Sophie Jordan - Tease

His brown eyes gleamed down at me in the gloom. I kept moving, feigning disinterest—like I did every time I got the vibe that a guy might be more than I could handle.

If there was even the faintest doubt in my mind that I couldn’t control the guy in question . . . then it wasn’t happening. Period.

I shuffled along quickly, resisting the urge to look back. He was still watching me. I knew it. The nape of my neck tingled. He was probably wondering what the hell a girl like me was doing in a place like this and how I should get far, far away. Or maybe that was just what I was thinking?

When I got back to the table, I downed another drink. “How much longer, you think?” I asked after a few minutes.

Annie huffed out a breath. “I wouldn’t have brought you along if I’d known you were going to be such a nag.”

“I didn’t know we were coming to a place like this.” I looked around, taking the opportunity to search for Biker Boy. I couldn’t resist. He was back at the bar now, accepting a fresh longneck from the bartender and talking to a burly older guy beside him.

“A place like this? Listen to you. You’re such a princess, Emerson.”

I rolled my eyes at her. She was the one wearing body glitter that smelled like peaches. It looked like Tinker Bell had dumped her bag all over her head. I finished my cup and reached for the almost empty pitcher to pour myself another. My head felt comfortably insulated now, fuzzy and warm. Even the band sounded better.

The drummer winked at me and I grinned back at him. Yeah. He would do.

Glancing around the room, my gaze went to Biker Boy again. As though he felt my stare, his gaze swung to me. My eyes swung forward again, cheeks burning. Way to act disinterested, Em.

My face grew hot all the way to my ears. It wasn’t like me to get all flustered over a guy checking me out. It must be how totally out of my element I was here.

“What’s wrong? You look funny. Who do you keep checking out?”

“No one.” I shook my head, and then stopped, my fingers flying to my temples as I willed the room to stop spinning.

Annie looked around the room searchingly, clearly not believing me. “Ahh.” I stole a glance over my shoulder, following her gaze with a sinking feeling. Yep. She’d spotted him. Who else would I be looking at in this place? There weren’t many options. “Him again, huh?”

“What?” I played dumb.

“Oh. C’mon. Don’t try to act like you haven’t been checking him out. Of course you have. He’s the hottest thing in here.”

I shrugged and took another sip. “Fine. I noticed him. But he’s not my type.”

“Loser biker dude or not, he’s every woman’s type. At least I’m betting between the sheets he is.” She giggled and the sound grated on my nerves.

“Yeah, well, I’m not interested in finding out.” I took a long gulp. “He’s probably in some biker gang.”

She twisted in her chair to survey him more fully. “Bet he’s good in bed though. Could teach those college boys we’re used to a thing or two, huh?” She elbowed me in the ribs. “I wouldn’t mind giving him a go.”

“Aren’t you here for Noah?” I reminded her, annoyed at the level of interest in her voice. Somehow I had forgotten just how free she was with her . . . er, charms. Even my reputation paled in comparison to hers.

“Noah’s busy right now.” She wiggled her fingers in a little wave at Hot Biker Boy.

“What are you doing?” I hissed, grabbing for her hand and missing. Scowling, I tried again and caught her fingers this time.

“Making a new friend, I hope. What’s the harm in meeting him?” She yanked her hand free.

“Noah is watching,” I warned.

Annie faced forward again and waved at Noah as if she hadn’t just been flirting across the room at some stranger. “I’ll just tell him I was signaling him for you.”

“Liar,” I snapped.

“It’d be good for you. Never thought I’d have to say this, but you need to loosen up.”

A shadow fell over our table and a deep voice that sounded like it smoked a carton a day asked, “Looks like you girls need a refill on that pitcher.”

Looking up, I felt a stab of both disappointment and relief. It wasn’t hot Biker Boy. No, this guy could be his grandfather in a not so kind future.

Annie brought her cup to her lips, her hushed “eww” for my ears alone. She stared straight ahead at the stage, clearly leaving me to deal with this on my own.

“No, thanks, we’re g-good.” I cringed at the slight slur of my words and set my cup down. I let having a designated driver lull me into a sense of safety. My mistake.

He pulled a chair out at our table and flipped it around. Straddling it, he sank down, his bulging belly pushing against his stained shirt that peeked out from his patch-emblazoned vest. “Well, I can see you’re good.” He leered back and forth between me and Annie and I wondered if he honestly thought himself even remotely appealing. Annie continued to act like he wasn’t even there, staring straight ahead at the stage, bobbing her head to the music. “Real good,” he added.

“Look, we’re just here to—”

“Name is Walt.” He leaned forward, rocking on the front legs of the chair.

I fixed a tight smile on my face. “Walt.” Deep breath. “We’re really just here to listen to our friends.” I motioned to the stage. “We’re not looking for company.”

He buried his fingers in his thick beard, scratching deep. “Sure you are. A girl that looks as good as you is always looking for company.”

I winced, wondering how to explain that I wasn’t looking for his company.

He brought his chair closer, the four legs hopping over the wood floor with sharp whacks. Now I could smell his breath, rancid as rotting eggs. This close I could even detect bits of food in his beard. And what really sucked is that he just kept coming closer. The man had no concept of personal space.

“Really, Walt, we’re not here for—”

He dropped his hand on my thigh. I gasped and jumped a little as his big, meaty paw squeezed me through my jeans. Peeling his hand off, I dropped it on the tabletop. His friends at the table beside us hooted with laughter.

Even Walt chuckled. “That’s okay, sugar tits. You’ll warm up to me.” He brushed a hand along my short hair. “Never had complaints before.”

This guy was all charm. I wanted to ask if these uncomplaining females had been conscious but bit back my reply. “No, really.” I slapped at his hand and shook my head, starting to get angry. The skin at the back of my neck pulled tight. I hated that feeling. It reminded me of when I was fifteen and stupid—someone who ignored all the signs and warning bells, dismissing them with the naiveté that nothing wrong could ever happen.

Well, I wasn’t fifteen anymore, and I didn’t ignore warning bells anymore either. And I was hearing them with old Walt right now.

But no more. I grabbed the pitcher and dumped what was left of it in Walt’s lap.

He lurched from his seat with a curse, sending the chair clattering on its side.

Annie laughed, her hands flying to her mouth—not that that did much to cover up her hyena hoot.

I scooted away in my chair, still wary, especially at the sudden rush of red to Walt’s face. His gaze jerked from his soaking-wet crotch to the table full of his friends and the color in his cheeks deepened. They were laughing harder now. He huffed like an enraged bull, his chest swelling like he was about to erupt.

The music ground to a halt. Noah hopped down from the stage. “Annie?” He looked from her to me in concern. “What’s going on?”

Walt’s gaze sharpened and narrowed on Noah. The biker’s beady blue eyes brightened as if he was about to devour an especially tasty snack. He stepped up to Noah, bumping his bigger barrel chest into Noah’s slight torso and sending him staggering back a step. “These bitches belong to you?”