We were down to two cups each. Drayton had the game in the beginning. He was so smug about it. But then I began to sink ball after ball, and it surprised me, but I think that the alcohol had a hand in that. Regardless, I was on a roll.
“This is bullshit!” Drayton threw his arms in the air when I landed the ball in his second-to-last cup. “You’re cheating.”
“As if!” I scoffed. “I have a good arm, remember!”
I was referring to our first meeting, when I’d almost caught a football with my face but impressed him when it landed in my hands instead. He knew it, too, and grinned.
“Drink, Drayton!” Cooper laughed from the sidelines as he cradled an almost unconscious Carrie.
“Shut up, Cooper,” Drayton scoffed and poured the cup’s contents down his throat after he had plucked the ball out.
He lined up his shot while swallowing his mouthful. He threw the ball at the closest cup and the entire crowd groaned in disappointment when it bounced off the rim. I jumped up and down with excitement because now it was my turn, and I was determined to sink the one that would make me the winner.
The crowd quieted. It didn’t make a hell of a lot of difference because the rest of the party was still squealing, yelling, and shouting over the thumping music. But it did add a level of suspense as I lined up my shot and threw the ball, landing it perfectly in Drayton’s last cup.
I screamed, my hands flew up, and I jumped up and down, cheering alongside the crowd. Drayton smiled from the other end of the table. He raised his last cup as a toast and mouthed Congratulations before he threw it back.
Later on, when it was quiet, I planned on rubbing the win in his face and ensuring that he ate his words of doubt. For now, I smiled back and watched as he wiped his mouth then frowned at something behind me. I didn’t get the chance to turn around because I was lifted up at the waist and spun around too fast for someone who’d just drank eight cups of beer.
“That was impressive!” Cooper laughed then set me back on my feet while keeping his arms secured around my waist. We shuffled toward the sliding doors to make room for the next beer-pong match. “I had no idea that you could play like that.”
“Neither did I,” I admitted. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the fact that there was not an inch of space between us. “That was my first time playing.”
“For real? Do you want to dance?” His voice was low and his hands slid down my waist, his fingers lacing with mine. He was more confident than he had been when we’d met. I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
“No, she’s good,” Drayton’s voice was followed by an arm that snaked me away from Cooper’s hold. “Aren’t you, babe?”
This was getting stupid. This had nothing to do with stepping in to save me from the embarrassment of rejecting Cooper. Drayton was just behaving like a jealous twit, and I hated that it made me feel something.
“I thought you guys weren’t together …” Cooper instinctually took a step back.
“It’s complicated.” Drayton shrugged. “We’re working on a few things.”
“Drayton! Sto—”
“Right.” Cooper flashed me a sheepish smile then turned to head outside before I could correct the situation. “That’s cool. I’ll see you both ’round.”
He disappeared and I shrugged out of Drayton’s embrace. I was a little drunk, but I was sober enough to know that he was drunk, too, and I hoped that this night didn’t turn into a disaster because of it.
“What is your problem!?” I gave his chest a slight shove, which seemed to surprise him. “Why do you keep cock blocking me? First Josh, now Cooper—what’s going on Dray? What’s with the games?”
“You don’t have a cock for me to block, Cheer,” he drawled and earned a frustrated breath from the nostrils from me. “I’m not even doing anything. You don’t seem that interested in him anyway. I’m sure if you were, you wouldn’t let me get in the way.”
“Just—just shut up and quit it!” I snapped. “I don’t do it to you!”
We’d ended up in the corner of the room, shuffled slowly into it as people walked in and out of the sliding door and around the crowded space. I was backed into the corner and, not that he knew a lot about boundaries to begin with, he had truly discarded personal space from his vocab.
“You’re supposed to be my wingman tonight, Dray.” He was infuriating me, but at the same time I couldn’t stop my heart from racing as he got closer, causing everything else around us to fade out. “You’re doing a shit job. The point is to find someone for me, not scare them off.”
“Do you honestly think any of them can make you feel the way I can?” He grabbed my waist and spun me around, pulling my back flush against his front. This was an unexpected turn of events, but the tension immediately overruled any argument that I may have been concocting. “Do you think they know what makes you feel good?”
His voice was low and raspy, but despite our intoxication, it was stable and dominating. His hands moved slowly and purposefully, traveling up from my waist and sliding across the front of my stomach, dancing tantalizingly and gently underneath my chest.
“Do you think that they know that you like this?”
He lifted one of his hands into the hair at the back of my head and tugged on it, while his other hand dragged downward to lift the bottom of my shorts as he rubbed the front of my smooth thigh. My stomach flipped as his hot breath fanned the side of my neck. I tipped my head back and allowed him access. It was too good. All of it was beyond sensual, and I could feel myself coming undone. His touch left a spark, setting fire to my mind.
“I know what you like, Dallas,” he growled beside my ear.
The way my name sounded on his lips brought a soft moan from me. Embarrassment wasn’t something that I had time to feel because his grip on my hair tightened in response, pulling my head back farther as his other hand wrapped around my wrists. Goose bumps covered my skin as his fingertips grazed the length of my sides and he peppered soft, toothy kisses along my bare shoulder and neck. “None of them can make you feel this way, Dallas.”
