by L. A. Casey
"I should have stayed at home," I yawned and stretched.
Alannah, who was on her second vodka and Coke, snapped her head to me and rolled her eyes. "Have a drink and loosen up, this is fun!"
I gave her a look. "We have school in the mornin', so I'm passin' on havin' a drink. You should just stop altogether; you're goin' to be dyin' with a hangover when you wake up otherwise."
Alannah blew me a kiss. "Thanks Ma, I'll keep that in mind."
The cheeky sod!
"Bitch," I grunted, making her laugh and me grin.
I liked this; she was so easy to talk with and didn't get offended when I called her names, which was brilliant because, at one stage or another, I called everyone a bitch.
"Let's dance," Alannah announced to me because Branna was now on Ryder's lap, whispering what I was sure were nasty things in his ear.
I looked at Alannah and sighed.
Did she not see or hear me yawning and stretching a few moments ago?
"Don't even think about sayin' no, Bronagh. We have to bond and dancin' helps with that so come on," she whined.
I couldn't help but groan as she frowned and targeted me with her puppy dog brown eyes. It wasn't fair; the things tripled in size when she pinned me with them, and it made me feel bloody terrible.
"Okay," I groaned and reached for her outstretched hand.
God help the lad she ended up with, the poor sod wouldn't have any resistance against those eyes when she asked him for something.
"Yay," Alannah beamed.
"We will be back later," Alannah said to the table without looking at any of the lads.
I looked at each of them and said, "By later, she hopefully means after the next song."
The lads chuckled when Alannah cackled and, of course, her cackles made me snicker.
"Fat chance of that. Now come on, I love this song!"
Ten seconds later we were on the edge of the dance floor dancing to Best Love Song by T-Pain and Chris Brown. Both Alannah and I shouted the lyrics to the song instead of singing them, which we found hilarious. I rolled my hips a little with my hands swaying up in the air while Alannah went to town on shaking her arse and rolling her hips like a belly dancer. I was okay on the dancing front, but Alannah, that girl was killing it. Not in a choreographed styled way; just in a plain seductive way. I found myself dancing but staring at her as well, so when hands came around from behind it made me jump, because I wasn't expecting it.
I quickly looked over my shoulder and upwards ready to throw a slap at the person for grabbing me when my eyes landed on his. I smiled then and sagged my back into his chest. He leaned his head down to my ear as he moved his body with mine and said, "You're fucking killing me, what the fuck is with moving your hips and ass so much? Are you trying to cause a riot?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'm just dancin'."
"Dancing like a fucking seductress," Dominic growled as his hands landed on my hips and pulled my arse into his groin, so I was sort of slowly grinding on him.
"A seductress? Me? That title belongs to Alannah. Did you not see how she was dancin'?" I asked then looked forward to where Alannah was, only to find she wasn't there anymore or anywhere in my line of sight.
"I wasn't watching Alannah, or anybody else for that matter. My eyes were locked on you… and that ass."
I rolled my eyes again then got on my tiptoes looking for Alannah.
My stomach started to churn. "Where did she go? She was right there a minute ago. I have to find her-"
"There she is," Dominic said and pointed to the lowly lit section of the club that had hallways leading to private rooms.
I squinted my eyes and then widened them. "That's Damien she is with!" I all but screamed over the loud music.
Dominic laughed as we watched Damien and Alannah neck on across the room. They weren't just kissing; they were all but fucking each other through their clothes, and it actually made me blush.
"I have to stop her, she is not thinkin' clearly, and will regret this in the mornin'. She told me she wasn't addin' herself onto Damien's hit list even though she fancies him."
Dominic burst out laughing. "Damien's what?"
I turned to him. "His hit list, you know the number of girls he has shagged since you all moved here."
Dominic was vibrating with laughter as he led me from the dance floor and back towards the booth that was now full of girls and a good-looking lad that was seated directly next to Alec. He had a girl on his lap but also had his hand on the thigh of the good-looking lad, and it made me stare, and I don't know why. Other thoughts filled my head the more I looked at him.
