Finding Dandelion (Dearest #2)

by Lex Martin

  “I’m not backing out. Not with dickhead down there.” I put my mouth against his ear and whisper, “Do I look okay?” I brush down my skirt. Man, it’s short.

  “You look like sex on a stick, and he’s going to be blue-balling himself all over the club when he sees your hot little ass up there.” Travis pats me on the bum and shoos me up the small steps. Thankfully, there are five other cages, so it’s not like I’m the main attraction.

  When we got here, Travis’s uncle said one of the girls called in sick, so my best friend kindly suggested that I take her place. I’ve been here enough times to know how the girls move, and if I don’t think too hard about it, I should be okay.

  As I get to the top of the stairs, I turn back to give Travis a nervous smile. It’s now or never. I gulp, wishing I had another drink, and strut into the cage before I can rethink this.

  Closing my eyes, I feel the beat in my chest, and I let my hips move while I grip the bars like my life depends on it. The crowd is busy. No one will notice you.

  I’ve always been a decent dancer, probably from years of gymnastics. Hopefully, I’ll check off item number four on my list without making a total ass of myself.

  I start to let myself go, and the pounding in my heart subsides and is replaced with the driving rhythm of music. The lights pulse above, and I swirl my hips and thrust my chest and move. Heat flushes my cheeks. Sweat beads on my skin.

  Feeling braver, I open my eyes. At first I just look at the floor of the cage. It takes another few minutes before I brave looking out into the crowd. And then I wish I hadn’t.

  Because staring at me is Hot Guy.

  I’m not good at being coy. That’s Margo’s game. She can lure them in and chew them up before they realize what’s happening.

  Somewhere in my alcohol-addled brain, I decide to pretend I’m her. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? This is just a game. No biggie. Why am I so serious all the time? See, this is what my mother is always talking about. I’m too structured. Too rigid. Too damn nice. Anger starts to pound through my veins as I think of all the times I’ve been called that word. Reid called me nice. Screw nice.

  I wink at Hot Guy and decide I definitely need more alcohol. Looking to the side of the cage, I see Travis, and I make a drinking motion, and he nods.

  I continue to dance until he steps into the cage with my martini, which I chug.

  “Damn, girl. Take it easy.”

  “I’m not drunk enough to do this.”

  He pushes up against me and smiles. “Move over. You’re hogging the limelight.”

  Travis grabs my hips and spins me so I’m facing the crowd. Then he pulls me tight and grinds against me, making me gasp.

  “I thought you weren’t into girls,” I yell.

  “As much as I’d love to say this boner is for you, I was dancing with Evan a few minutes ago.”

  I laugh and dance with him until we’re both hot and sweaty. I thrust my hips back against him and wrap my arms around his neck as his hands wind down my body.

  He spins me around to face him, and he dips me back, grinding his hips into mine. Okay.

  When he pulls me up, he laughs at my expression. “Was that too much?” he whispers in my ear.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much foreplay before with a straight guy.”

  He laughs again and kisses my cheek, turning me back to the crowd. “That’s a shame, honey.”

  When I turn back, Hot Guy is gone. Damn.

  I search for him, my eyes scanning the crowd, but after half an hour, I finally give up.

  My insides feel deflated from the lost potential of tonight as I descend the stairs onto the main dance floor. But who am I kidding? Even if I had talked to that guy, he probably has a girlfriend. Or ten. He’s too gorgeous to be here by himself.

  Spotting an opening in the crowd, I decide to head for the bar and drown my disappointment in vodka.

  And as I turn, I run straight into Reid and Ashley.

  CHAPTER SIX

  - Jax -

  I’ve been peeling heart stickers off my shirt since I got to Cages. You’d think I’d like kissing all those girls to earn my birthday gift. A weekend skiing at Sugarloaf in Maine can’t be beat. The guys know I love skiing. It takes my mind off all the bullshit at school. But by the third girl, I was done. Kissing that many chicks skeeved me out. Even without tongue. It shouldn’t have—some of them were hot, but after the first few, the thrill was gone.

