MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT is wrapped in a tight pink dress that’s short enough that I wouldn’t need to unwrap it.
I can feel the blood rushing to my groin as I watch Summer lean against the snack bar. The party, all credit to Kian, is island themed to ring in my twenty-first birthday. I had no intention of celebrating because I’ve been twenty-one for some time now. But the guys had other plans. There is no way they would let this day pass, even if the party is a month overdue.
When the glimpse of pink moves again, a wave of something hits me and I have the urge to take off my Hawaiian shirt and wrap it around her. The last time I saw this much of her thighs, I had my face buried between them. That memory doesn’t help the growing problem in my pants. Maybe I should have left a few hickeys on her thighs so anyone looking would back the fuck off.
I’m not sure how Kian got her to come since he’s still pissed about the group chat thing, and Summer’s been actively avoiding me since last week. Her assignment doesn’t depend on me anymore, so I have no excuse to show up at her dorm, and one surprise visit was more than enough. Any more, and I’m certain she’d call security on me.
When a guy approaches Summer, I head over. My chest covers her back, and the warmth from her body sends a thrumming sensation through me. She tenses but relaxes almost instantly. I bite back a smile, finding that she’s comfortable enough to let her guard down around me.
“Aren’t you going to wish the birthday boy?” I let my lips brush the shell of her ear.
She spins to face me. Fuck, I thought the back of her dress was hot, but the front is an entirely different story. The thin straps sit against her glowing skin, and from my height and I can see the perfect dip of her neckline that makes me clench my fists.
“Is that what all this is? I just wanted a drink.”
That drags a low chuckle from me. “Didn’t think you would show. A party probably scores pretty low on your fun scale.”
She gives me an unamused look. “Your best friend has highly persuasive qualities.”
“I bet he does.” I had a feeling Kian got her to come to make me feel like a shitty friend. “What did he offer you?”
“He’s going to write my notes for a week.” She fixes the white flower in her hair. “He also said something about making you feel bad for betraying him, so of course, I had to come.”
Someone slaps my shoulder drawing my attention away from her. “Happy birthday, Cap.”
More people come up and say the same. Most of them are friends from freshman year and guys from other teams. I’m sure Kian invited everyone he could find, though he has had a strict rule against anyone lower than a junior since the Tabitha debacle. She was a sophomore who easily fooled him with her southern belle charm, and quickly became his personal nightmare. Now, he’s decided the older they are the less likely he is to find a stalker. The logic isn’t clear with that one.
I glance over at Summer to make sure she hasn’t left. I’m hoping she’s being extra nice because it’s my birthday. I’m also hoping her charitable mood will finally make her take me up on my offer.
When she moves away from me to talk to Connor Atwood, I try to end my conversation quickly. Connor wears an earnest expression, but Summer looks thoroughly confused.
Uh-oh.
When Connor sees me approach, he gives me a quick nod and scurries away. “Sorry,” I say to her. “I haven’t seen some of those guys in years.”
She pierces me with a dangerous look. “Care to explain why Connor Atwood just told me I’m a nice girl, but nothing can happen between us?”
Suppressing my grin is harder than I expected. “Not really.”
She takes a menacing step closer. “Did you threaten him?”
“Threaten is a strong word.”
Anger flares in her brown eyes. “You told him not to talk to me?”
“No, I told him what would happen if he did.” I’ve never been jealous of anyone, not even in the cocky jock way. But when she kissed him, something green like ivy burned through my veins.
“So, a threat,” she says.
“Look, I’m only looking out for him. I don’t like to see my fellow athletes get used.”
Disbelief darkens her expression. “You think I’m using him?”
Man, I loved it when she speaks with that fiery attitude. She gets this crease in the middle of her eyebrows, one I know would disappear if her thighs were wrapped around my neck. “I believe it was my name coming out of your mouth a few hours after you kissed him.”
Her throat twitches. “Well, I got that out of my system now.”
“I got it out of your system.”
I hope it isn’t out of her system. She is the furthest thing from out of mine, and that night just made my itch for her grow. I didn’t think she’d care that I talked to Connor after we hooked up. She hasn’t outright said she isn’t interested, but being upset over another guy is making how she feels loud and clear.
“Whatever.” Her mood has dampened and I feel responsible. I don’t like it. I prefer her expressive eyes and her sharp tongue.
