Rowdy(A Taboo Short)(3)

“Okay, Rowdy. It’ll be like having a big brother to keep me company,” she said with a tight voice. She patted my arm, and I grew pissed. The last thing I thought about was her as a sister, but of course she didn’t know that.

This night couldn’t get any better, and yet it couldn’t get any worse, could it?





Chapter Three




Cassandra

Friend

It was one word meant to be good, but when it came from Rowdy’s mouth in reference to me, it sucked.

It had been about an hour since he’d pushed that drunken loser away from me, and although I liked being beside Rowdy, even if we weren’t touching, or hell, even really talking. He smelled good too, like a mixture of the beer he drank and the dark and heady cologne on him. It was a weird combination but worked well.

I looked up at him and saw he was talking to a few guys from the gym. The house we were in was huge, and it was packed. I only saw a few guys I recognized from the gym. Everyone else was a stranger.

I also felt really underdressed, or maybe it was overdressed. Seeing as I had on a cardigan and a pair of jeans, and the majority of the female population had on barely-there shirts and skirts short enough to show off their toned bodies.

The music pumped through the house from speakers, but the rush of voices and conversation seemed to drown even that out. God, I wanted Rowdy so badly, and hearing him say we were friends hurt like a bitch. Although I wasn’t a fool and had known that already.

As I stared at him, took in the fact his six-foot-five frame was huge, muscular, and made me seem petite in comparison, I also noted he towered over pretty much every other guy here. Aside from the few fighters from the gym I saw at the party that were as big as Rowdy, everyone else seemed small in comparison.

My entire body heated at that thought, at the realization that this guy that I was so in love with could crush anyone without even a second thought. I lowered my gaze to his biceps, seeing the tattooed golden flesh flex slightly when he moved his arm. Continuing to lower my gaze to his forearm, I saw the thickness of his arm and hand, the visible veins that made him look so manly. Even though he wore a T-shirt and jeans, I could see the muscle definition and power coming from him.

If I had to sit here and be his “friend,” I needed a hell of a lot more to drink than this.

I downed the rest of my beer, set the empty bottle on a table, and walked the few feet to the cooler where the other cases of alcohol were. Then I turned around I saw Rowdy had his gaze transfixed on me. Walking back to him when he looked at me like that made me feel nervous, but in a good way. I downed half of this beer as well, already feeling a buzz as I was on my third beer but needing more of a disconnected feeling to get through this.

Or maybe I should just go home?

I could get drunk and call a cab, pass out, and forget about this night and what I really wanted to do with Rowdy.

What I really wanted to do was be in a room with him, living out the one thing I’d wanted to share with him for longer than I could remember ... my body. I finished off that beer, held up the empty bottle to him, and gestured toward the kitchen. He could follow me if he wanted, but I was getting something stronger.



Rowdy

Maybe I should have stopped her from drinking so much, but this was her life, and I was here to watch out for her. If she wanted to get trashed, I’d make sure she was safe at the party, and later on got home okay.

I followed her into the kitchen and stood behind her as she took two consecutive shots. I couldn’t help but feel amused at the disgusted look that covered her face when she swallowed that second shot.

“Damn,” she gasped out, and I started laughing. She was cute as much as she was fucking hot.

“Maybe you should take a step back from the alcohol until those kick in?” I might have said I’d let her do what she wanted, but I also felt very protective of her.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’m sure these will sneak up on me.”

I grinned and gestured for us to get out of the packed kitchen. There wasn’t anyone I wanted to hang out with at the party aside from the girl that was standing right beside me.

We chilled off to the side for about twenty minutes as some of the guys from the gym came up to talk to us. And then I noticed how she was acting. Cassandra braced a hand on the wall, her eyes appearing glossy, and her inhibitions down. She was talking to a girl I knew she probably didn’t know.

Cassandra was drunk. That was clear by the exaggerated motions she did with her hand, the smiles she gave this stranger, and the fact on any other day she wasn’t this outgoing.

I leaned in close and brushed a strand of hair off her shoulder. Fuck, that felt good. “You okay?” I asked. She turned and faced me, the scent of alcohol coming from her parted lips turning me on when it probably shouldn’t. I was buzzed but not getting drunk since I had to work out tomorrow afternoon.