  Looking around the pulsing floor, I don’t see any of our friends yet. I get the distinct feeling Nick has abandoned me for that tall sorority girl we saw on our way in. I’m wondering whether I should wait around for the rest of our friends or take a cab home when I see a girl look down at her bare shoulder.

  I take a few steps closer to see the tattoo on her back. It’s a blue star. She turns slightly, and my eyes travel up the length of her. She’s gorgeous, petite with long, dark hair, smooth pale skin, and the face of a fucking angel.

  My heart hammers in my chest. Actually hammers. Shit.

  Her girlfriend grabs her tits, and she swats her away, laughing.

  Then her eyes tilt up toward mine, and she freezes. I can feel the smirk on my face. I can’t hide my amusement from watching her get felt up in the middle of a club.

  But before I can talk to her, she turns and bolts the other way. Hmm, wasn’t expecting that.

  A slap on my back makes me flinch.

  “Hey, man. Gonna head out with Tracy,” Nick says, pointing toward a leggy brunette. “You gonna be okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure everyone’ll get here soon.” I motion toward his chick. “Have fun.”

  The side of his mouth tilts up. “Don’t wait up for me, Mom. You know I like my BU girls.”

  As long as he stays the fuck away from my sister, he can go to town. “No doubt. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I head over to the bar that runs against the back of the cavernous room. I’ve already had several shots, and I don’t want to push my luck tonight, so I grab a beer and lean back against a pillar while I scan the crowd and look for the girl with the tattoo.

  After a few minutes, I spot her with her friends before she heads toward the platform that runs opposite the bar. Five cages hang down from the ceiling. The one in the middle is empty, and that pretty girl walks up the steps and saunters into the cage before she starts to sway and move.

  God, she’s stunning. The cages are bathed in a bright light, and she’s dressed in something that looks straight out of a burlesque with garters, a short gauzy skirt and a skin-tight shirt that puts all of her best assets on display. She’s slender but stacked. I get hard just watching her. I guess that’s the point.

  She runs her hands through her thick hair that runs halfway down her back. She’s like a pinup, posing and moving like an erotic fantasy. She has streaks of color in her hair, but I can’t tell what it is from here. She finally opens her eyes, and behind the sultry makeup, I swear there’s a flash of innocence on that gorgeous face. Something about her seems so familiar, but I can’t place her.

  A couple of the girls up there look downright stupid, but she’s a great dancer and owns it, grabbing hold of the bars and dancing to the beat. I feel a little like a stalker, standing here, watching her every move.

  The music fades away into the solitary beat of a drum. That’s when she looks up and sees me. At first, she glances away. Is she shy? But then, a minute later, she stares back and winks before she twirls away and shakes her hips. Okay, I think my mouth just watered.

  When a tall guy walks into her cage and grips her to him, I worry for a second that they’re together, but I think I just saw him grinding up against some other dude ten minutes ago.

  But it’s obvious they’re close. They move together like they’ve been partners for a while because she doesn’t seem to mind that his hands are all over her. Fuck, let him be gay.

  A couple of my buddies arrive, and I talk to them for a while, but my eyes always gravitat
e toward her cage.

  She finally takes a break and walks back onto the dance floor, and I’m closing the distance between us when two people step in front of her. Her expression looks like something between hurt and disgust.

  Thinking fast, I move to her side and wrap my arm around her tiny waist. She jumps, but when she realizes it’s me, her face lights up. “There you are,” she says like she’s known me her whole life.

  And then she does the damnedest thing. She reaches up, running her hand along my jaw and into my hair, and draws my face to hers. When her lips reach mine, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. They’re soft, and when she pulls away a second later, I taste apple on my lips.

  “Hey, babe,” I say loud enough for her audience.

  Her eyes twinkle back. She’s clearly enjoying our little game. She licks her lips like she’s trying to taste me too before she reaches around my waist and turns to the guy and his blonde.

