Page 114 of Frozen Hearts
30
RILEY
“Clothes off,” Grayson barks as soon as we’re through the door into my new living quarters. Like the king he is, he drops onto the couch with one of the beers they brought up while Royce pumps music through the speakers.
Logan was still in the locker rooms when we left, but no doubt he’ll be along shortly to join in this debauchery.
Turning my back to them, I pull my T-shirt over my head before kicking off my shoes, and refusing to feel any embarrassment over this situation, I hurriedly unbuckle my jeans and shove them down my legs.
“Dance,” Grayson barks as soon as I’m stripped down to my bra and panties. Biting my tongue, my gaze flicks to Royce, who merely smirks at me.
Assholes. The pair of them are complete fucking assholes.
Blocking them out, I turn my thoughts inward and sway my hips seductively. As my body puts on a show for them, I don’t let my mind get caught up in the present. Instead, I do what I’ve repeatedly done over the last few years—I look to the future. To the daughter I’ll be able to take care of, thanks to the steady job I’ll get when I graduate. The cute little house I’ll be able to afford. The bills I’ll be able to pay.
All of this—every painful second—is merely a means to an end.
Okay, so I didn’t plan for Grayson or his brainless followers to kidnap and hold me hostage until he’s got his revenge, but even this is only a minor blip in my plan.
See, Grayson might think that he’s gaining something by punishing me, but degrading me won’t makehimfeel any better. Even after he’s had his fun with me, he’s still going to be pissed about his dad and angry over our past. He will still hate himself, and no amount of blaming me will ever fix that.
Fingers tighten in my hair, a squeak slipping past my lips as the hand fists the strands. My eyes fly open and I startle, blinking at Grayson in confusion.
“Our boy deserves a lap dance after his win tonight, don’t you think?”
He twists my head toward where Logan is sprawled out on the couch with a beer dangling between his fingers as his eyes devour me with a carnal hunger.
Damn.I was so lost in my head that I didn’t hear him coming in.
With his hand still in my hair, Grayson shoves me roughly toward him, and I stumble over my feet before righting myself, glaring at Grayson before dismissing him altogether.
Pushing past the butterflies that have taken flight in my stomach, I slip effortlessly into Aurora Noir and sway my hips as I stride confidently toward Logan. His grin grows wider with every step, eyes slowly drinking me in as his gaze drops down my scantily clad body. The desire I felt watching him on the ice earlier returns, and this no longer feels like a punishment. It resembles the way I felt when I danced for Royce at Lux. Sexy. Seductive. Empowering.
Rather than beating me down and making me feel like shit, every moment beneath Logan’s hungry gaze fills me with strength.
He spreads his legs wide in invitation for me to step between them, which I do, and he licks his lips as I place my hands on his shoulders. A move that has my tits bouncing in front of his face as I start to move my hips.
His gaze drops, and he groans as though in pain. His eyes never once leave my body, his beer forgotten in his hand as I put on a show for him, and I don’t miss the noticeable bulge that forms in his jeans.
I try to remind myself that he isn’t the Logan I once thought he was. That, despite the fact I still care for the asshat on some level, and we clearly have undeniable chemistry, that we can never be the couple I once hoped we’d inevitably become.
However, it doesn’t have the desired effect of helping me distance myself from him. Instead, my gaze roams over his face while I dance, trying to piece the Logan before me with the carefree one I met that first day in class, but it doesn’t quite fit. There’s a hardness in his eyes that I never remember seeing before and a cruel curl to his mouth that makes me uneasy.
He bites his lower lip, and his hand moves to touch my outer thigh, slowly climbing until it rests on my hip. I can see the desire in his eyes, the thoughts racing across his mind—to push me further or accept what he’s getting.
His hand tightens around my hip bone, and I’m fairly certain he’s about to pull me into his lap and take this to second base, if not third, when he glances up at my face. He seems taken by surprise to find me watching him. For a second, that hardness in his eyes melts away, the lines around his mouth smooth out, and he looks like the Logan I remember from before.MyLogan.
However, before I can work out what any of it means, someone latches onto my wrist, and I’m tugged away.
“That’s enough for him, Babydoll. My turn now.”
* * *
“Riley,” Logan hisses.
“Go away, Logan,” I groan, refusing to open my eyes. They kept me awake until the early morning hours, dancing for them while they guzzled beer after beer.
Based on how groggy I feel, I can’t have been asleep for more than a few hours. Grayson insisted on cuffing me to the damn pole before they all went to bed, so the simple fact that I was even able to fall asleep on the hard floor says everything about how exhausted I was.
