Page 2 of Cocky Player

“No.”I scanned the bar and lines of people waiting for drinks and demanding them again.I grinned at her over my shoulder and waggled my eyebrows.“Ready to dance?”

I could lose myself in the music, the rhythm of the bass, the sexual pull of bodies pressed together.It wasn’t like I’d never been to bars or clubs before, but at Vanderwilde, we were required to be back in our rooms by midnight on the weekends.That timeframe never hindered Gina from dating and guys and anything else she wanted to experience.

More than once I’d snuck her in a back stairwell well after curfew, or minutes before the doors unlocked in the morning.

Me?It took me years to be ready for something like that and then I was too worried about getting caught, upsetting my parents.

It was something I had to learn to let go of if I was truly going to make it on my own.My past and history with my parents made it too easy for them to cling to me in a way they hadn’t with my siblings.

Although they were all also married with a half-dozen children between them.It was easy to loosen the strings on the children who hadn’t terrified my parents for days.

I shoved the reminder down.It was so far in the past the lingering effects were usually minimal.The last place I wanted memories popping up was here.Not now.

Dance floor.I need to dance.

“Lead the way, hot stuff.”Gina gestured with her own drink, vodka and club soda most likely.

We shoved our way through more crowds.More drunken men who swayed on their feet, sloppily hitting on girls in little black dresses left and right.It wasn’t until we were ensconced on the dance floor, hips swaying and arms raised while singing along to lyrics when I finally understood why Gina insisted I wore white.

Everyone, almost everyone anyway, was dressed in black and silver and red dresses.My white dress shone like a beacon and I imagined my strawberry blonde hair further put a spotlight on me.

Yes.

With the techno beats pumping through my veins, I lost myself in the music, the rush of the crowd, the press of bodies as we gyrated our hips.Gina and I danced together, swirled to partners, to hands that reached out to my hips.Scents of cologne and sweat overpowered me, pushing me from one partner to another.

Gina kept a close eye on me, reaching out to grab me, twirl me to her and out again, other girls joined us, moved away.

It was there in the crowd, the electric sensations of so many bodies close together, all enjoying and losing ourselves in the crush of the music and crowd along with the weeks of stress evaporating into the shimmering and pulsing lights, where I felt it.

A chill skittered down my arms and to my toes until my body erupted in goose bumps.Hairs at the back of my neck stood on end.Someone was watching me.

I stopped moving so quickly I bumped into Gina and reached out to keep her from falling onto the dance floor.

“Sorry!”I called out, but I didn’t look at her as she resettled to her feet.

My gaze was focused, skipping from the men on the dance floor to the outer circle of guys who stayed close, probably couldn’t shimmy their hips to a beat if their life depended on it but enjoyed watching the show, to the stairs…the upper level.

Straight tohim.

He was there.Hands curled around a silver railing.Buttoned up white shirt un-tucked from jeans and sleeves rolled to his elbows.Casual.

Commanding.

Long dark hair on top, swept to the side but long enough it could also fall into his eyes.

I simply felt his pull.Felt him.I stood still and raised my drink in his direction.

His response was a nod.So minuscule it was difficult to see from the distance but even then, I knew he was the one watching me.

And if he wanted to watch?I’d give him the show of his life.

Two men flanked him, one shoved his shoulder, the other crossed his arms over his massive chest.The men werehuge.

Yes.That was going to be him.

If he could gain my attention with a look from a hundred feet away, he was definitely the kind of guy who could do other things to me even more intensely.

I twirled around and gave him my back, grinning at Gina.

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