True Blue (Imperium Coast #1)

Chapter 11

11

M y eyes stay glued to Janette as she shakes her hips and rolls her body to the music. Her curls bounce around her, alive and electric in the pulsing lights. Her cardigan falls off one shoulder as she brings her cup to her lips, her other arm high in the air, drinking more. My eyes wander the newly exposed skin, mouth drying as she bends her knees and sways her ass, lowering closer to the ground before springing back up, right on beat. I grip my biceps, rock hard in my jeans and fight off the visions of her over top of me, similarly moving her hips in far less than those shorts.

She holds the empty cup up, yelling something to Layla and Autumn before leaving the group and heading back to the kitchen. Glancing at the cabinet I stored the vodka in earlier, she glares over at me, before opening the fridge and looking around. I watch her pull a beer from the crisper drawer and crack the tab, chugging with her eyes locked on mine over the edge. I shake my head, regretting my jab from earlier. The girl is tiny, clearly already feeling the effects of the first two heavy drinks she’s already downed. If I hadn’t challenged her to lighten up, she probably wouldn’t be this deep right now, trying to prove she can have a good time.

Layla appears at my side, watching her friend finish the beer and bow for the light cheers some of the people lingering in the kitchen give her. “This is your fault you realize?”

“Yeah, I already put that together.” I watch Janette start dancing with some girls in the kitchen, neither even close to sober either.

“She rises to challenges. Keep that in mind.” I glance down at Layla, eyebrows pulling together. “For next time.” She smirks before gasping, eyes wide as she mutters, “Janette, no.” My head whips back toward the kitchen, finding Janette standing on one of the stools by the island, climbing onto the granite next. The other two drunk girls follow suit, all three taking a moment to laugh before they start to dance.

Mira walks up to Layla and me, looking much more sober than when she left for the bathroom. “Is she okay?”

“She’s proving she can be fun,” I mutter, watching her tip her head back and mouth the words to the song. I glance down at Mira, double taking when I notice her red rimmed eyes. “What’s wrong?”

She waves her hand with a little chuckle, trying to placate me. “I’m fine, just getting a little tired.”

I nod. “Lemme grab Janette and we can all head back.” Mira looks over at her roommate then around the room, noting each of our friends spread out and having a good time.

“Nah, it’s fine. You should probably keep an eye on Miss Fun over there.” She points her thumb over her shoulder at Janette who teeters a little before righting herself by grabbing onto the girl next to her. My stomach drops, but I look back down at Mira once I know Janette’s okay. “I can make it back on my own.”

I push off the post, standing up fully and opening my mouth to protest.

Mira waves me off. “It’s fine, Bent. It’s not even a ten-minute walk. I’ll have my cell on me the whole time.” She takes it out and makes a show of holding it firmly at her side.

I try again to get my argument out, but a collective gasp goes up around us and we all look over in time to see Janette lose her balance and start to topple off the island. Layla gasps and I rush forward, wrapping my arms around Janette as she falls clumsily, laughing her head off. I frown, looking to Mira who holds up her phone. Janette starts pushing against my chest, trying to get out of my hold.

“I’ll text you when I get back to West Tower,” Mira shouts over the music and I reluctantly nod, looking down at the girl in my arms.

“Put me down,” she protests while Layla wishes Mira a happy birthday before she disappears. “Wanna dance.”

I lower her legs to the ground, keeping my arms around her torso while she finds her balance. Her body leans against mine, reawakening my hard-on from earlier. “No more table dancing,” I say, before gritting my teeth.

She tips her head back to look at me and my hand shoots out, catching the back of her head before she snaps her neck. My fingers tangle with her soft curls and I force myself not to focus on the feel of them against my skin. “You worry too mucccchhhhh,” she slurs, tapping my nose once with the tip of her index finger.

Her warning’s too late. I’m already going grey worrying about this girl tonight.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Janette,” I warn.

She laughs, shaking her head out of my hold and sliding away from me. I try to stop her, but she quickly maneuvers away from me, her laugh lingering in my ears, despite the music. She weaves through people sloppily, going into one of the side rooms while I try to follow without running over those she’s left in her wake. Layla follows right on my heels.

“You’re never going to be able to wrangle her before she wants to be wrangled,” she yells beside me. We make it into the room she disappeared into, finding her waiting for a guy to pour her a beer from the keg tapped in the corner. “She’s stubborn like that.”

I growl as we walk up to her, the guy holding the tap taking a step back. Janette whirls around, smiling at us as she sips her beer. “Hey, guys! Want to play beer pong?”

Layla laughs, shrugging in my direction when Janette grabs her hand, pulling her toward the beer pong table nearest us.

“Axel!” Janette shouts, throwing her hands up and spilling half the beer she just got. She abandons Layla, running over to him at one end of the beer pong table. My heart squelches when I see them come together. Axel grins as Janette comes to a stop before him, putting a hand on her waist when the abrupt halt makes her sway a little.

“Hey, Blue. You look like you’re having fun.”

