Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“Hi. Would you like to dance?” he asked her politely.
Veronica began to shake her head, thank god, but then suddenly she glanced at me and then beamed up at him with ruby-lipped delight. “Thanks, I’d love to!”
He offered his arm, and she slipped her hand through it, and they headed for the dance floor.
My spine snapped straight in my chair, and I gripped my beer so hard my knuckles turned white.
“Something wrong, brother?” Xander drawled.
Watching the blond guy take Veronica in his arms felt like someone had just injected my veins with molten glass. I couldn’t even answer the question, seething with fury as she laughed at something he said, her head tipping back.
“Dude, you look insane,” Xander said. “Why didn’t you just fucking say yes when she asked you?”
The guy’s hand on Veronica’s back was moving treacherously low. I might have growled.
“You’re being ridiculous. When this song ends, go ask her to dance.”
“I don’t like dancing.”
“Well, she does, so unless you want to sit here and watch her dance with other guys while you grunt like a jealous caveman all night, you better go cut in.”
“I’m not jealous,” I said hotly.
“Oh no?” Xander laughed. “So if he asks her to hang out after this, you’d be fine with that? Maybe take her back to his place? Bring her home late?”
“Fine by me,” I lied, the urge to flip the table building in my chest and radiating through my arms. “It’s her night off. She’s free to do as she pleases.”
“Jesus Christ. I can’t watch this. I’m going to get another beer, you want one?”
“No.” All my focus was on that dance floor. I didn’t want anything except her. I wanted her so badly that when the song ended and everyone paused to applaud, I got up from the table and headed their way.
“Excuse me.” I tapped her on the shoulder. “Can I have the next one?”
“Sorry.” Her expression was cool. “I’ve already promised the next one to Daniel here.”
I gave Daniel a look of barely contained rage. “Would you mind?”
He swallowed. Looked at the width of my shoulders and the way my hands were curled into fists. “No, it’s fine. Maybe I’ll see you later, Roni.”
I fumed as he walked away. He was already calling her Roni?
When he’d gone, she faced me, her expression livid. “Really? Now you want to dance?”
“Yeah.”
The band started up again, a slow blues this time, but I couldn’t bring myself to put my arms around her and sway like the couples around us—I was too worked up.
She cocked her head to one side. “What’s the matter? Scared to touch me?”
“No.” But I was. If I touched her, it was all over.
“So you don’t really want to dance with me, you just don’t want me to dance with anyone else.” She rolled her eyes. “Figures.”
She walked off the dance floor, but instead of going back to the table, she headed toward the bathrooms. I followed her, even though I felt like every eye in the place was watching us. But instead of entering the ladies’ room, she blew right by it. Bursting out the back door, she stomped off around one side of the building, in the opposite direction of the parking lot.
“Hey!” I called, hurrying to catch up with her. “Where are you going?”
“Leave me alone. I want some air.”
“It’s dark out here!”
“Then you better keep your distance—you know what happens with us in the dark. You might start to feel sorry for me again!”
“Will you stop?” I got close enough to grab her by the elbow and spun her to face me. “I want to talk to you.”
“Let go!” She shook off my grip and faced me, her eyes shining with anger in the moonlight.
“I’m sorry.” I held up my hands. “I didn’t mean to manhandle you. I just wanted to—”
“To what?” She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes going wide. “Punish me for dancing with someone else? It’s obvious you didn’t like it.”
“I didn’t,” I admitted. “I wanted to fucking lay him out.”
“That’s ridiculous. We were just dancing.”
“He had his arms around you,” I seethed.
“And you were jealous?”
“Yes!”
“So put your fucking arms around me, Austin! No one is stopping you!”
Pushed to the limit, I did exactly what she said—threw my arms around her and crushed my mouth to hers. My tongue swept between her lips, insistent, hot, demanding. I poured all my anger and jealousy and frustration into that kiss, desperate to smother my fired-up feelings.
But her arms wound around my neck, and she jumped up, wrapping her legs around me, which only stoked the flames. My hands moved beneath her ass, and I put her back against the old barn wall, which throbbed with the pounding drums inside. I ground my cock between her legs, rubbing my hard length against her pussy through those little black shorts.