"Do you mind Alec being bisexual?" Dominic asked me when he noticed my staring.
I shook my head. "Nope, I'm just curious to find out if he is a giver or a receiver."
Dominic looked horrified. "We're never discussing my brother's sexual orientation ever again."
I laughed but stopped when a screeching made me wince.
"RAMPAGE!" two girls screamed, making me jump with fright.
I moved to the left away from Dominic a bit when they flanked him on both sides. I hated that my stomach lurched at the sight of them gushing over him.
I knew he was gorgeous, and I knew he was a hot fighter, but he was mine, and these girls better fucking realise that.
"I can't wait to see you fight, you're always so good," a girl with fiery red hair purred to Dominic.
He smiled to her and winked - he fucking winked - before he said, "Thanks, beautiful. With ladies like you cheering for me it's no surprise."
They giggled, and I glared hard at Dominic before I stepped forward and literally shoved them away from him. "Fan girl time is over ladies, so get."
They were easily seven or eight years older than me, but I didn't care. If I had to stake my claim on Dominic for people to realise that I was his misses then I bloody well would.
"Bee, relax," Branna's voice came from my left.
I glanced at her; she was still on Ryder's lap. I shook my head and said, "Tell him to stop it then, and I will."
"Stop what?"
I turned and glared at Dominic before clearing my throat and repeated his words in his accent. "Thanks beautiful. With ladies like you cheering for me it's no surprise."
Alec, Kane, Ryder, and Branna cracked up when I finished talking, but I wasn't in the slightest bit trying to be funny. I was actually pretty fucking annoyed. "Pull that flirtin' bullshit again whether I'm around or not, and I'll castrate you," I snapped to Dominic, who was just staring at me as I turned and began to walk away.
"Where are you goin'?" Branna asked me.
"To find Alannah," I said loudly so she could hear over the music as I walked away.
I knew he was following me without even looking over my shoulder, and it made the hair on the back of my neck rise up. I forced myself to ignore him as I walked over to the dimly lit area of the club where the hallway that led to the private rooms was located. Alannah and Damien weren't in sight, so I walked up to the bouncers standing guard at the hallway entrance. I didn't want to know what happened in those rooms; it couldn't have been anything good if they needed huge bouncers to keep guard outside of it.
"VIPs only, sweetheart," Skull said to me when I reached him.
He wasn't looking at me, but when he did a huge smile spread across his face. "Bronagh! Nice to see you, kid, you're lookin' well."
I felt myself blush at the compliment and was about to thank Skull when I wasn't so gently pulled behind a body.
A hard body.
"I don't want any trouble, Nico, I was just sayin' hello to your misses. That's it," Skull's voice said loudly to be heard over the music that seemed to be getting louder by the minute.
Dominic had his hand twisted around to his back so he could hold my hand in his. He didn't hold on gently either, so I yanked and pulled until he released me. When he let go, I kicked the back of his leg, which caused him to snap his entire body around to me and put his back to Sku
ll and the other bouncer.
"I'm speaking to the nice bouncer, sweetheart. Can you hold off on your childish antics for a moment while the grown-ups converse? You can? Great," Dominic chirped and snarled at the same time, which just made me stare at him for a moment until a huge pissed off feeling settled over me.
I gripped onto his arm and forced my way around to be in front of him. He kept hold of me and had my back and arse pressed against the front of his body, but I ignored that and focused on Skull. "Ignore caveman behind me and tell me if you seen me friend, you know the girl you let in with us tonight? Black hair, around five foot six, big boobs, pretty face. Does any of that ring a bell?"
Skull glanced to the other bouncer when he signalled for a private conversation. Skull leaned into the man, grinned when said man spoke in his ear then straightened up and looked back to me. He nodded in the direction of the hallway behind him. "She is back there with the blond Slater brother. Your lad's twin."
