WHEN WEST SAID he had an extra ticket to see Arrhythmia, I should’ve realized he wasn’t talking about general seating with the masses.
No, we were taken upstairs, where the entire second floor was sectioned off as VIP, complete with its own bar and couches in the back. It was standing room only along the balcony, which was where West and I had commandeered a spot in the center early on. The rest of his friends had dispersed, some watching the show, others at the bar, and a couple I didn’t notice anywhere, but that didn’t faze me at all. If anything, I was glad not to have their eyes watching my every move, because that bunch was more intimidating than I cared to admit.
I took another sip of the bourbon sour West had ordered for me, same as his own, feeling a warm buzz running through my veins. The alcohol was doing a decent job of making me a little less self-conscious, and I swayed slightly along the rail, watching the band put on a killer show. Beside me, West was nodding along, and once the song hit the chorus, he shouted out the words with the rest of the crowd.
A feral grin crossed his lips as he punched the air, and as he took another swallow of his drink, he glanced my way, doing a double take as he busted me staring.
Shit. I hadn’t realized I was.
I certainly hadn’t meant to. He was just so different than anyone I’d been around that I couldn’t help watching—charismatic in ways I wasn’t, greeting everyone we passed when we walked into the venue, many by name. Bold in ways I wish I could be, like making sure everyone knew who he was, that this spot on the balcony was his and his alone. And then there was the uninhibited way he was moving his body to the music, which wasn’t anything I should’ve noticed in the first place. But damn if I didn’t want to learn how to roll my hips like that—though I wasn’t sure I’d ever have the guts to do it in public.
What was it like to be that fearless? West seemed to be having the time of his life, not caring at all about what anyone thought.
Not me. I’d need a lot more alcohol to even consider moving like that.
West raised a brow. “Having fun?”
I nodded. “Yeah, this is awesome.”
“See?” His shoulder nudged mine. “Aren’t you glad you have a troublemaker friend to show you a good time?”
Yeah, I was. This was what college was about, right?
I pushed my shoulder back against his and grinned. “Thanks for busting me out.”
“Anytime,” he said, and I knew he meant it. He’d done me a huge favor bringing me here tonight. I never would’ve guessed I’d be somewhere like this my first week of college. Studying and early to bed had been the plan, but I couldn’t deny this night out was a much better alternative.
The energy in the room was contagious, lights flashing over the sea of bodies crammed below us as they undulated in waves to the music. The beat reverberated through the air, a rhythmic pulse that had West moving again. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye as he pushed his sleeve up with the hand that held his drink, and I almost reached over to help him when I realized what I was doing and dropped my arm.
But West caught it, and he turned his head toward me, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“You look like you want to dance,” he said.
“I am.” At least my version of it, pitiful as it was.
West shook his head and reached for my waist, and the moment he touched me, my body went completely still. The heat of his hand scorched through my thin t-shirt, shooting panic through my chest. Why was he holding me there, and why hadn’t I backed away yet?
“Relax, JT,” he said, his voice low and barely audible over the music. “Just feel it.”
Feel what? His hand on my waist or—
Oh.
West tightened his fingers in a guiding motion, trying to get me to move my body in a figure eight instead of the stiff way I moved side to side.
“You’re thinking too hard. Close your eyes and let go. Pretend there’s no one else in the room.”
I bit down on my lip, hesitating, but then shut my eyes and tried to do what he said, to imagine I was the only person in the room, but that was damn near impossible with his hand branding my waist. He was only trying to help, but all I could focus on was how close he was, in my personal space as he tried to get my hips to move the way his did. But there was no way to relax like this, not when something about it felt like it blurred the line between friendly and…more.
My eyes flew open at the thought, and I took a step back, out of his reach. His hand dropped back to his side. “You okay?”
“Uh…yeah.” I was overreacting. Just because West was into guys, that didn’t mean he was into me. It wasn’t like I didn’t have gay friends, for fuck’s sake, and I’d never jerked away from them.
I swirled the contents of my glass and drained the rest of my drink for something to do other than admit I was being ridiculous.
West cocked his head. “Another?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.” I reached for my wallet. “Take my card this time—”
“Not a chance,” he said, grabbing my glass. “I’ll be right back. Save our spot, yeah?”
Nodding, I watched him head to the bar. His confident stride caused the crowd to part for him like he was a hot knife through butter. It was crazy to watch when I’d have to karate chop my way through the same mob of people. How the hell did he do that?
One of the bartenders noticed West’s arrival immediately and walked over, greeting him with a smile and nodding at his request.
As he waited, West turned to face me, leaning his elbows back on the bar. The white linen shirt he wore, so thin it was almost sheer, had been left unbuttoned at the top, a more casual look than usual. He was always so polished and dressed to the nines, even at somewhere like Astor.
Then again, maybe it was me that didn’t fit in with those standards.
I went to turn away, to watch the band again, but my focus shifted abruptly when a guy I didn’t recognize sidled up to him. The way he approached, almost touching West, moving his mouth to West’s ear—my first thought was that the guy was about to get decked for daring to approach a Park Avenue Prince. But to my surprise, West smirked, then leaned back slightly to take a long, lingering once-over of the stranger. He looked over to me, and I jerked my focus back to the band.