  My girl tilts her head and smirks. “Reid, I have nothing to say to you and Ashley. I don’t have that necklace. I’ve told you this.” She has to yell to be heard over the music.

  “Danielle, you were in my room the last time I saw it,” Ashley screeches.

  Her name is Danielle.

  “Just because you can’t remember what you did with it doesn’t mean you should blame me.”

  “You’re just pissed he gave it to me instead of you.” If the venom in Ashley’s voice didn’t tell me this girl is a bitch, the way she looks down at her fake nails and snorts does.

  Danielle shrugs and leans into me, and I wrap my arm around her shoulder. Her little body fits perfectly against me.

  “Ashley, I think you’re forgetting that Reid and I had already broken up, but you’re welcome to the sloppy seconds. Besides, between your small brain and his small dick, I’d say you’re a match made in heaven.”

  I chuckle, and Danielle looks up and grins. Then I can’t help it. I lean down and kiss her again.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  - Dani -

  Reid and Ashley disappear as I get lost in his kiss. We stand there while bodies crash around us to the music, and I’m caught against him like a wave breaking on the beach.

  I don’t know what possessed me to kiss this guy out of the blue and pretend we were somehow together. Right now, I’m blaming the three apple martinis. I just couldn’t stand one more interaction with Reid where I stammered like some kind of loser.

  Am I imagining it or did I just tell off my ex? It’s hard to think clearly when I’m pressed up against this beautiful creature. I trail my hands up along his tall frame, dipping the tips of my fingers against the hard ridges and planes of his chest. He looks good in clothes, but the thought of what he looks like without anything on does delicious things to my body. I try to burn the sensation of what he feels like into my memory.

  When we finally pull back for air, we stop to look at each other. And then we laugh.

  “Holy shit.” I put my hand to my mouth, for the first time embarrassed that I’ve been trying to swallow him whole for the last five minutes. “Hi.”

  He grins back. “Hi.”

  I don’t hear him so much as read his lips, which I can appreciate now that my mouth isn’t sealed against them. His head slants as though he’s pondering some deep thought, like maybe how he spent the last few minutes locking tongues with a crazy girl who doesn’t even know him.

  And then my world slows down as I realize who he is.

  Holy shit. It’s the sexy guy from the pizza place.

  Jax.

  I was excited before I recognized him, but now my heartbeat outpaces the driving rhythm of the music.

  If I’m honest with myself, I don’t really know how to talk to guys this gorgeous. I’m not a big flirt, and I don’t think I’m particularly eloquent.

  What the hell would Margo say right now? Something funny. And she’d look sexy while being funny.

  I cock my hip and tilt my head, so all my hair tumbles down my shoulder. This is me, trying to be sexy. Hoping I don’t look stupid.

  I start to talk, but the music is too loud, so he lowers his head to mine, and I say, “How did you know I needed you to save me from my ex? Are you some kind of knight in shining armor who rescues girls from assholes like Reid?”

  I’d never say anything quite that cheesy in the light of day, but I’m buzzed. I expect him to be all smiles and charm because he clearly has that in spades. Instead, his brow furrows.

  “I should probably warn you.” He brushes my cheek with his thumb. “I’m no knight. More like the big bad wolf.” He looks away for a moment. “Maybe you should run while you can.”

  I watch him to see if he’s serious, and my stomach plummets because he is.

  Trying to regain some of my earlier bravado, I press my shoulders back. I use this opportunity to stare at him up close, allowing my eyes to travel up and down his body. When my eyes reach his, I go for broke.

  “Maybe I’m looking for a wolf.” I swallow down a crazy surge of insecurity that makes my insides do flip flops. “And maybe I can handle bad.”

  His eyes widen, and I wonder if that was the wrong thing to say when he utters, “Fuck.” And then his mouth crushes against mine.

  His tongue licks and strokes mine, and I’m on fire. My arms lock around his neck, and I kiss back like he’s the last guy I’ll ever touch. He’s tall so when his hips press against my stomach, I get my first introduction to his degree of interest in me. Hell, yes!