She looks over her shoulder at me with a pointed look.

I tamp down a grin, settling against the wall behind me and once again crossing my arms.

Turning back to Axel, Janette shouts, “I am! We want to play.” She gestures to the table and Axel nods, leaning over to the guy he was playing with and telling him Layla and Janette have winner.

The girls stand to the side, watching the end of the current game as Axel and his partner easily finish the other team who only sinks the ball twice before it’s over.

“Ladies,” Axel says, gesturing to the side of the table they stand on and Janette bounces over, starting to move the cups back into the pyramid formation. Layla follows slower, taking one of the balls from her brother as he crosses to the other side. His eyes meet mine over the girl’s heads once he and his partner face them.

Smirking, Axel winks at me and my dick twitches. I shift my weight, digging my fingers into my biceps once more and hoping no one can see the outline in my jeans. Still, I watch Axel as he helps his partner set up their cups, eyes lingering on the way his fingers flex and following the veins up his exposed forearms.

Janette and Layla laugh, drawing my attention to them momentarily.

The game starts, Layla and Axel facing off for the starter toss and I stay still through most of the game, smiling when Janette finally sinks one on her fourth try. A bead of sweat rolls down her neck, sliding in between the valley of her breasts. My tongue flicks out to lick my bottom lip before I raise my eyes and lock onto Axel's fiery gaze. We stare for a few beats, only breaking eye contact to snap our eyes back to Janette who stumbles a bit on her feet. I come off the wall, steadying her with a hand on her back. Axel nods to me, eyes narrowing on her when she giggles and takes another sip of beer, before he takes his next shot, missing for the first time.

They play for a while, Layla holding her own against Axel, each of their partners clearly the weaker players. I toggle between watching out for Janette and sliding my gaze over Axel, spending the entire game dizzy due to all my blood rushing south.

The game comes down to one cup in front of the girls and two in front of the guys. Layla throws and misses, leaving the chance to tie it up to Janette. I readjust my stance, unsure who I want to win at this point. Every time Axel makes a shot or meets my gaze, my stomach flips. But each time Janette sinks one, she jumps up and down and looks back at me with a haughty expression that makes my blood sizzle.

Janette mimes her shot a few times before letting the ball fly, the little white blur soaring across the table and sliding into the cup on the left without even touching the rim. Janette squeals, jumping up and down and spinning around while Layla laughs. Our eyes meet and Janette smirks once again. This time I return the look, letting the heat in my gut show on my face. She freezes, swallowing hard and staring at me with wide eyes. I chuckle, nodding toward the game still playing out in the other direction.

Axel takes the ball out of the cup, sliding it over to the side and centering the one left on their end. Then he stands, pulling his shoulders back and just flicking the ball across the table with his wrist. It hits the edge of the cup on the girl’s side, Layla’s hand swiping out to stop it but missing a second too late as the ball slides past to the water at the bottom.

Axel merely steps back, staring Janette down as a closed-mouth smile slides into place. I can’t see her face, but I'm betting she looks pretty shocked at the moment. Layla groans, folding her arms over her chest beside Janette. The other guy across from them jumps up and down, hollering in excitement and grabbing Axel’s shoulder roughly. My eyes narrow on the contact until Axel shrugs him off, glancing over at me before looking back at Janette.

“Don’t pout, Blue. It was a close game,” he calls to her.

“We want a rematch,” Janette says.

“You have class in the morning, J,” Layla says to her, touching her shoulder. “Maybe we should head back to West Tower.”

Janette shakes her head. “Don’t want to,” she says, going to sip her forgotten beer on the side of the table and finding the cup empty. She looks over at the guy still standing by the keg and starts to head over.

I push off the wall, putting my arm out and catching her around the middle. “You’ve had enough tonight, sunshine.”

“I’m not Little Miss Sunshine,” she mumbles, sagging against me.

I chuckle, keeping my arm around her as she leans the side of her face against my chest and closes her eyes. “No, I guess you’re not.” I lean down to whisper in her ear, “But the name still fits, sunshine.”

Axel comes around the table, letting some more guys step up to play. “You got her?” he asks me. I nod and he pats my shoulder before brushing a curl off her face. “Get home safe, Blue.”

She murmurs something unintelligible back and he chuckles. “I’ll be back to the suite in a bit,” he says to me, then winks. “Don’t wait up.” Once again, the move makes me tense up and I hope Janette can’t feel my response against her hip.

Layla snorts as he turns and walks out of the room, seeming to look around for someone. I look over at her and she smiles knowingly at me.

“Come on,” I say. “Let’s get her out of here.”

Layla nods, following me as I shuffle her toward the front door. Making it without much problem, she starts grumbling as we help her down the porch steps and I sigh, crouching down and putting my arm under her knees to scoop her up. The move jostles her enough that she opens her eyes and looks around, confused before finding my face. I tighten my grip on her, and she snuggles into me, laying her cheek against my chest and closing her eyes again. The feel of her weight and warmth seeping into me has me fighting a grin I know Layla would call me out on. Nothing I can do about the raging boner I’ve had for the last hour, but the discomfort of walking back with it pressing against my fly is lessened by the sound of Janette’s deep breathing as her mouth falls open and little snores escape her throat.

