She’s making a fucking show of herself,” Paul seethed before dragging me away from our friends. “I’d call that a lot of harm done.”
“Hey,” Casey called out after us. “Let go of her arm, Paul!”
“No,” he bit out, as he began to make his way through the crowd, dragging me along after him. “You’re going to sober up and we’re going to talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk,” I complained, digging my heels into the floor. “I want to dance.”
“And make an even bigger show of me?” He shook his head and continued to drag me towards the exit. “Yeah, that’s not happening, babe.”
“Stop,” I argued, trying and failing to break free from his hold. “You’re squashing my wings –my halo! Stop, I’ve dropped my halo on the floor.”
One minute, I was pulling with all of my might to break away from Paul’s hold, and the next, I was on my hands and knees on the floor, having lost my balance when he abruptly let go of my arm.
“My halo!” I half-slurred, half-cheered, reaching out a hand to retrieve it. “You bastard,” I wailed, when someone’s big foot stomped down on it, cracking the plastic in half. “You broke my halo!”
“Put your hands on her like that again and see what’ll happen,” a familiar voice threatened, as the owner of said voice hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me to my feet. “She’s not a fucking rag-doll, asshole.”
Bleary eyed, I let my gaze wander up to the owner of said voice and beamed when his familiar green eyes landed on mine. “Well, hey there, Joe!”
“Molloy,” he acknowledged in his usual deep timbre. “Causing trouble again?”
“Always.” Grinning wolfishly, I hooked an arm around his neck for balance, feeling my pulse skyrocket at the sight of him. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking out for you, apparently,” Joey muttered, keeping one strong arm hooked around me.