I felt my eyes widen. "She is in one of those rooms with him? She has been drinkin'! Let me in now-"
"Bronagh!" Dominic snapped, making me jump as he turned me in his arm. "You're making it out that it's dangerous for her to be alone with Damien. He wouldn't hurt her so back the fuck off!"
I glared at Dominic. "I bet Trent thought that as well once upon a time."
I regretted those words as soon as they left my mouth, because I didn't think badly of Damien. I only said it because Dominic made me mad, but I hated myself when I seen the look of hurt on his face.
"I can't believe you said that," he said, and then did something that made my stomach twist in knots.
He pushed me away from him. Not hard enough that he knocked me over but with enough force that he got me out of his space; I wanted to cry when he did it. A lump formed in my throat, and my chest felt heavy. I wanted to apologise, but I couldn't form the words. Dominic didn't stick around to listen though. He looked me up and down, shook his head then turned and walked back across the room to the booth. I watched him sit down in the booth and lock his eyes on the floor. He didn't move, not even when his brothers nudged him or shouted over the music.
I felt sick; this was the best night of my life. Dominic and I were together for the first time; we said I love you for the first time, so we shouldn't be fighting right now. I wanted to fix it, but I also wanted to find Alannah because I knew she would regret sleeping with Damien in the morning. She would be crushed when he didn't want anything more than sex, and it was my duty as her friend to protect her from that hurt if I could.
Everything would just have to wait until later, so with a sigh I turned to Skull and said, "I need to get me friend. Which room is she and Damien in?"
Skull chewed on his lip before stepping aside. "Back room on your left. It might be locked so just knock incase."
I nodded and took off walking down the hallway. I passed nine rooms by the time I reached the one Skull said Damien and Alannah were inside. I cleared my throat, raised my hand and knocked hard on the door. I had to wait outside knocking for a good fifteen minutes, and I couldn't hear a thing from inside the room so when the door suddenly door opened, I almost jumped out of my skin as I flung my hand over my heart. "You scared me, you bastard," I snapped to a shirtless Damien, who only grinned at me.
"Where is she?" I growled.
He raised his eyebrows and stopped grinning. "In the bathroom-"
"Did you have sex with her?" I cut him off.
He narrowed his eyes at me then. "I don't think that is any of your business, Bee."
I glared right back at him and said, "It's me fuckin' business when it's me friend you're fuckin' over."
I pushed by him into the room, and I made it a few steps before he grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him.
"I didn't fucking rape her!" he snarled.
I almost wet myself, because I had never seen him this mad; I actually had never seen him mad at all.
"Let go of me arm or I'm tellin' Dominic," I said in a tone that left no room for jokes.
Damien shook his head but let me go. "Is that how you deal with problems? You have my brother fix them?"
I was shocked at that and also enraged. "Fuck you, Damien. You know fuckin' well that I deal with me problems meself. I don't need Dominic to defend me from anybody!"
Damien laughed. "Jason Bane and Gavin Collins would disagree."
I shook my head. "You can seriously go and fuck yourself."
He laughed as I turned and stormed over to the side of the room where another door was; I knocked on it and called out, "Alannah?"
"I'm in here," she replied.
"Are you okay?" I asked through the door.
"Yes and no," she replied.
My stomach lurched as I said, "Explain."
"Well, I know I s-said I wasn't goin' to do it but I h-had sex with Damien and it was g-great. A little sore but still great… however, he said that nothin' will come of it, and we can just be friends because he doesn't d-do relationships… I'm s-sad over it."
She was tipsy earlier, but she didn't exactly sound drunk right now; she just sounded really upset. I turned to face Damien, who was looking at the bathroom door with a frown on his face. He looked like it bothered him that he upset Alannah.
I walked forward and pushed him by the chest, and he made no move to fight me off this time. He locked eyes with me and silently willed me to hit him, to hurt him. I didn't touch him again though. I instead looked him up and down, utterly disgusted with him.
