Sea Breeze 03 While It Lasts (18 page)

             
Somehow the man heard him over the noise. We walked around the moving bodies instead of through them. I wasn’t sure what to expect of Cage’s friends after meeting the girl outside. Would they all be wild like that? Had I made a mistake coming here?

             
“Cage has arrived,” a surfer-dude-
looking blond guy announced with a huge grin on his face.  “And he already found himself a babe and
d
ayum
did he do good.” The blond
winked at me.

             
“Eva
,
the idiot
that needs a haircut is Preston. He’s also the same idiot that whistled at you
the day the team came over,
” Cage informed me
,
leaning down so he didn’t have to yell.

             
“Eva,” Preston repeated. “
I remember you now. I couldn’t get a good look at you from a distance that day but my instincts
were
right
.”

             
“He was dropped on his head
as a baby. Ignore him,
” Cage whispered
,
making me laugh.

             
“Hey Eva, I’m Tris
ha.
”
A
curvy platinum blonde
with
a pair of
the plumpest lips I’d ever seen
introduced herself. She seemed nice enough.

             
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” I replied. It was
official
,
every female Cage knew was blonde and had a set of double Ds.

             
“This is my husband, Rock,” s
he informed me and I shifted my g
aze to meet the amused eyes of
a large
,
muscular
,
tattooed
,
bald guy. He wasn’t bad looking if you liked the biker look.

             
“Low and Marcus coming?” Cage asked as he scanned the packed house.

             
“Not tonight. Marcus
is taking some summer courses
online
so Low is staying home with him,
” Trisha replied.

             
“You
wanna
dance?” Cage’s mouth was so close to my ear the warmth from his breath made me shiver. I looked back out at the dance floor and all those people moving in ways I’d never really seen intimidated me.

             
“Not really,” I said
,
shifting my gaze back to his. I could tell he was disappointed. This was not my scene and I feared he was going to wish he’d never brought me before the night was over.

             
“Okay,” he said through a forced smile.

             
“Here, have a seat. I just saw someone who needs me,” Preston stood up and pulled his empty stool out for me. I glanced back at Cage and he nodded his head for me to go on and sit down. If I wasn’t going to dance I guess he figured I might as well get comfortable.

             
“I thought Cage was working out on a farm all summer. Where’d he pick you up at?” Trisha asked
,
leaning forward on the table so I could hear her.

             
“He works on my
daddy’s farm,” I explained. Her
eyes grew wide and she shifted them toward Cage.

             
“Let it go Trisha. It’s different,” was his cold c
urt
response to her questioning gaze.

             
“
R
eally
?” h
er voice trailed off as she looked back at me. The sudden scrutiny had me thinking that maybe the dance floor was a safer option.

             
“
Where’s the restroom?” I asked
,
Trisha needing some excuse to go take a deep breath
and relax. I knew I must look
as uptight as I felt.

             
“Come on, I’ll show you,” Trisha said
,
standing up from her stool. 

             
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said to Cage as I followed quickly behind Trisha.

Cage

             
I hoped Trisha kept her mouth shut. I should have offered to take
Eva
to the restroom. The last thing I needed was for Trisha to share all my shit with Eva. I’d thought bringing her here to meet everyone would feel right. Instead, I was ti
ed up in knots. Seeing Priscilla
out in the parking lot had been my warning flag. Eva didn’t know the real
me and if she found out exactly how
fucked up I was she would go running for good this time.

             
“I
gotta
know man
,
are you really seeing someone
,
like
,
on a regular basis? I mean
,
she’s the damn farmer’s daughter. It
ain’t
like you can fuck her and leave her. So what the hell is going on?”

             
Rock was frowning. I couldn’t figure out if it was because of the innocence dripping off Eva or if he was worried about me screwing up my scholarship.

             
“I’m working on it,” I snapped
,
wishing he’d mind his own business.

             
“You’re working on what? Bagging her?”

             
My head started pounding and both my hands balled up into fist
s
. I leveled my glare on Rock. “It isn’t like that,” I hissed through my teeth.

             
Rock leaned back and studied me.
Then he shook his head slowly and let out a low whistle, “Damn. I thought I’d never see the day.”

             
“See the day
to what?” Preston asked as he set a beer and a C
oke down on the table. “Those are yours by the way,” he said
,
pushing the beer toward me.

             
“I believe Cage has gone and actually got himself feelin
gs for some girl other than Low,
”
Rock
drawled out in an amused tone.

             
Preston jerked his head around and looked back at me, “What? You’re serious about the brunette? Well, shit. I was hoping you’d share.”
             
“Don’t,” I growled in warning and Preston closed his mouth before he could run off more bullshit that just pissed me off.

