Page 27 of Tangled in His Game

People who see the regular me all the time would probably be shocked, but I like wearing sexy stuff. Sebastian would flip that I’m not looking sweet and good enough in his book and call me all kinds of derogatory terms. I’m so, so glad I’m no longer the girl who would cry, apologize, and go change.

There’s a huge line in front of the entrance, and I inwardly groan. Who knows how much it costs to get inside? And I don’t even know if Victor will be here. It could all be for nothing.

The line moves so slowly that I end up doom scrolling through the news on my phone. Just as I reach the entrance, I find a photo of Victor and me in the classroom. Someone actually took a photo of me when I confronted him after his presentation.

Luckily, it’s just a photo and not a video, but I thought we were alone. Ugh. The caption says:look how desperate she is!And I want to scream because everyone in the comment section seems to think I’m chasing Victor. If someone sees me here, they’ll definitely think they’re right. But it doesn’t matter. Victor needs to leave me alone.

“Hey, are you Victor’s friend?” someone asks, and I realize the guy has been staring at the screen of my phone and the photo.

“Oh yeah, I’m his friend.” I flash him a smile, my tone of voice completely sarcastic.

“Then why are you waiting here with everyone else?” The guy grabs a pink VIP bracelet and ties it around my wrist. “He’s upstairs.”

The guy moves away from the door to let me in. I stare at him in shock for a moment, wondering if it’s some kind of prank. But then I walk past him and go inside.

What the hell just happened? Does Victor somehow know I’m here? There are probably cameras, but how could anyone recognize me and tell Victor? Because I don’t think he’s spending his time staring at the cameras when he’s here.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m in, and I didn’t have to spend a fortune for it, so I don’t care. As I push through the dancing crowd, I spot the stairway that leads upstairs to the VIP area.

The guard just nods at me as he sees my bracelet, and I climb up. The VIP area is nicer than the rest of the club. Some people are dancing, but most are sitting and drinking. And kissing. There’s a lot of making out. Hot people everywhere.

And then I see him.

Victor is sandwiched between two beautiful women on a sofa. One of them is tracing her hand down his shoulder, and I grit my teeth. He’s having the time of his life here, isn’t he?

His gaze lifts to mine, and surprise flickers through his eyes. Then his lips spread into a wide smile. He mouths something to me as he moves his hand up the woman’s bare leg.

It could be you.

Is that what he’s saying?

His gaze never leaves me as his hand travels under the woman’s miniskirt. She throws her head back, a look of pure bliss on her face, but Victor doesn’t seem to care about her at all.

It could be you.

The sentence hangs in my brain. With Sebastian, I was too young and naive to know what he really was. With Victor, I know exactly what he is, and yet, here I am, letting my mind imagine what it would feel like if he was touching me like that.

Heat spreads through me. Damn him and his pretty face.

I can’t do this. Tearing my gaze away from him, I look around. I stride to the first guy who’s dancing alone and join him. The guy smiles at me as I get closer to him. We sway in rhythm with the music and I close my eyes.

But it’s Victor’s face that I see in my mind as the guy’s hand brushes my waist. Unbelievable. Maybe I should hook up with someone to forget about him. Guys like him promise a lot but don’t deliver much.

Since he doesn’t seem to care about the women he’s hooking up with, why would he care about me? I can’t imagine he’d satisfy my needs.

Someone whooshes past me, and my eyes fly open. I gasp. The guy who was dancing with me is gone. Victor holds him by the shirt, his fist lifted up.

What the fuck is he doing? I don’t think the guy did anything, except got close to me. I sigh. Sebastian 2.0.

Well, I’m done. I stride toward a hallway I can see behind the bar. Maybe there’s a restroom somewhere. If Victor thinks I left, then maybe he’ll relax and I can catch him doing something he shouldn’t, but I have to make sure he doesn’t see me. Why would he attack that guy like that, though? Maybe I should’ve recorded it.

The hallway leads to another hallway, and I’m not sure which way to go because there aren’t any restroom signs.

Someone grabs my arm, yanking me back. My breath leaves me as Victor presses me against the wall.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asks, his icy eyes trained on mine.

He’s so close. Way too close.

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