He spun me around and slammed me against the wall, his face hovering a mere inch from my own, and every part of my body ached for him. I could barely form coherent thoughts around him when I was sober and right then, I didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t go back to the hotel immediately and give in to each other.
“Kiss me,” I mumbled, breathless with want. I needed one last, final push and I knew that as soon as his mouth found mine, I’d be done.
He leaned against the wall, his hands on either side of my head as he brought his face closer. Before our lips met, his expression dropped. He looked almost as though he was in pain, a stark contrast to the earlier lust-infused look. He studied me with an intense glare. We stayed locked in a trance of hot, sweaty, breathless energy for what seemed like an eternity.
“Not tonight, Cheer,” he mumbled, lacing our fingers together. “Not tonight.”
He exhaled loudly and my heart dropped when he straightened up and stepped back. The space between us suddenly felt enormous, and despite the fact that he’d just rejected me, I couldn’t help but want to comfort him because he looked a little broken, and that hurt.
Chapter 13
“Kiss me? Ugh. Kiss me?!”
I slapped a hand across my face and shook my head in hopes that I could physically expel the memories of last night’s fiasco straight out of existence.
“What am I? A fucking seductress? Kiss me!” I mocked drunk Dallas. Because that Dallas was not me. I didn’t know her.
To be honest, that was pretty much the last clear memory that I had of the previous night; the rest of the evening was a bit of a blur. A hangover would seem like an appropriate aftermath, but I didn’t feel too horrible, although I could have used an ibuprofen and some water.
After Drayton had politely rejected the “hot offer” to lay his lips on mine, I’d promptly drowned myself in more alcohol than I thought my body was physically capable of handli
ng. The flashback of our little tease fest immediately caused me to flush, and I wanted to crawl into a hole every time it came flooding back to the forefront of my mind.
I peeked over at the sleeping dead beside me and remembered why it had been so easy to fall prey to his charm. He lay on his back with his bare chest on display and his head rolled to the left. Just the sight of him erupted a flutter in my stomach, and I could honestly say that I’d never felt a sexual tension like this with anyone else ever before.
The image of my intoxicated self, leaning against the wall in a hot and bothered state came barreling to mind once again, and I scrunched my features in distaste as I whispered, “Kiss me, ugh,” in a taunting tone.
“I would have.”
I squealed when Drayton’s deep voice broke the silence around us. I was struggling with the shame before I knew that he was listening to me relive last night’s nightmare out loud, and now, it was ten times worse. He turned his head and smiled at me with tired eyes.
“I’m not into taking advantage of drunk girls.”
“You were drunk too. We had the same number of cups. Minus two. If anything, it would have been me taking advantage of you. You had more to drink than me.”
“I’m also twice your size and can hold my booze really well.” He rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, causing his pecs and biceps to flex. “But don’t worry about it. I could tell you about the rest of your night, and I’m sure that might take away the embarrassment of asking me to kiss you.”
“What?”
“You were a mess,” he said. “I had to throw you over my shoulder and put you in a cab because you wouldn’t leave.”
“I don’t remember that … I mean, I have a mantra: ‘If you don’t remember it, forget about it.’ I don’t want to hear any more.”
“No, you probably don’t.”
Drayton saying No one can make you feel the way I do echoed around my head. Once again, he’d said and done all of these things to indicate that he wanted me, then turned around straight after and carried on as though nothing had happened. One person’s actions had never confused me more in my entire life, and if I weren’t so afraid of his answer, I would have come right out and asked what the hell he wanted from me.
“I’m going to get ready.” I leaped out of bed and started searching through my duffel.
“You going back to the campus?”
“Yes,” I told him. “Alone.”
I headed toward the bathroom with my handful of clothes while Drayton watched me with a curious expression. I hated that I wanted him. I needed to stay focused on the future. To top it all off, we’d be living in two different states next year, which meant that he wasn’t included in my next steps, and I needed to remember that. It was hard to remember anything when he looked at me with those hooded eyes and delectable lips.
After a shower, I changed into a pair of ripped denim high-waisted shorts and a tucked-in white tank top. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Drayton was standing beside the door when I emerged from the bathroom. He was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. I dropped my towel onto the end of the bed. “What are you doing? I said that I’m going alone.”
I slipped my feet into a pair of flip-flops, saying quickly, “Drayton, I don’t need you to come and protect me. You’re so rude to Cooper. It makes things uncomfortable. I’m going to do the tour alone.”
“That was a beautiful speech, Cheer. But I actually have plans of my own today. I was just waiting to let you know so that I wasn’t gone when you came out of the bathroom.”
Physically trying to stop a blush from smothering your entire face is literally impossible. No matter how much lip biting, breathing, and attempting to feel confident that you do, if heat wants to find its way onto the apples of your cheeks and create an ugly red rash on your neck, it will.
“Oh. My bad.” I folded my arms. “What are you getting up to?”
