Chapter 8 #2
“Here’s your drink!” Lorelai yelled in my ear as she handed me my glass.
“Let’s get out of here,” I yelled, following Mila and Sophie through the crowd to a spot on the dance floor.
They all began dancing and laughing while I stood there looking around. If it was him, I was certain he’d be down here after me as soon as he could be, but I hoped I was wrong.
“Loosen up!” Mila screamed. “At least look like you are having fun!” she said, coming up and wiggling against me.
Lorelai and Sophie both laughed as they joined her, dancing up against me.
I took a long sip of my drink and forced myself to start dancing. We’d danced to three or four songs and had just ordered our fourth round of drinks when I leaned over and told Lorelai I was going to the washroom.
I’d waited in line for what felt like forever, then started making my way back to my friends. I was just about there when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw a man I didn’t recognize smile at me. He wore an expensive-looking suit and had an earpiece in his ear. “Aurora Barlowe?”
“What?” I yelled back, not sure I heard him correctly.
This time, he leaned in closer. “Are you Aurora Barlowe?”
I nodded and smiled, feeling slightly confused. It must have been the alcohol. He couldn’t have possibly known me. I’d never seen him before.
“You and your friends have been invited up to the VIP area,” he said, once again leaning into my ear.
I frowned. I didn’t know what was going on. I caught sight of Lorelai watching me. She held out her hands and shrugged her shoulders, no doubt wondering what was going on. I looked at the man who wore the earpiece. “No, I think you have the wrong Aurora Barlowe.”
I went to walk past him and over to the girls, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me. “I don’t think I do.”
I glared at the man, and the next thing I knew, Lorelai was beside me.
“Aurora, what’s going on?” she questioned. “Are you okay?”
Once again, the man in the suit smiled. “The party I’m with has asked me to notify Miss Barlowe and her friends to come up to the VIP lounge. So why don’t you follow me?” he said.
Lorelai looked at me and smiled. “I’ll get the girls.
” She screamed and took off over to where they were dancing.
She whispered in each of their ears and returned to us.
We followed the man up to the second floor, down the hall, to a doorway covered with a curtain.
Immediately, I noticed the Vancouver Dominators written on a plaque just beside the curtain and knew that my mind hadn’t conjured up Dylan. He was actually here.
The man parted the curtain and waited for me to step through.
Three guys I didn’t recognize sat there, while Dylan leaned up against the table that held a pile of food and drinks.
One look at him and I noticed his sexy smile as his eyes washed over me.
He unscrewed a cap on one of the water bottles and took a drink.
“Oh, my god!” Mila screamed with excitement. “How the hell do you know these guys, Aurora? Keeping secrets from us?” she questioned with excitement.
“Aurora is full of many secrets.” Lorelai winked.
I looked at my best friend and rolled my eyes.
“Ask Lorelai. You all know her brother plays for the Dominators,” I said, trying to take some of the attention off me, only no one paid any attention to what I’d said.
“Hey, girls, why don’t you come on over here and take a seat? We have some food on the way.”
“Ladies, this is Knox Evans, Lucas Clark, and Clay Harris,” Dylan said as he pushed himself off the table. “I’m Dylan Hayes.” He placed his hand on the small of my back and held his other hand out to Lorelai.
Once she shook his hand, she met my eyes. I knew the look she was giving me.
“So, Aurora, how do you know these guys?” Sophie questioned, sitting down beside Lucas and taking a bottle of beer from his hand.
“Ah, I, um… Dylan is my new stepbrother,” I murmured, looking at Lorelai, who smirked.
Instantly I’d wished I could take that back.
Dylan leaned into me and whispered, “Oh, but that isn’t all we could be.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek.
The three guys watched and chuckled to themselves as Dylan backed up and returned to leaning on the table.
While the girls began chatting with the guys, I glanced over to see Dylan standing there watching me.
I followed his eyes; they ran from my face, down my body, and back up where he met my eyes again.
Then he tilted his head, signalling for me to go to him.
I glanced over at my friends; they were all busy chatting it up with the guys, so I slowly backed up and made my way over to him.
“Told you I wouldn’t call or text,” I said, trying to prove a point.