“I’m sorry for ruining whatever it is you had with Connor. I didn’t know it was serious. If you want him, I’ll talk to him.” It pains me to even say it.
Her sardonic laugh doesn’t comfort me. “I never wanted him.”
That statement cuts through my sulking, and joy erupts. “So, we’re good then. I did you a favor.”
Summer glowers. “No, Aiden, you didn’t do me a favor. But it doesn’t matter because letting you decide what he can do makes him irredeemable.”
I guess that’s a plus, but I still don’t like the annoyed look on her face. “You’re right. I did it for me,” I admit.
“Shocker.”
“To apologize for my selfishness, let me get you a drink. We have margaritas.”
“Margaritas won’t get you redemption, Crawford.”
“How about three margaritas?” I smile but she ignores me. I try my hardest not to seem like a petulant child. “Just talk to me, Summer. That’s what we do—we communicate, right?”
“We’re talking right now.”
Someone taps my shoulder, probably to wish me, but my focus is Summer, and I need for us to be alone. In a brave move, I take her hand to lead her upstairs. We’re not even halfway when she yanks it away.
“Talk.” Her stubborn stance tells me she’s not going anywhere with me. This might be a good thing because I don’t know if I could stay true to my word if we found ourselves alone again.
“Why are you upset?”
She unravels. “Because I’m trying to do what you said, and even when I try I can’t get it right. I want to let loose, have fun and not stress about everything.”
That, I understand. I’m sure that night in her dorm was a catalyst for all this, but it doesn’t explain why she didn’t just come to me. I could give her all of that and more.
“Connor is your idea of fun?” I ask.
She huffs. “I don’t need to explain myself to you, Aiden.”
I stare at my hands in regret. “You’re right, you don’t. I just want to make sure we’re okay.”
“We are. It’s your birthday party, I guess I can give you one free pass for being insufferable,” she says with a tilt to her lips. Not a smile, but close enough. Though the way she says one free pass only makes my abdomen tighten. I know she’s referring to Connor, but images of what she can grant me flash in my head.
Before I can say anything, the guys barrel up the stairs and drag me away to do shots. Birthday shots which is just a keg stand, and the guys attempting to take twenty-one shots.
Going down the stairwell, I look back at Summer, and she’s laughing. It calms an uneasiness in my chest.
EVEN MY BUZZ doesn’t alleviate the irritation I’m feeling right now. I was happy with how things were going after we all played beer pong about an hour ago, but now my fists tighten. Summer’s dancing and laughing her ass off when Tyler Sampson whispers something in her ear. If I see him smile at her one more time, the team’s going to be missing a forward. What could she be laughing about anyway? I’ve had the displeasure of sharing a hotel room with him and he’s not that fucking funny.
“Careful, you’re going to break that glass.” Amara stands beside me, pointing at my angry grip. “Though I’d be all for you channeling that rage into Sampson.”
I down the remnants of my drink and leave my glass on the table. “There is no rage.”
She nods in response, though it seems disingenuous. “Here.” She holds out a shot.
“What are we toasting?”
“Your birthday. And for you to grow some balls.” Amara sees my raised brows. “You’ve been staring at her all night. Go get your birthday wish, Captain. Unless you’ve lost your charm.”
My charm? I’m pretty sure she felt every ounce of my charm between her legs the other night.
She clinks our glasses, and the liquid burns my throat along with its bitter taste. “Everclear? Are you trying to blackout?”
“Precisely.” She seems unaffected by the bitterness.
I’m not sure if it’s the Everclear or if time has stalled, but Summer moves in slow motion. The heat that fogs my senses, makes my vision hazy. Her tits are tightly wrapped in the thin-strapped dress, and all I can think about is how she whimpered when I took her nipple between my teeth.
Her tight little body isn’t feeding only my fantasies. When she dances like that, the attention around her grows heavy, but it doesn’t seem like she notices as she pulls Cassie closer. Taking Amara’s advice, I move through the crowd. I’m inching close enough to smell her peach-scented shampoo before Eli slaps a hand on my back. The lights dim, and a chorus of happy birthday begins, but my eyes only focus on Summer, who glows even under the dim light. I don’t often drink, so her ethereal state could be a product of alcohol, but there is no doubt she’s sparkling. She always does.