  When someone bumps into us, breaking our connection, I look around. The dance floor is packed. I have no idea where my friends are or if my roommates ever arrived. All I know is I have to be alone with Jax. Now.

  I spot Travis’s uncle close the door to the green room where the DJs usually hang out before their set, and once he’s back behind the bar, I lace my fingers through Jax’s.

  “Follow me?”

  He gives me a flirty grin. “Anywhere.”

  A smile erupts on my face. I turn, pulling him behind me as we weave through the crowd and down into the dark hallway.

  Please let it be empty.

  When I open the door, the only light shining comes from a couple of lava lamps in the corner. The room is small, sporting a retro 60s-looking leather couch, a coffee table, and a small row of lockers in the back where the bartenders keep their stuff.

  I tug Jax in behind me, hoping he’s as into this as I am. He kicks the door behind me and scoops me in his arms, making me laugh. Yeah, he’s into it.

  My legs instinctively wrap around his waist, my ankles cross behind him. “Lock the door,” I instruct, eager to make sure this is private. He turns and reaches up to the door and latches the silver metal lock.

  Jax’s mouth is instantly on mine. We kiss, frantically trying to get closer, and when I suck on his tongue, he groans. Then air rushes around me, and we’re falling onto the couch, laughing. Jax kisses along my neck, and I’m so glad he can’t see my face because I’m grinning like a lunatic.

  I honestly don’t remember the last time I had this much fun. For the first time in so, so long, I feel alive, each cell in my body awake and electrified.

  He pulls back onto his knees and stares down at me. I realize my skirt is hitched around my waist, revealing my garters and black boy shorts. Everything pauses as I think about what I’m about to do. I’ve never been in this moment before—about to have sex with a guy I don’t know.

  I want to pull back and withdraw as the fear grows, but then I remember Reid, who was supposed to be my safe and steady and everything I thought I needed. All that relationship did was make me doubt myself and leave me empty.

  Jax interrupts my thoughts.

  “Goddamn, you’re beautiful.” His smile is gone, and the look on his face makes my whole body thrum again with a desperate need for him to touch me. “I couldn’t get my eyes off you tonight.”

  The music beats through the walls, and it feels like we’re nestled in a cave, making his words sound like something ou
t of a dream.

  I want to tell him I’m thinking the same thing about him, that he looks like some kind of gorgeous mythological god, but that sounds ridiculous in my head. All I know is that I want his body on mine.

  “You’re too far away. Why do you have so many clothes on?” I tug on his shirt, and he rips it off and grins at me.

  Holy shit balls. This guy is ripped. I knew he was muscular, but now I can see every inch of those washboard abs as they trail into his jeans. I stare, trying to soak in all of his deliciousness.

  He chuckles. “Your turn, baby.” He gives me a wolfish grin as he reaches down to lift off my shirt, revealing my hot pink lace demi-bra.

  I lie back down, enjoying the fact that he’s nestled between my thighs, and I reach down to the front of my bra. I take a deep breath for the courage to unclasp it. No guy I’ve been with has seen me like this before. I’m not sure how I stand it, but I watch his face as I pull the fabric away from me. It’s freezing in here, and my skin pebbles even tighter against the rush of cold air.

  The look on his face is priceless.

  “Fuck.” He closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them, I see the lust behind his dilated pupils. “You’re pierced?”

  He doesn’t need to ask the question because his hands are immediately on me as though he needs proof. My nipples are still a little sore, but having him touch me sends an instant jolt to my core.

  “You’re a devilish little angel,” he whispers before he lowers himself onto me. “I think I might need to explore every inch of your body with my mouth.”

  Yes, do that! A lot of that!

  I groan as his body fits tightly against mine, his hardness between my legs finally putting pressure where I need it most. Feeling his chest rub against me has my eyes practically rolling back in my head. Oh dear God, the piercings rock.

  He starts to slide down me, sucking and kissing his way down my body. When he laves my nipple with his hot tongue, I moan, threading my fingers through his messy thick hair. He tugs the ring with his teeth, and I gasp at the sensation.