Epilogue #2
His tongue darts out to wet his lips. I stare at him for a moment, brushing my hair from my face. He’s hot. “Nice. Me too.” He jerks his arm behind him, but I don’t look where he’s pointing. “A friend from college got married today, so we came here after the reception.”
Called it.
I smile and nod, finishing off my cocktail in one gulp. “I’m Lucy.”
He smirks, his body still subtly moving in beat with mine. “Alex.”
The music shifts, the DJ transitioning into a faster tempo song. The bass hits low and steady, like a second heartbeat thrumming through the club. Sweat trickles down the center of my back and the lights above pulse, fragmenting the room, slicing his face and the people dancing around us.
His gaze catches mine, lingering for a second too long.
He takes my glass, disappearing for a moment before reappearing empty handed.
I turn back around, my body moving to the sound of the music that pulsates around us.
As I spin back around, his eyes are back on mine, his tongue raking over his bottom lip again.
My lips part, a small smile pulling on my lips as I inch closer. Fuck it. Dancing with a stranger isn’t a commitment. It’s a good time—and that’s exactly what I’m here to have.
Especially after seeing the photos online of Theo at that club in Vancouver last night.
I swallow hard, shaking the image from my head.
That’s not somewhere I’m allowing myself to go tonight.
I’m not supposed to feel jealous of him with another woman.
It’s not new, seeing him with random women, yet each time it cuts deeper.
He’s my best friend and we promised we would never let anything ruin that.
I take another step closer, closing the distance between me and the hot guy in front of me who isn’t looking at me like I’m just his friend.
His hand brushes against my wrist, the contact lingering for a second too long before his fingertips slide down along my palm, pushing through the spaces between my fingers.
A soft laugh escapes me as he tugs me closer.
My body is flush against his and he releases my hand, grabbing for my waist as we move together.
“Do you always dance with strangers?” I ask, tilting my head back to look up at him.
A ghost of a smile dances across his lips. “Not normally, no.” His eyes scan my face. “You were hard to ignore.”
My hands lift to his chest, the heat of his body radiating through his shirt. I run my hands over lean muscles, reaching along the sides of his throat before circling them around his neck. His body’s solid and fit and it fits perfectly against mine.
“What about you?” he asks, his fingers playing with my bare skin above the waistband of my black jeans. “Do you?”
I swallow hard, shaking my head. “No.”
“What’s different about tonight?” His face dips closer. “You trying to forget about someone else?”
“Something like that,” I murmur, a shiver trailing down my spine as his breath warms the side of my neck.
His lips brush against my skin. “Then let me help you forget.”
He presses his face against the side of my head, holding me against him as we start to move.
We lose ourselves in the music, grinding against one another until our skins slick with sweat and his cocks hard, pressing against my stomach.
The DJ leads into another song and Alex spins me around to face the other direction, pressing his dick into my ass.
I’m drunk on the alcohol and the way he feels pressed against me.
He smells rich and expensive and right now, I can’t imagine his hands being anywhere other than on my body.
This isn’t something I normally do, but a painful reminder weighing on my chest makes me the perfect candidate for a bad decision tonight.
I lock eyes with Elena as she grinds against the guy who’s behind her with his hands on her hips.
The other couple she was with are still near them, they’re bodies twisting together.
Elena Ford is a certified man hater, it isn’t often she ends up going home with anyone.
She can pull anyone she wants, though—man or woman.
I swear, some of the men love the fact that she’s such a hater. It’s like the meaner she is to some, the more attracted to her they are.
Elena lifts her eyebrows at me, tilting her head to the side. I shrug, biting back a grin as Alex runs his hands down the sides of my torso. Elena starts to move closer to me, breaking away from the guy she’s with as she pulls me from Alex.
“You good, Luce?”
I smile, nodding as I wrap my arms around her. “I am. Are you.”
“Yeah,” she says, glancing, bobbing her head at Alex, whose gaze is fixed on us. “Who’s he?”
“Alex.” I shrug, knowing his name means nothing to her. “A distraction.”
Elena gives me a look of understanding. She’s the only one who knows about how I’m always trying to chase away the thoughts of Theo. She saw the pictures this morning too.
“He’s a hot distraction,” she giggles, her gray eyes searching mine. “Is he from here?”
I shake my head. “He’s at the same hotel as us.”
“Perfect,” she smiles, glancing over her shoulder. “If you end up leaving with him, just text me and make sure your location is shared, just in case.”
“Always,” I promise her, kissing her cheek. “You do the same if you leave with anyone too.”
She smiles, releasing me before she disappears back into the crowd, making her way back over to the couple instead of the single guy. I smile to myself, spinning back around to find Alex patiently waiting.
He steps closer, his large hands finding my hips as he guides my body back to his again. He leans forward, dropping his head and the stubble on his cheek grazes mine.
“What do you say we get out of here?” he breathes against the shell of my ear. “I’m staying at the hotel at the end of the block.”
He pulls back to look at me and simply waits. There’s no pressure and no appearance of expectation. It’s up to me. He’s offering me a night of forgetting. Take it or leave it.
I should probably say no.
But instead, I nod. “I like that.”
He lets out a breath, his expression softening as he reaches for my hand. “Okay.”
I grab my phone from my back pocket, sending Elena a text and making sure my location is on. Alex leads me out of the club and he wraps his arm around my waist as we head down the street to the hotel. It’s a short walk and we laugh as he trips up the stairs to the entrance.
Alex pulls me onto the elevator with him and his laughter wraps around me as I stumble into his solid chest. He links one arm around my waist, the other reaching out to press the button for his floor.
My room’s on the eighth floor. It’s not too late for me to head there instead.
All I have to do is press the button with the number eight.
Alex turns back to me, his eyes slowly searching mine.
I reach for the front lapels of his suit, tugging him closer.
He pins me against the wall, his lips crashing into mine.
Fuck it. He told me he’d make me forget.
And right now, that’s all I want.