My Sweetest Escape (27 page)

and I could almost hear her second

thoughts.

“Right behind you, ladies. You say the

word and we’re out.

No one is going to mess with you. Either

of you.” I looked over my shoulder and met

Dusty’s eyes. Even though it was dark, they

burned with an intensity that told me he

meant what he said. That he was telling the

truth.

“Thanks,” I said as Hannah started

dragging me toward the pounding house. It

was a wonder frat houses managed to stay

standing after all the generations of

partying and damage their inhabitants did.

There had probably been more than a few

repairs over the years.

“Let’s rock this.” Hannah gave me a fist

bump and we both took deep breaths and

walked into the house.

An hour, many turned down drinks and

dances, almost getting a beer spilled on my

dress, one broken heel and one lost earring

later, Hannah and I were dancing right in

front of the giant speakers. The other

members of our group were standing just

out of the way, talking and laughing. Except

for Dusty, who was really taking sulking to a

whole new level.

Well, it wasn’t really sulking. It was more

like brooding. It didn’t look good on him,

the guy I was so used to seeing with a smile

on his face.

We’d kept our eyes wide-open for the

guys, but it was so packed and the crowd so

fluid, it would have been nearly impossible

to find them, even if they were here. I’d

pretty much given up on looking when

Hannah grabbed my arm and pulled my ear

to her mouth so I could hear her.

“There they are!” she yelled. It was still

hard to hear her, so I motioned and we

moved away from the speaker.

“Where?” I said, doing a visual sweep.

Ah, there was one of them, standing over

near one of the couches that had been

pushed to the side. He hadn’t seen us yet.

“Right there.” Hannah jerked her chin in

his direction, and I picked out some of the

other guys I’d seen in the Union.

They were all laughing and talking and

drinking, clearly at ease. For all I knew, they

were residents of the house.

“Come on.” Hannah didn’t give me a

moment longer to think about it before she

pulled me to the center of the improvised

dance floor and started grinding her hips

like she was born to do it. She’d been

dancing earlier, but this was a little

more…something you’d do against a pole

wearing a lot less than a dress. I had to give

her credit; she was good at it. I took her

lead and let myself go.

“Is that them?” Taylor said in my ear

after touching me on the shoulder. I

nodded and she looked over at Darah and

Renee. They came over as well, and we

formed a circle.

Taylor gave Hannah a run for her money

in the dancing department. That girl had

moves. More than once I glanced over at

Mase, Paul, Hunter and Dusty, but they just

watched with bewildered smiles on their

faces. Dusty still looked even more surly

than he had earlier.

Hannah kept looking at the group of

guys, but they weren’t paying attention.

More than a few of the other guys at the

party were, though, and a few tried to come

and dance with one or more of us, but we

weren’t interested.

After the third guy tried to grind on

Taylor, though, Hunter had had enough and

came to dance with her. Mase joined Darah

and Paul grabbed Renee. The song switched

to the latest dance hit that you heard fifty

times every time you listened to the radio.

Hannah’s hips were still going strong, and

the group of guys had finally noticed. I

pulled her in, pretending to give her a hip

bump.

“They see you.” She pretended to toss

her hair and looked at them. Oh, they had

noticed. The entire group was now fully

aware of Hannah and her supersonic hips.

She threw her head back and laughed,

executing a twirl that would have had me

on my ass. I had no idea she was such a

good dancer. The guys were pointing and

talking, and it was definitely about Hannah.

The guy who seemed like the ringleader

started walking over. I gave Hannah a

signal.

He looked like the typical college

“dude.” Backward Red Sox cap, jeans,

Hollister shirt. He was so generic it was a

wonder I’d even recognized him. Wading

through the crowd, he came closer to our

group.

“What are you going to do?” I yelled in

Hannah’s ear.

“Depends on what he does. Maybe he

feels like a douche and he’s coming to

apologize.” She shrugged and kept dancing.

Yeah, I wasn’t going to hold my breath.

Guys like that seldom thought anything

they did was wrong, so they didn’t have to

apologize. But maybe that was me being

judgmental? He could surprise me.

Hannah spun around and stopped right

in front of him.

He looked startled for a second.

“Can I help you?” she yelled, loud

enough for me to hear.

“Yeah, you can get your disgusting ass

out of this party. The girls with you are

welcome to stay, but you gotta go.”

He had one of those sort of half smiles

on that dick guys used when they thought

they were being charming, but really, hey

were just being dicks.

Hannah’s face froze for a moment and I

waited for her reaction. I didn’t have to wait

long.

She slapped the bottom of the cup of

beer he had in his hand and her aim was

true. It exploded and covered him.

“What the fuck? You psycho!”

Hannah smiled in a way that, if I were

that guy, I’d be worried. But clearly, he

wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer

because he looked like he was going to slap

her, or yell at her, but Hannah got there

first. She socked him in the jaw so hard that

I heard it, even with the loud music.

They both screamed in pain as I dived

for Hannah.

“You fucking bitch!” His friends rushed

over, but Dusty, Mase, Hunter and Paul

were there in a flash.

“Walk away, dude. You’re lucky a busted

jaw is the only thing she gave you,” Dusty

said, getting right in the guy’s face. Hannah

cradled her hand to her chest.

“I had no idea it was going to hurt that

much. Holy shit,” she said, her face twisting

in pain.

“Are you okay?” I said.

The pained look went away and she

beamed at me.