Shit, that was twice now. He was gonna get the wrong idea if I kept watching him, but I couldn’t help it that he was fascinating, someone so completely opposite to me and anyone I’d ever met. I gave it a minute before my attention drifted back to West and the stranger at the bar. I told myself it was to make sure the guy wasn’t giving him shit or taking advantage of all the drinks West had consumed, but that wasn’t at all what was happening.
West must’ve liked what he saw when he did that not-so-subtle once-over, because he was letting the guy straddle his thigh, rolling his hips against West’s to the beat of the drums.
Holy shit. I hadn’t expected that, or the way West tugged his lower lip between his teeth as he pushed off the bar and walked the stranger back, keeping their bodies connected. They moved together in sync, grinding against each other in a way that was almost indecent. The stranger ran a hand down the side of West’s torso before curving it around to grab a handful of his ass.
It didn’t look like West minded that. At all.
In fact, his eyes heated as the guy began to slide down his body, lowering himself almost to the floor before looking up. West speared his hand roughly through the guy’s hair before rolling his hips at eye level—
I quickly averted my gaze, my heart pounding hard as I went to take a drink, only to realize West had taken it to the bar.
There was something too intimate about the way they’d moved together, and a part of me wanted to give them privacy, as ridiculous as that notion was in a crowded space.
The other part of me, however…
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them, and when it was clear they weren’t facing in my direction, I chanced a look.
The guy had straightened, rocking against West, his mouth back by his ear and his fingers working the buttons of West’s shirt.
Oh shit, he was undoing his damn clothes right there in front of everyone. Did he even realize? I almost found myself starting in their direction when West’s eyes collided with mine again, and a wicked smirk tugged at his mouth.
It was like I was caught in a snare, unable to look away and not sure why. All I knew was that my skin was on fire, and it wasn’t just my heart that was throbbing. West held my stare, licking his lips, and warning bells sounded somewhere in the back of my head. I ignored them as the music shifted to something slower, more moody, but just as intoxicating.
The stranger lifted his hand to cup West’s jaw, to steal back his attention, and it worked—but not before West shot me a suggestive wink.
“He’s a good dancer, isn’t he?”
The deep voice beside me jolted me back to reality, and I spun to see Donovan shaking his head at the hypnotic display.
I forced myself to answer, though I wasn’t sure my voice would work. “Uh, yeah,” I said, before clearing my throat. “He is.”
Donovan raised a brow as he glanced at me, and I was grateful he gave me an excuse to tear my eyes away.
“You didn’t want to join in?”
My ears went hot, and I shook my head a little too quickly. “No. Not my thing.”
“Dancing’s not your thing?”
“No.” Not dancing. Not dancing with guys. Neither one.
Donovan looked back in West’s direction, but I kept my eyes averted, not wanting to see what was happening now.
“Bet he could change your mind,” Donovan mused. “He can change anyone’s mind.”
My stomach flipped at the casual way he said it, the insinuation not just about dancing now. Or was it? The buzz from my drinks had my head feeling more than a little fuzzy, and I ran a hand over my face like I could clear my mind.
There was a lingering unease under my skin, but why it was there, I didn’t know. I’d only been keeping an eye on my new friend, after all. I hadn’t been the only one watching West dance with a complete stranger. With the way they had run their hands all over each other, moving together like they were in the privacy of a bedroom, I didn’t doubt they’d captured the attention of most everyone up here.
“Another bourbon sour for you.”
I snapped my head up as West stopped in front of us, holding full glasses. His shirt had been completely unbuttoned and pushed aside so the deep lines of his abs and strong chest were on full display. Jesus. It wasn’t enough to be rich and popular—the guy also had to have the body of a god.
I reached for the glass, and my fingers accidentally brushed West’s. Even wrapped around a cold drink, his skin was overheated, and I couldn’t help but notice the light sheen of sweat on every bare part of him.
West caught and held my eyes when they drifted back up to his face, and that knowing grin had irrational annoyance rising to the surface.
“I thought you’d forgotten,” I said before taking a long swallow, letting the tart, cold liquid soothe my burning throat.
“About you? Never.” He didn’t break eye contact as he nodded toward Donovan. “Van keeping you company or talking your ear off about designer clothes?”
“Aaand I’m out,” Donovan said, giving me a salute that he flipped to a middle finger in West’s direction before heading to the back where the couches were.
West moved to the rail, resting his elbows along the edge. “Thanks for holding down our spot.”
I settled in beside him, nodding absently. “You didn’t have to stop.”
“Stop?”
“Dancing.” I gestured to the where he’d been at the bar but didn’t see the handsy stranger anywhere. “You seemed like you were having a good time.”
“It was okay.” West shrugged, and before I could say it looked like more than just okay, he winked at me again. “I don’t ditch my friends, JT. I invited you out. I’m hanging with you.” He lifted his drink to his lips and paused. “Unless you’re trying to ditch me.”
The tension I’d been unknowingly holding on to drained out of me at the casual ease of his joke—and the way he’d pointedly used the word friend.
What had I gotten so worked up over? Nothing like overthinking to ruin the start of a good friendship.
I blew out a breath and cracked my neck from side to side. Then I smiled at West and tapped his glass with mine. “I’d never do that to a friend either.”
“Yeah? Well, then. To new friends,” he said, the light in his eyes dancing as he took a drink.
I found myself nodding as I lifted my glass. “To new friends.”