“That’s okay, the week isn’t over yet.” He gave me that cocky smile while grabbing a handful of nuts and shoving them into his mouth. “Still have Saturday and Sunday.”
“You are impossible,” I gritted.
“I may be, but I think that is what you like most about me. So, what do you say we get out of here?” he asked, bringing his hands to my waist and pulling me between his legs.
My body was instantly on fire the moment his hands touched me.
“Not here,” I murmured. I’d meant it to come out sounding like I meant what I said; however, the lack of confidence in my voice told me what I already knew.
I was his. I knew it, and I was certain he did as well.
He glanced over my shoulder and then back at me. “It’s okay, they are all preoccupied.”
I looked over, then back to him. “How will they get home?”
“Give your keys to one of them. If not, I will make sure that the guys make sure they all get home okay. What do you say?”
I bit my bottom lip, trying to decide what I should do: stay here with my friends or leave with him.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Mila, Sophie, and Lorelai all listening to one guy share a story.
They seemed to be having a good time. I knew what I wanted to do, so I turned back to Dylan and nodded.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. Give me your keys.”
I dug into my pocket and produced my keys and handed them to him.
He got up and went over to one of the guys and whispered into his ear, then handed Lorelai my car keys and whispered something to her before coming back and grabbing me by the hand, pulling me out of the VIP area.
I followed him out to the parking lot, where he guided me over to his silver Mercedes and opened the passenger door for me to climb in.
“What about the girls?” I asked as he fired up the engine.
“What about them?”
“How are they getting home? I mean, they will look for me.”
“No, I told Knox and your friend Lorelai to make sure he got them all home safe, and I told him you were coming with me. You’re good.”
He backed out of the spot and sped away before I could protest and took a sharp right turn at the end of the street.
I was a little afraid to be alone with Dylan after the other night.
It wasn’t because I was afraid of him, but more because I wanted him to do those things to me again.
But to my surprise and disappointment, he was on his best behaviour.
His hands hadn’t drifted to my body once while we were in the car or now as we walked along the water’s edge and ate pizza.
He was talkative, sharing things about his dad and his childhood.
“So, how did you end up playing hockey?”
“My dad had me on skates basically the second I could walk and started me with hockey almost immediately. I loved it, so Dad just invested in me. By the time I was in my teens, I was one of the fastest on the ice, and I could handle a stick.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
“What’s that smile for?”
My cheeks heated as he looked over at me, giving me a wink.
“You caught that.” He smiled.
“What about you? What are you in school for?”
“I’m going through for the sports therapy program over at Victoria University. Lorelai as well.”
“Ahhh, so I’ll know someone who can fix my injuries and nurse me back to health. That’s always important.” He winked.
“I’m sure you already have access to those people.”
“I do, but I think I like your touch a little better.” He winked, once again causing me to smile and grow quiet, but the second he noticed, he started talking about hockey once again.
Soon he was sharing plays from his last game and hockey terms with me, trying to teach me a few things. When I admitted I’d never watched a hockey game, his jaw dropped.
“Like never ever?” he asked, shock lining his voice.
“Never ever.”
“How can that be? I mean, Walker is your brother. He told me he watches every game.”
“He does, and when he did that while we were growing up, I’d leave the room. I just never had a reason or an interest.” I shrugged, wiping my mouth with a napkin and throwing it in the garbage.
“Well, I think we are immediately going to fix that. A girl of mine needs to be invested in every one of my games. Plus, I’m your interest now.”
“Who says I’m your girl? I questioned as we approached his car.
“Well, think what you want, but you are my girl.”
“So cocky.”
He smiled and opened the car door, but said nothing while waiting for me to climb in.
Once he was in the driver’s seat, he sped off through the city, finally pulling into one of the newest high-rises in Vancouver.
It was a building I’d always wanted to go into as well, just because of the architecture, but had never had a reason to.
“You live here?” I questioned, looking up at the tall high-rise from the passenger’s seat.
He chuckled. “I do. I don’t spend a substantial amount of time here, what with being on the road all the time, but it’s home when I’m here and during off season. Come on.”
I climbed out of the car and followed him over to the elevator. Once inside, he pressed the button for the thirty-seventh floor and the elevator shot to the top in what seemed like seconds.
“You’re on the top floor?”