"I was very wrong about you. I thought you were a good person; I didn't let what Dominic told me about your past change my opinion of you, because what you did wasn't planned or even thought on. You did it to protect yourself, your brother, and Nala, but this? You knew how much Alannah liked you, you knew she was a virgin and you knew she didn't want to be a one hit wonder, but yet you still pursued her and persuaded your way into her knickers, because she rejected you, and you liked the challenge of pullin' her. You're no fuckin' better than any other scumbag out there who uses girls, and I hope you realise what a cold and cruel person you are for doin' this, Damien Slater!" I made a move to turn away from his stone cold face, but paused and shook my head before I glanced up at him again. I gave him a hard glare as I said, "After hearin' a description of your ma and da from Dominic, it looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree after all, because you only think about one person just like they did. Yourself. I bet they are so fuckin' proud."
His face completely dropped, and he looked a little unsteady on his feet like he could fall over at any second. I didn't care though; I turned and went back over to the bathroom to where Alannah was still holed up inside. I gently knocked on the door and gripped the handle when I heard sniffling.
"Lana?" I said softly, using her nickname for the first time. "It's me, can I come in?"
I ignored the banging behind me. I knew Damien had to get dressed, and he was clearly pissed as he banged around the room but, whatever, fuck him.
I entered the bathroom when the door clicked open and locked it behind me. I kicked off my heels, bent down to my knees and then reached forward and engulfed Alannah, who was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet with her head in her hands. When I put my arms around her she cried and wrapped her arms around my back and just held me tight.
"It's goin' to be okay, Lana. You're strong and won't let an annoyin' American prick get you down, right?" I asked.
Alannah sniffled and snorted a little as she pulled back from me to get some tissue to wipe up the snot that was running from her nose.
"You know somethin'? I know Nico is your fella, but I thought he was the prick and Damien was the nice one, but I was so wrong. Nico is honest and has always been himself whether like him or hate him. Damien though… he is like a snake in human form. I hate him."
I hugged her again when fresh tears began to stream down her face; I wanted to kill Damien for doing this to her.
Who could do this to another person and not
feel guilty?
Dominic wasn't joking when he said Damien was hollow; he was stone fucking cold!
"If it makes you feel better, Dominic really is a prick."
Alannah started laughing through her tears then pulled back to clean herself up again. I switched from kneeling on my knees to sitting on my arse. I winced making Alannah frown.
"I just realised we both lost our virginity tonight to the twins."
I raised my eyebrows. "Well… at least we can be sore and hate them together."
Alannah started chuckling again, and even though she was still really upset I could already see the wall she was starting to build up around her heart whenever she spat something about Damien. She was never going to forgive him for this, and if she did he would really have to prove himself to her. It wouldn't happen anytime soon though. Alannah seems to be a lot like me so I knew she would hold onto it for years and keep her guard up until her walls get smashed down just like mine did.
"Bee?" Alannah said getting my attention.
I looked to her. "Yeah?"
"Ready to go back outside? I can hear 'RAMPAGE' being cheered now that they stopped the music for the fight."
I was on my feet in seconds and shoving my feet back into my heels. I had completely forgotten about Dominic's fight, fuck! I grabbed Alannah's hand, and we all but ran out of the private room, down the hallway, and around Skull and his buddy. I widened my eyes when I looked to the platform that Dominic was on with a guy twice his size. They were even in height but this man must have been thirty years old and was at least forty pounds heavier than Dominic. The man had muscular arms but his gut looked more flab than ab. It made me grimace when Dominic punched him there, because I doubt he even felt it.
"Fuckin' kill 'em, RAMPAGE, you beaut!"
I couldn't tell which girl shouted it, and I didn't care to pinpoint her either, because she wasn't the only female shouting things like that at my boyfriend. Women a lot older than us were shouting extremely crude things that honestly made my blood boil. Dominic was a man, not a fucking piece of meat… and if he was a piece of meat then he was my piece of meat and I didn't share my food, so these slappers best be backing the fuck off!