             
“CAGE! You’re here!” Amanda Hardy, Marcus’s little sister came up to the table all smiles and glassy eyes. Great, Marcus would be pissed if he knew Amanda was drinking. I’d have to call Low before I left.

             
“Dance with me Cage,” she demanded
,
taking my hand and pu
l
ling me toward the dance floor. When had Amanda become a party girl? I’d always known her to be a classic good girl.

             
“She’s trashed,” I said
,
looking back at Preston with a frown.

He scowled and shook his head. “Just go dance with her. At least if she’s dancing with you she’s safe. I’ve been beating the vultures off her all damn night. I’m about ready to call Marcus. Babysitting
ain’t
my fucking job.”

I was missing something here but I went on out to the dance floor with Amanda. She pulled me out into the middle of the floor
and
wrapped her arms around my neck
.
Then she
began moving
in ways her brother would kill
someone over.

Yeah, I was
gonna
need to call Low. If she kept this shit up with other guys tonight she’d be waking up in a stranger’s condo.

“I’ve missed you,” she slurred then cackled with laughter as she spun around in front of me
and
threw her arms back around my neck.

“
Last I checked you weren’t a real big fan of mine,” I replied.

“Oh, no! I’ve always been a fan of yours.” She ran a fingernail down my face and across my bottom lip. Her eyes were zoned in on my mouth. Shit.

“You’re not a drinker
,
Ama
nda. What’s with you tonight?”
I needed to distract her because I was sure as fuck not going to let her kiss me. That was the last thing I needed. Eva was already dwelling on
the fact I’d had a threesome.
If she saw some girl kissing me I was pretty damn sure I’d lose any chance of her ever seeing me
as
something other than a player.

“You know what I’ve always wondered, Cage?” Amanda asked
,
leaning into me. I took a step back and she began to wobble so I grabbed her waist to steady her.

“What’s that Amanda?” I started scanning the crowd for someone to come to my rescue.

“What it’s like to kiss the famous Cage York. Girls fall mindlessly at your feet. You must be doing something r
ight,” she leaned up on her tip
toes and I moved back fast. If she fell on her
drunk
ass then she deserved it. The girl shouldn’t be out alone like this.

“I won’t tell Marcus,” she promised staring up at me. “We can go outside to my car. No one will see.”

I glanced back toward the table. I needed Preston’s help, now. His eyes were looking directly at us and he wasn’t happy.

“Help me,” I mouthed.

Amanda’s hands were now clasped behind my neck again. “I know you want to. Bad boys like you want to do it anywhere they can.”

Holy SHIT! What had gotten into her?

I checked to see if Preston was close when I saw him stalking through the crowd. He reached us and wrapped his hands around Amanda’s waist. “
Come on Amanda. I’m taking you home.”

“
Nooooo
. You’r
e not my daddy. Go away Preston.” S
he reached for me and I stepped back again.

“He’s right. You need to go home.”

“But don’t you want to take me outside alone?” she asked in a hurt voice.

Preston shifted his
gaze
to me and the murderous glare flashing in his eyes was not something I was familiar with. The guy never got mad. What the fuck was with everyone tonight?

“Her idea. Not mine. I
’ve
got a date,” I reminded him.

Preston smirked and nodded his head
at
something behind me, “Looks like you might be wrong there. She seems to be having herself a fine time without you.”

Eva was dancing with some guy.
Some random strange guy.
I’d asked her to dance and she’d turned me dow
n but this dude comes out of no
where and she dances with him?

Eva

“I still can’t believe you’re here. When I turned around from ordering my drink and saw you sitting over at a table I thought I was seeing things.”

Brett
Cortwright
was one of the closest guy friends Josh had in high school.
When he’d walked up to the table I’d been so happy to see a familiar face. Cage had gone off dancing with yet another blonde. I shouldn’t be mad at him because he’d asked me to dance and I’d said no out of fear.
All the same,
I was mad. I was hurt. I was jealous.

“I’m slowly starting to get out again. Jeremy is leaving next month for LSU.”

Brett frowned, “Really? You okay with that?”

Why was that everyone’s immediate reaction? Did they all think I couldn’t survive without him?

“I’m happy for him. It’s time he got back to his life. We’ve both been on pause for a while now.”

Brett nodded his head in agreement. A slower song started to
play. “You up for a slow dance?
I won’t bite,” he teased.

I’d only ever slow danced with Josh.  I started to say yes when Brett took a step back from me. Confused
,
I looked up at him and he was focused on something behind me.

“Good
idea. Go on. Get the hell away from her.”

Cage’s angry snarl startled me and I spun around to see him glarin
g at Brett. What was he doing?
“
CA
GE! Stop that,
” I demanded. “Don’t go anywhere
,
Brett.”