The only way to save myself was to act cool. It was futile. He could tell how embarrassed I was. The stupid smug grin on his lips made that evident.
He tapped the space underneath my chin and winked before turning around and opening the door. “All sorts.”
In that morning’s frustration with Drayton, I had forgotten to ask him for Cooper’s number. When I got to campus, I headed straight to the administration office, knowing that they would be able to get hold of him.
The office was no longer vacant. Three receptionists were busy behind the round desk, taking phone calls, talking to students, and assisting teachers. I’d been expecting to wait a while to find Cooper, but much to my surprise, he was sitting on the couch bopping his head along to whatever was playing on his earphones.
He lifted his head when he noticed my approach, and a wide smile made little dimples on either cheek. I wasn’t usually one to fuss over dimples—I’ve never really understood the hype—but they did look gorgeous on his sun-kissed skin.
“Hey.” He pulled out his earphones and wrapped them around his phone. “Talk about timing. I thought you might show up today.”
“Were you waiting for me?”
He was about to answer when a woman handed him a little USB. He thanked her and held it up in way of explanation. “I was waiting for this, actually. I was planning to stick around for a little longer, just in case you did come in.”
“Good timing.”
We walked through a door that led from the office into a wide, busy corridor.
“Since our tour has unofficially begun,” he said as I took in all of the bodies walking past us, or dancing against the walls, or singing as they stared out of a window, “all of these are dance classes.” He pointed at the various doors. “It’s not always like this in here. People are waiting for the next class to begin.”
I peered inside the doors as we passed them, admiring the dancers—ballet, jazz, hip-hop, contemporary (one class I wished I could join). We came to the end of the corridor and stepped into a sheltered walkway that traveled to another block.
He showed me everything, the entire school. The studios where producing was done. The enormous theater that was used for productions. Music classes filled with every instrument imaginable. This school had it all, and the tour took around an hour. We chatted as we walked, getting to know a little more about each other. The most important thing was that I wanted to get to know him more.
“I’m guessing you’d like to see more of the dance classes?” Cooper smiled when we circled back to where we’d started.
I nodded, almost unable to contain the thrill of seeing the potential classes that I could attend. As we walked, it was hard not to see myself as a student. It was hard not to imagine that I would walk these halls. I knew that I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but I couldn’t help it.
Cooper chuckled at my enthusiasm to his offer and we started down the corridor, which wasn’t as busy as it had been earlier due to the fact that classes had started ten minutes ago. “You’re in luck because my troop’s starting some new choreography, and that’s what the USB is for—it’s got the music on it.”
We walked into a beautiful studio. It was alive with about fifteen hip-hop dancers who were moving in perfect sync to a track blasting from an impressive stereo in the corner of the room. I watched in awe as we walked toward the equipment, admiring the dancers’ flawless movements. The dance was sharp and precise, not to mention quick, and I felt a bit out of my league. I definitely had a lot to learn.
“Wow, this makes me extremely nervous about my audition,” I mumbled. “If I ever get one.”
“Do you want to jump in?” he asked as he plugged the USB into the stereo and selected a song.
“Jump in?”
“I’m about to teach these guys some new steps that I’ve been working on, so everyone’s on the same playing field. Give it a go?”
There wasn’t a lot of difference between what he was asking me to do and what I did almost every day with the cheer squad—follow along and learn th
e choreography. But my nerves suddenly swelled and were so strong that I contemplated heading straight for the door.
“Come on.” He took my hand and led me toward the group, obviously sensing my hesitation. “Everyone, this is Dallas. She’s going to tag along for the class.”
I gave a small wave and made a mental note to chew him out later for the public introduction. I received a collective warm greeting, and Cooper wasted no time asking everyone to pay attention before he started the dance. I quickly kicked off my flip-flops because there was no way that I could dance in a pair of those. I noted that most people were in designer sneakers. Hopefully no one stood on my toes.
Almost instantly the entire group followed Cooper’s moves and matched him step for step. He was incredible. The way that he moved was flawless and articulate. I almost forgot that I was meant to be paying attention to the routine and not watching him.
I focused on the repetition of his moves. This was obviously just the first few steps, and I kept my eyes on his feet as I copied the complex choreography. Before long, I picked it up, following along with everyone else but hardly being aware of the other dancers. As I often did while dancing, I became transported to a place where nothing but euphoria existed, and it was further elevated by the fact that I was in a real dance studio with a real class. It was so surreal and thrilling that I could do nothing but love each step, each movement, each swirl, turn, and leap. This was the dream.
Sometime later, I was sweaty and breathless, but I felt invigorated. I’d managed to keep up for however long we’d been dancing. Honestly, time was a foreign concept at this point.
“I don’t know what you’re worried about,” Cooper said. “You’re great. You’ll ace the audition.”
“If I get an audition.” I fanned my face and slipped my flip-flops back on before the two of us moved away from the rest of the dancers. “But thanks. That was fun.”
“If you need any help with a routine, when,”—he smirked— “your audition comes up, just let me know.”
“Really?”
The QB Bad Boy and Me Page 15