“I’m on the ground floor,” Layla says, making me stop in the dorm lobby as she looks between me and her friend. “Can I trust you to get her to her room safely?”

I nod. “I won’t hurt her. Her roommate’s my best friend. She’ll let me in and help me put her to bed. Then it’s back to my suite. Swear on my life.”

Layla studies me, looking at Janette a few times before nodding her head. “Axel trusts you. So does she, it seems. I will too.” She starts walking toward the entrance to the hall for the rooms on this floor and I step up to the elevators, squatting a bit to push the button without letting go of Janette.

“I’ll hold you to that, just so you know,” Layla calls from behind me and I turn to the side to quirk an eyebrow at her, my head tipping a bit. “You said you won’t hurt her. That’s a binding agreement now and I’ll hold you to it. Goodnight, Bentley Marshall.”

She disappears around the corner and the door to the elevators slides open. I walk in, turning around and then looking down at the girl curled up in my arms. She sleeps against me, and I study her relaxed face as the elevator climbs up to the sixth floor. Her lips are parted, face completely slack in sleep, but I find myself mesmerized by the slope of her nose and curve of her chin.

Walking with her to Mira’s door, I stop and consider how to do this. I look down at Janette and decide to try to wake her so I can knock on the door. Letting her legs down slowly, I call her name softly. Her eyes blink open a couple of times, and she picks her head up looking around.

“Bentley?” Her voice comes out breathy and I swallow.

“Hey, we’re at your suite,” I say softly. “I need you to stand up for a sec so I can knock, and Mira can let us in.”

She closes her eyes, saying, “Don’t wake her,” and digging her hand into the back pocket of her shorts. She pulls out her key and holds it up, leaning her head back against me. I take the key, unlocking her door and helping her walk in.

The suite door shuts behind us and I help her into her room. “Do you want some water?” I ask but she shakes her head, letting go of me and stumbling over to her bed. Dropping onto the mattress, she buries her face in one of the pillows and curls up on top of the comforter. Her hand roots around in the front pocket of her shorts, and I damn near have a heart attack before she pulls out her phone, so it doesn’t press into her hip, and slams it down on the bedside table.

I walk over, picking up one of her feet and pulling off the boot and sock before repeating the same thing to the other one. Tugging the blanket out from under her, I pull it up over her body, tucking it in around her shoulders. She murmurs something I don’t understand, and I stand up, looking down at her as she falls asleep. I walk out to the kitchen and open the fridge, pulling out a water bottle and heading back into her room. Setting it on the bedside table, I watch her shuffle around for a moment, getting comfortable, but never opening her eyes and ending up on her back, arms raised above her head. I push the curls that fall over her face out of the way, heat lingering in my fingertips as they brush her face. She smiles in her sleep, and I pull back, stopping myself from touching her cheek again.

Her phone buzzes on the bedside table and my eyes automatically fly to the source of the noise, seeing an incoming text notification. The name Christopher glares back at me, and I step away from the bed, stomach souring. Looking at Janette’s face one more time, I turn around and walk out, closing the door to the suite softly behind me.

My mind races, going over the events of the night as they all swirl together.

Watching Janette dance.

The look in Axel’s eye across the beer pong table.

The feel of Janette asleep in my arms.

I walk into my suite, kicking off my shoes and letting the door bang closed behind me as I head straight for my room, flicking the light on and flopping down on top of my bed. I rub my hands over my face, trying to remind myself that Janette has a boyfriend and Axel’s my roommate, as my mind recalls every moment of the night that made my dick swell. My jeans grow tight, the feeling way too familiar for the night. I groan, hands already at my zipper before I make the conscious decision to release the tight confines. Lifting my hips, I shuffle my jeans and boxers down in one go, leaving them on, but down my thighs enough to release my cock. Gripping it in a tight fist, I start to pump myself, closing my eyes and picturing Janette’s body as she danced in the dim lighting, the colored strobe falling over her in haphazard increments. My fist picks up speed, remembering her face as she tipped her head back and laughed. Axel’s wink as he touched my shoulder plays next, my mind's eye lingering on the curve of his lips and angle of his jaw. I reach down with my other hand, cupping my sac as my hips thrust up into my fist, eyes screwed shut tight. Janette’s little smile as she played beer pong flits through my brain, the swell of her chest bouncing each time she sunk a ball. I feel myself climbing, twisting my hand at the top of my cock as I furiously jerk off.

Janette’s phone appears in my head, the text from Christopher catching in my brain and the tightness in my chest changes, my body relaxing against the bed as it backs away from the edge of release.

“Fuck.” I pop my eyes open, staring at the ceiling as my grip loosens and my fist slows down.

“You want some help with that?”

My head flies off the pillow, eyes finding Axel as he leans in the doorway of my room, staring at my dick in my hand.