Page 46 of My Last Dance

I had to stifle a laugh. He was so whipped that it was cute.

“All right, I’m on liability duty,” JP announced. He grabbed Ali around the waist, making her giggle as he carried her the rest of the way down the stairs.

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Later that night, we ended up at a bar with a dance floor, strobe lights, and an amazing playlist, but I had to sit out on the fun.

My legs were starting to ache from not resting enough through the day, and I couldn’t sacrifice all the work I’d put into rehab just to fall back because of one night out. So, I sat at the bar by myself, drowning in my own self-pity and vodka-sprites.

While Colt and JP kind of bopped up and down next to Ali and Mer like typical hockey guys, Kappy was actually a really good dancer. He moved his hips to the beat and had excellent rhythm. All the girls wanted to dance with him, but he kept a respectable distance from them, not grinding on anyone, but instead, grabbing their hand and spinning them out. That was for the best, if a girl started dancing up on him and smoothing her hands all over his body while this alcohol skated through my system, I’d probably lose it. Every once in a while, his eyes bounced over to me, almost like he was checking to make sure I was having fun. I forced a smile on my face each time, even though my chest felt like it was caving in with bitter jealousy.

“How you doing, baby doll?” a deep voice asked me.

“Oh.” I turned to the side and jumped a little at the man’s closeness. He was much older than me, very sweaty, and reeked of beer.

He chuckled. “Looks like you’re empty,” he said, gesturing to my drink. “What’re you drinking? I’ll get you another.”

I rolled my lips together. “No, thank you.” I turned away from him and tipped my chin up, trying to look mean so he’d leaveme alone.

“What’s wrong, honey? You need a dance partner?” He smoothed closer to me, doing a weird move where he jutted his junk toward me.

“No, thank you.” I cleared my throat to speak over the music. “Please back up.”

“Please? Please what, honey?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Back up,” I snapped louder, jutting my lower jaw out.

He laughed like what I said was hilarious. “It’s a packed bar, baby doll. Nothing wrong with getting a little cozy.” His beefy hand wandered to my hip, making panic flare to life inside me.

“Stop touching me,” I said, trying to wrangle away, but he just laughed again.

“Calm down, we’re just having some fun.” He gave me a smarmy smile.

Dread filled my stomach. I dropped down to my feet, planning on high-tailing it to the group on the dance floor, but his hand caught my elbow. I suddenly regretted drinking so much because my head swam.Was this really happening? Right in front of all these people?

“C’mon, babe. You know you wanna dance with me,” he growled. And then it all happened in an instant: First he was trailing his large hand down my body, then his hand was under my skirt, gripping my butt.

A shriek ripped from my throat as I tried to push away from him,but he was still laughing.

“C’mon, baby. You know you wanna dance with me.” He jerked me closer to him with a shocking amount of strength.

His BO filled my nostrils, and panic overcame my body, making me freeze up. A ringing filled my ears and my vision went a little shaky, like I was starting to black out.

And then the hand was gone.

There was some kind of commotion to the right of me, but I couldn’t really grasp it because I was blinking, trying to clear my senses.

The room suddenly slammed back into focus.

Kappy was gripping his shirt. “Touch her again and I’ll cut your fucking hand off,” he threatened with a voice full of venom.

“We’re just dancing,” he said with a laugh.

“She doesn’t want to,” Kappy spat. He dropped his shirt and turned to me, but the man swung his fist at Kappy so fast that I couldn’t even comprehend it.

Kappy’s face snapped to the side. But then he was spitting blood out of his mouth and smiling like a maniac. In a split second, he swung back harder and faster, absolutely pummeling the guy.

Bouncers dressed in black were pulling them apart in seconds and leading them to separate exits.

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