“I’m fucking awesome. I feel like I should

get drunk or scream on a rooftop or

something.” Renee leaned down and

started examining Hannah’s hand. Having a

sister who was a nurse was always a plus

because it always came in handy.

“You don’t look at her, you don’t think

about her, you never even breathe near

her, or else I will make you regret it.

Got it?” Dusty was still tearing the guy a

new one while his friends tried to puff

themselves up, but were definitely

intimidated by the presence of Hunter,

Dusty and Mase, none of whom looked like

they would back down if it came to blows.

“We need to get some ice on this,”

Renee said, putting er arm around Hannah.

Taylor and Darah got our coats and we left

the party. Some people clapped, but most

were just disappointed that the fight was

over and hadn’t gotten more interesting.

The guys followed us once they knew that

no one was coming after us.

“Was that everything you thought it

would be?” Dusty said, hurrying to catch up

with us.

“And more,” Hannah said, the gleam still

in her eyes. I could see it even in the dark.

“How about you wait here and I’ll bring

the car over,” he said as we walked down

the lawn.

“Good idea,” Renee said, her attention

still on Hannah’s hand. We all sat on the

sidewalk and waited for Dusty to get back

with the car. The other guys had stayed

with us as protection. They’d gone

completely alpha. Any minute they were

going to turn into werewolves or

something.

Hannah’s hand had started to swell and

turn colors. Renee used her cell phone as a

flashlight to make sure that none of the

bones of her hand were broken.

“I think you’re going to be okay, but we

need to get you back to the house. Where is

that boy?”

Tires squealed and the Golf appeared

right in front of us.

Renee and Hannah got in the backseat

and I climbed in with them.

“See you at home,” Renee called out as

the rest of the group walked toward the

parking lot. They waved and told us to be

safe.

Dusty drove a bit too fast away from the

house, and when he hit the highway he

floored it.

“You’ve got quite a hook there, Hannah

Gillespie. I think he’s going to be feeling

that for a few days,” Dusty said. “I know not

to mess with you now.”

“Would you have messed with me

before? Because I have another hand and

I’m totally cool with using it.”

“Whoa, easy, Rocky. I was just saying.”

He laughed a little, and I saw his surly

facade cracking. Must have been hard to

keep it up.

We got home, and Renee went into

nurse mode, getting ice and wrapping

Hannah’s hand up.

“Does it feel like déjà vu?” Taylor said

when the rest of the household got back

ten minutes after us.

“A little bit,” Renee said. “I don’t know

why you do this to yourselves. A knee to the

groin is just as effective and less damaging

to you.”

“I wasn’t really thinking about it at the

time, but you make valid points. I shall take

them under advisement for next time,”

Hannah said.

“Next time?” I said. “Were you planning

on punching out d-bags on a regular basis?”

“If I didn’t encounter d-bags on a regular

basis, I wouldn’t have to,” she said.

“Fair point,” I said, sighing.

“Shit, I need a drink,” Renee said after

she got Hannah all patched up. Paul went to

the fridge and pulled out a few beers.

“Anyone else?” he said. Everyone

nodded their heads.

“Can I get one of those? You know, for

the pain-numbing effects?” Hannah said.

Renee cracked the top off her bottle and

rolled her eyes.

“One. You can have one.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Hannah said as Paul

passed her one.

“Dusty?” Paul said, holding one out for

him.

“No, thanks. I’m set. I’ll take a Coke if

you have it.” Paul tossed him a can and

handed the bottle Dusty didn’t want to me.

I stole a glance at Renee, but she seemed

determined to look the other way. I opened

the bottle and took a swig.

Damn. It had been a long time.

We all adjourned to the living room and

sat down on the couch.

“Is anyone else, like, exhausted?” Taylor

said, curling up in Hunter’s lap as they

passed a bottle back and forth. “I feel really

old right now.”

“You were working it pretty hard there,

Missy girl.”

“We all were,” Darah said. “I feel like it’s

been years since we went to Blue, but it’s

only been a month. We need to go out

more, I think.”

“Amen,” Mase said. “Especially if you

shake it like that, Dare.”

“Are you saying you enjoy my

booty-shaking skills?” She raised an

eyebrow and it disappeared under her

bangs.

“Yeah, you could say that.” He pulled

her chin to his mouth and gave her a kiss.

Hannah made a gagging noise.

“Jesus, are they always like this?” She

held her beer in her left hand, a bag of peas

draped over her right.

“Pretty much,” I said, taking another

swig. “It’s almost impossible to live with

them.”

“Hey!” several voices said at once.

“What? You guys are, like, disgustingly

cute and in love, and sometimes I just want

to tear my hair out and scream at the

perfection of it all.” Wow, I did not mean to

say that. I couldn’t even blame it on the

alcohol because I’d only had two sips and it

hadn’t even hit me yet.

The room went silent, and it was like I’d

completely frozen the conversation.

Shit.

“Jesus, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just

hard sometimes, you know? Now I sound

like an ungrateful bitch. I’m sorry.”

I held the beer with two hands and

looked at it so I wouldn’t have to see

everyone watching me have a meltdown.

“Do, um, do you guys mind if I crash

here tonight? I don’t really feel like going

back to the dorm,” Hannah said, trying to

come to my rescue. Oh, I was such a lost

cause at this point.

Everyone chimed in that they would be

more than happy to offer her shelter for the

night.

“I’ll go and make up the couch in the