Page 123 of On Merit Alone
And her body.
Damnher body.
She wore a short little mini skirt that fluttered around her upper thighs in loose tendrils, showing more and less skin in different places along her lower body. On top she wore something that was almost strapless. It fit her snuggly, almost molding to the outline of her breasts the way it curved over the tops of them and scrunched in the middle. The only thing holding that little scrap of fabric up being the too-thin straps that were tied behind her neck in a little shoestring bow. A literal bow was the only thing separating her from showing this entire club what was mine.
I rubbed a hand down my face and groaned. She looked so fucking good. And she might have looked even better as she turned around and sauntered away from me after basically beckoning me by the way she swung her ass from side to side.
Instead of going to her, I just pushed my friends toward an empty enough standing table to congregate at as I followed Merit's plump lips wrapping around a drink someone handed her.
I think my friends were talking to me. Someone asked me what I wanted to drink and I grunted “beer” without taking my eyes off the girl across the room. The only thing that finally got my attention,was the sudden complaining from Stephens as he pushed away from our group with an exasperated sigh.
“You can stand here and be weird if you want, but I’m going to go speak,” he said.
And he did. Pushing through the crowd and going right up to her as if they were old friends. I watched as his name “Mike” fell straight from her lips as she grinned a huge smile up at him. I stiffened as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He at least had the decency to look my way when he wrapped loose arms back around her, making sure his hands didn’t make contact with any part of her body.
Good. He was smart, and most definitely wanted to keep those hands, seeing that I would have to have broken them if he touched Merit with them. He couldn't help the fact that a second later she latched onto his wrist and was dragging him along with her group as they marched to the bar.
I didn’t realize that I stepped toward them until I felt a big hand clasp over my shoulder. When I looked over at Rogers, he was smirking. “Be cool, man. Stephens is not going to‘steal your girl’even if he could. You’re already staring like a maniac, don’t start acting like one too.”
“Yeah, like you did when she was talking to that guy at the game!” Troy supplied with a cackle. “I still cannot fucking believe that shit.”
Rogers chuckled and I settled back into my spot with a huff as I now apparently had to watch Merit taking another shot, this time with Stephens as they clinked glasses at the bar.
He said something, and she laughed. He flagged down the bartender before leaning a shoulder down and saying something into her ear that had her swinging her gaze over to me. He pointed to me and I felt myself perk up hopefully, but then she shook her head. They hugged again and Stephens was making his way back to our group.
When he got back, distributing the drinks he’d gotten for the table before settling into a spot, we all looked at him expectantly as he sipped his beer, oblivious.
“Well?” I asked, finally not able to take it anymore.
He scoffed. “I’m not doing your dirty work for you. I genuinely like Merit. She said she would meet my niece one day. I did mention you though, and she sent you this.”
I took in the drink he slid across the table and scrunched my nose. I could smell it from here. “Where’s my beer?”
“Your girl took it and she gave you her drink. She said she wanted you to try it,” he said. “And she wanted to try yours.”
I frowned and scanned up to find her again, murmuring absently to no one in particular, “She won’t like it.”
Just like I knew I wouldn’t like the weird pink and yellow thing that sat in front of me, I knew Merit wouldn’t like the deep woody taste of my preferred beer. She was like a hummingbird, the biggest sweet tooth I’d ever seen—she would hate the bitter taste of my drink. I watched with fascination as she drank from it anyway, huffing a laugh as she curled her nose and flickered her eyes up to me accusingly. When she saw that I was looking at her, she stuck her tongue out in a mocking fake gag. I lifted a shoulder and tipped her offered glass her way.
She smiled and my chest spasmed. The lift of her mouth lifted my heart even from across the room. She was talking to me—with only her eyes, yeah, but I knew what she was saying. She was teasing and smiling and playing around with me. That was a stark contrast to her crying. That was enough to lighten up my heart.
“Would you get a room?” McKivvey asked with his own fake gag.
“Yeah or at least get across the room,” Stephens said. “I mean seriously, she obviously?—”
The way he trailed off caught my attention and I snapped mygaze up from my too sweet drink. It was instantly clear why Stephens stopped talking. Because across the room, in the little time it had taken me to take a sip, Merit was being chatted up by some guy at the bar.
My legs started moving immediately, but multiple hands stopped me, grabbing onto my shoulders or blocking me with an arm. I looked at my friends, growling, “Youjusttold me to go over there.”
“Yeah, that was when you two were eye fucking each other from across the room,” McKivvey said. “You can’t go over there now, you’re going to look like a jealous wannabe boyfriend.”
I gave him a blank look. “That’s exactly what I am.”
They all snickered. Stephens took the lead though. “Yeah, man, we all know you’re whipped; but that’s us. You can’t come off as a controlling, jealous prick though.”
I lifted my gaze across the room again. Merit was still talking to the guy. He was well dressed and tall enough. Still not as tall as me, but probably just as tall as that preppy prick who was talking to her at the game. He was holding a beer between his fingers as he leaned down and tapped Merit’s bottle, probably saying something about how they had the same one. But if they were talking about beer,what the hell was so funny?
I looked at my friends. “He’s all over her, and she’s drunk.”
