Page 52 of Side Out

I hold my finger up in the air. “First of all, it’s not ridiculous, it’s clever as fuck. Second of all, my dad says them all the time. Mostly just to embarrass everyone around him, but also because he takes pride in knowing he’s the cleverest person in the room.”

“Is he?”

“Is he what?” I down another gulp of margarita.

Theo tips his head back, laughing even harder this time. Actually, we’ve been doing a lot of that this evening. I don’t know if it’s strictly because of all the alcohol, or because for a few hours we’ve just decided to not give a fuck, or a little of both, but it’s felt so fucking good. “Is he the cleverest person in the room?” Theo asks.

“Oh. Yeah, he is. My brothers and I like to pretend he’s not, but behind my mom, he’s the smartest person I know.” I lean in closer and Theo follows suit. “But don’t tell him I said my mom is smarter than him,” I whisper,loudly.

“Don’t worry.” Theo’s tone matches mine. “I won’t.”

?*Suddenly, the DJ changes the music and the opening chords of “Right Round” by Flo Rida and Ke$ha blares through the bar, just as the server reappears. I swear to god I think she’s magic. “Here you are, gentlemen!”

Theo and I have matching looks of excitement as she walks away. “What do you say, Mr. Young…” I reach for our shot glasses and hand him his, this time sans the salt and lime. “Wanna show me what you’ve got?”

Theo’s eyes heat as he brings the glass to his full lips. “Oh, most definitely.”

A Bar Song (Tipsy) - Shaboozy

Right Round - Flo Rida and Ke$ha

CHAPTER32

I-N-H... WELL, SHIT.

THEODORE

Jax and I have enough alcohol coursing through our bodies that I couldn’t even spell the word inhibition, let alone have any.

?*Being in Vegas feels like being on another planet. And I’m not just talking about the nonstop partying or the clubs that never seem to close, but what it feels like to be here with Jax. It’s the feeling of the two of us having the freedom to finally let loose, regardless of the fact that it’s going to come with the world’s worst hangover.

For once… neither of us have to be who we really are. We can just be who wewantto be.

No one has to know I’m engaged. And because of that, no one will judge the fact that the person bent over in front of me and shaking his ass isn’t said fiancée.

And what’s more, no one will judge me for dancing right along with him.

I place my hands on Jax’s hips, and he grinds into my half-hard cock. The gasp he lets out is loud enough I can hear it over the music. Standing him upright, so his back is tight against my chest, I practically growl in his ear, “This isn’t very professional of me.”

“Your professionalism is the least of my concerns.”

Jax snakes his hands around the back of my neck and tilts his head back, wearing an absolute blissed-out expression on his face. And I’m not stupid enough to pass up the opportunity to pepper kisses along his neck before I grab the lobe of his ear between my teeth. A low moan slips past his lips as he presses his plump ass into my cock.

I growl, “Jax.”

It’s a warning, but it falls ondrunkears.

He moans, “What, Mr. Young?”

I let the bass pulse through my veins right alongside the copious amounts of tequila and sink deeper into the feeling of having fun for the first time in years. My fingers find his waistband, and I play with the hem of his briefs sticking out over his black jeans. “I think it might be in your best interest to not call me that right now.”

He spins around in my arms, and we’re nose to nose now. “What would Bridget think about this?” I don’t miss the snarl of his lip when he says her name.

I look him straight in the eyes and say the words that have been on the tip of my tongue for far too long, “Bridget and I are in an arranged marriage. I don’t love her. Never have and never will. More importantly, she doesn’t love me either. We’re doing this for our families, or, at least I am. She only seems to care about how I make her look.” That was a remarkably fluent speech for someone who has drunk as much as I have.

And considering Jax is just as drunk as I am, if not more, I know he understood the severity of everything I just said, because his face morphs from shock to mischief in about ten seconds flat. “Jax… what are you thinking?”

“So both your parents arranged this marriage?” he clarifies.

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