“Make a wish,” Kian says, snapping me back to the candle-lit cupcakes in front of me. I do, and my friends erupt into cheers before the music grows loud again. I’m sure Summer is going back to her friends, but instead, she heads toward me. She swipes a finger over the icing on my cupcake and pops it in her mouth. I have to hold back a groan.
“Twenty-one, huh? You’re practically an old man,” she says.
I chuckle. “We’re the same age.”
“Nuh-uh, I’m twenty until October.”
“Ah forgive me. I must be thinking about your fake ID,” I say.
When screams erupt from the dance floor, Summer’s friends call for her. “We love this song,” she says.
“With the way you were dancing, I’d think you loved all of them.”
“You were watching me dance? That’s a little creepy.”
“Not much else I could look at.” I lean in to whisper in her ear. “It was like watching a train wreck.”
She tries to appear offended but fails. “I was going to ask you to dance, but I guess train wreck and all, you wouldn’t want to.”
My blood thrums with an unfamiliar heat. “Ask me anyway.”
“Dance with me?”
I take her hand, and she pulls me to the center of the dance floor. I can barely make out the lyrics because Summer presses into me, but I know it’s dark and sinful from the way her hips sway. The lights are so dim I can’t make out anybody but her. I let my hands fall to her waist, my touch light, but she takes them anyway, snaking them around her body. I feel desperate, and on fire to touch every bit of her warm skin. It’s a challenge keeping my hands in a respectful place, especially with all these people around. Summer doesn’t seem to care because she hooks her arms around my neck and swivels her ass all over my erection.
“Easy, Summer,” I whisper into her ear.
My head feels like it’s underwater when the music changes, and she turns, her movements slow and sweet. I can’t tell whether I appreciate the change or I’d rather have her torturing me with her hips again. No doubt it’s the latter. I would choose anything this girl willingly does to me over and over again.
Somehow, I feel both sober and completely drunk out of my mind. Never have I been this achingly desperate for the girl rubbing against me. It might be because Summer is the last person I expected to grind on me in the middle of a dance floor, although I’m assuming alcohol is playing a part.
When the dance floor gets crowded, I pull Summer away to a more secluded corner. I’m still holding onto her, both my hands resting on her waist and hers locked around my neck.
She fiddles with the collar of my shirt, half-lidded eyes gazing up at me. “What did you wish for?”
I can feel her beating heart, but I can’t tell if it matches my erratic one. “I can’t tell you.”
Summer frowns. “Why not?”
“Can’t risk it not coming true.” I touch the soft skin of her cheek. “You’re so pretty.”
She chuckles. “You’re so drunk.”
“You can thank Amara for that.”
She rests her head against the wall. “Everclear?”
I nod and move my hand higher on her cheek. Her eyes flutter with the contact, and so does my fucking heart. “I missed you.”
Her voice is quiet. “I saw you a few days ago.”
“Not like this. Not with these eyes that tell me you haven’t forgotten about my tongue on your pussy either.”
Her breath hitches.
“I feel like I can still taste you, Summer.” My words leak with desperation.
“Aiden…” I’m not sure if it’s a warning but she swallows and the delicate column of her throat twitches. I palm her tight ass and I wish we were in my room and not down here, but I know if I suggest it, the haze around us will scatter. I need her so bad I can’t think straight, but that’s exactly why I can’t have her.
Summer pushes her hips against mine, clearly feeling the erection that’s been rock solid since I first saw her. My fingers skim the hem of her dress and I hold back my groan.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” I say roughly against the shell of her ear. She lets me kiss her neck, and we’re dry humping against the wall when I slow our movements.
It’s at that exact moment that Dylan crashes into the speakers beside us, knocking them over. Summer jumps, and I pull away to help him off his ass, the screech from the speakers only resolving when I lift it back into place. From Dylan’s glossy eyes, I can tell he’s wasted. It’s one of those nights where he won’t get lectured for it, and he’s taking full advantage.
“I’m going to throw up.” Dylan gags as I haul him up.
I glance back at Summer, who watches us with wide eyes. “I’m going to take him to bed.” I say.
“Need help?” she asks. There is no way I’d let her care for a drunk Dylan. The shit that comes out of his mouth is too unpredictable. When I shake my head, she gives me a half smile, and before I drag away my blabbering friend, Summer says, “Happy birthday, Aiden. I hope your wish comes true.”
