“Elijah, I’ve been looking all over for you, baby,” she whispered in my ear. I could tell she was horny. If I gave her that look, she would have followed me anywhere if I wanted to f**k her, but I wasn’t interested at all. I was hoping if I ignored her, she would go away, but she kept running her hands all over me, even down to my crotch. That’s when I jumped out of my seat and turned to look for Alex.

Jealousy crept over me when I saw her dancing with few of the frat boys surrounding her. It was difficult not to watch her dance. The way her body swayed to the music was hypnotic. I wasn’t really upset until I saw Nolan approaching her. Seth placed his hand on my chest to calm me down.

“Don’t go over just yet. Let’s see what happens.”

Sure enough, he was making his move. But unlike before, she didn’t push him away and that kind of ticked me off. What was she thinking?

Chapter 23

Alexandria

Wiping drops of sweat with the back of my hand, I laughed and smiled at Lexy and my new friends as we danced away. The wig was itchy, but I ignored it. I even wanted to scratch my ass. These leather pants were making me feel hot and sweaty. What could I say? That’s what I got for buying a cheap costume.

Suddenly, I felt the room spin a little and I flushed with heat. Floating off the ground, I was in a blissful state. Yup, I was buzzed. Dean’s drink had tasted like punch but definitely had a lot of alcohol in it. I knew better than to take a drink from a stranger, but since it was from someone I knew, I gulped it down. Not a good idea. I made a mental note to never do that again. My dad would have been…I stopped thinking.

Dancing with my friends helped me forget about everything else, including Liam, Elijah, my dad, and just life in general. I was in the moment with no worries, just having a great time. The world had shut down around me until I turned to smile at Lexy, but she had moved on to someone else and I saw Elijah instead.

I gave him a smile, but instead of getting a smile back, I saw the disapproving look on his face. Great! Or was I wrong? Was he upset about something they were discussing, or about the guys I was dancing with? Was he jealous? Surely, he wasn’t, but when I saw Nolan standing in front of me, I knew exactly what it was about. That one-second of satisfaction I had from the possibility he was jealous was gone when I saw Heather.

“My starter girl.” Nolan’s brows twitched flirtatiously. His body was too close for comfort. Next thing I knew, his hands were on my hips, swaying with me. I didn’t care much for him, but now I had a dance partner and he was good.

The bass pumped through my ears and to my heart. I could feel it through my body, down to my toes as Nolan moved with mine in perfect harmony. The song, the beat, the moment, I was lost until the ass**le started to run his hand down my back to my ass and grinded my body into his.

“What the hell, Nolan! Get off me,” I stammered.

Nolan laughed in my face, still holding on to me. “You know you like it.”

“I’m serious. Stop!” I shoved, but to no avail.

I didn’t have to fight him again after that. When his body flew off mine, I stumbled sideways but didn’t fall as expected. My breathing was heavy and ragged from dancing and anger. I knew the figure with his back toward me, blocking my view. Elijah held a guarded stance. With tight fists by his side, he was ready to give Nolan another blow.

“I’ve already warned you once. Don’t you ever f**kin’ touch her again. I’ll break both of your wrists. Let’s see if you can drive like that.”

Nolan’s friends were ready to fight, but so were Elijah’s. When Nolan got in Elijah’s face, I heard a whack.

I thought he punched Elijah in the face, but it was actually his hand blocking Nolan’s fist. Elijah threw one right back, smack on Nolan’s jaw, causing him to hit the ground. Getting right back up, Nolan swung, but missed.

Just as Elijah was about to hit him again, Seth and Jonathan held him back, while Nolan was held back by a few of his friends. They were separated as their eyes burned into each other with hatred. Nolan and his friends left the party, acting like ass**les the whole time.

I was just about to thank Elijah when he grabbed my arm. “Come with me,” he ordered. He didn’t wait for me to reply and tugged me out of the restaurant. I was pretty annoyed that Elijah was mad at me. It’s not like it was my fault that he got into a fight with Nolan.

“What the hell were you thinking, dancing with him like that? And to top it off, you’re wasted,” he scolded.

I was so surprised by his tone, that all I could do at first was blink and soak in his words. Then it all came pouring out. “You have no right to tell me who I can dance with. I was just having fun. I had it under control and I’m not wasted.” My tone was just as angry as his was.

“Under control?” he huffed. “He had his hand on your ass and he was practically f**king you on the dance floor. Is that what you call fun?”

“Who I dance with or who I f**k on the dance floor is my business. Who made you my babysitter?”

Elijah’s eyes grew. His jaw was tight. He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled a deep breath. “You’re right, I have no right. Don’t play with fire; you’ll get burned. Nolan is not your type. And aren’t you still with Liam?” His tone was accusatory.

“I’m not sure,” I spit out the words. Though I had planned to break up with Liam, I didn’t want to tell Elijah. This topic had nothing to do with what we were arguing about. At least I didn’t think it did.