Page 46 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
RYAN
This wasn’t horrible. I thought it would be, but I was actually enjoying myself. It might be the help of the alcohol. Claire stood beside me talking with people I vaguely remembered from high school. Some of them I didn’t know at all. We stuck close beside one another. She would occasionally look up at me and smile. I would smile in return and then it was back to the conversation at hand. I touched her arm, lower back, and sometimes grabbed her hand. We were putting on a great show. But it didn’t feel like a show. It was all very natural and easy.
The party seemed to be picking up some steam despite it being a Monday night. Even some of the staff were joining after they got off work. The vibe was good. Tony and his buddies were mostly behaving themselves. They seemed to be in good moods. Everyone was in a good mood. I loved that there wasn’t the usual drama.
“Do you want another drink?” I asked Claire.
She held up her glass that was almost empty. “Please,” she said. “Thank you.”
I almost gave her a kiss. I caught myself just in time. While I was waiting at the bar, I heard women screams. It was happy screams, not scared. I turned to make sure everything was okay. A group of women had surrounded Claire. She had her hand out and everyone was looking at the ring on her finger. If I had known it was going to be such an important part of this whole thing, I would have gotten a better ring. I felt like they were going to be looking at me and wondering why I hadn’t gone with something bigger.
I was glad she was happy. She seemed to be having a good time. I carried the drinks back to her and joined in the conversation. To my surprise, Tony approached and slapped me on the back. “You should come to my bachelor party this weekend,” he said.
That was unexpected. My first reaction was to decline the invite, but if he was willing to bury the hatchet, I would as well. “Sure. Thanks.”
“We’re both going to be a couple old married men,” he said. “We may as well live it up one last time.”
I didn’t disabuse him of the notion I was going to be married. With the way things were going, I wouldn’t be married anytime soon. The alcohol continued to flow as the night stretched on. With flowing alcohol, inhibitions tended to evaporate. We were all just a little tipsy when Claire leaned against me. She grabbed my hand and pressed her breasts against my arm.
“What’s up?” I asked her with a grin.
“I want to dance,” she pouted. “Dance with me.”
“Claire.”
“Please,” she begged.
How could I say no to that? “Alright, but I apologize now if I embarrass you.”
“You can’t embarrass me,” she said. “Besides, look around you. No one is going to be paying us any attention. Everyone is having a great time. No judgment!”
She pulled my hand. I barely had time to put down my glass before she dragged me into the sand. We had all removed our shoes earlier. It was a courtesy. For those that had no shoes on the dance floor, getting your foot stepped on took on a whole new level of pain. The alcohol made me feel loose and free. I didn’t think I was dancing all that well, but I did it anyway.
“See!” She burst into laughter. “It’s fun!”
“Because we’re both drunk.”
Her eyes danced with laughter. “But it’s fun!”
She was moving in a way that screamed sex. It was becoming increasingly difficult not to touch her. I wanted to slide my hands up her body. She was bumping her ass against my thigh and backing all that sweet roundness against my groin. The more she moved, the harder it was becoming to keep my hands to myself. She turned to face me with a look in her eyes that said it all. She knew exactly what she was doing. This little thing she was doing was intentional.
I could give as good as I got. I stopped holding back. My hands dropped to her hips. I held her close as my body rubbed against hers. Our hips ground together. There was heat radiating between us. Despite the pounding music all around us, there was nothing but heated silence in our little cocoon. There was a spiraling happening, like a storm brewing. We both felt it. It was like being on an open prairie with a tornado barreling down on us. Neither of us tried to stop what was happening.
I grabbed her face with my hands and kissed her. There was a jolt of heat and electricity followed by pure need. Her mouth opened wide. My tongue swept in and explored the fruity taste of the alcohol she’d been drinking. Her hands slid up my arms. Her fingers threaded through the hair at the base of my neck. I could have taken her right there. Someone bumped into me from behind and splashed liquid on my back. It was exactly the splash of cold I needed to come to my senses.
I pulled away from her. “Shit,” I murmured.
Her eyes opened. The expression on her face showed just how lost she’d been as well. “Hi,” she said with a small giggle.
“Hi.”
A cacophony of cheers and cat whistles cut through the music. “That’s how you do it, Jones!” Tony shouted the words before another series of catcalls erupted.
“Glad to see they’ve all matured with age,” she said. “Grow up!” she shouted at the group of guys carrying on.
“I guess some things never change,” I said.
“Well, now I’m thoroughly embarrassed,” she said. “I think the liquor is wearing off.”
