After a few minutes of making out so hard our lips started swelling, he chuckled. “We don’t want this to get carried away,” he said, grinning behind his next kiss. I smiled, melting some more, and then nodded, climbing out of his arms.
Just as we’d turned for the stairs, thumping music came from outside. The bonfire was bright, enormous, and a few people were already sitting around it with drinks in hand. Two girls were on Montana’s lap, another sitting beside him with her arm draped around his waist. All three of them were giggling at him, rubbing up and down his chest, his arms, and his face. He seemed to really love the attention.
Roy sat in front of the fire, taking long draws from his beer as he stared ahead. A few girls tried to brush against him, but he would frown at them and move away. Fortunately, the girls didn’t pay much attention to it; otherwise, they would have taken offense. Deed stood with a group of people, including Cal, who was leisurely talking to a blonde with plump red lips and heavily mascaraed eyelashes. When the hell did Cal get here? He literally came out of nowhere.
“I’ll go get us some drinks,” Gage murmured into my ear.
I nodded, watching him walk toward a cooler near the fire. He gave a quick shout at Montana who grinned lazily, pointing at his crotch and then the three girls. Gage laughed and then went to talk to Roy briefly. I watched the entire time, waiting on his return, but then someone appeared behind him that I wasn’t expecting at all. I could hear her annoying voice all the way by the door as she stood on her toes and covered his eyes. She was smiling eagerly, ready to surprise him.
“Guess who,” she squeaked.
The corners of Gage’s mouth turned down instantly and then he spun around, removing her hands. “Penelope?” he said, raising an eyebrow, his voice not as pleasant as the smile he forced.
“Yeah!” she squealed, hooking her arms around his waist and climbing into his arms. She kissed him passionately and Gage slowly wrapped his arms around her. “You didn’t miss me?” she asked, pouting her bottom lip. “I sure as hell missed you.”
Ice crawled down my spine, the hairs on my back rising at the sight of her all over him.
“Uh… yeah, babe. I missed you,” Gage said. The ice filled my stomach, ran along my back. Gage took a quick glance at me, his eyes pleading, but I shook my head. I had to let myself know we were only a fling. Nothing more. But why the hell was Penelope around? Did he invite her? Something about it irked my nerves, but instead of being a party-pooper, I walked toward them. Penelope saw me approaching and smiled wickedly. Her evil grin made me shudder, but I smiled at her politely.
“Hi, guys,” I said, my eyes swinging from hers to Gage’s. His pale face was warmed only by the flames of the fire flickering nearby, his jaw ticking.
“Eliza.” Penelope grinned, climbing out of his arms and facing me. “Oh my God, I love what you did to your hair!” she screeched, reaching to twirl a curly strand around her finger. I smiled, but on the inside I cringed, hating her voice. “What kind of conditioner do you use? I mix Suave and Wen. It works sooo good for me. Wanna feel mine?” she asked eagerly.
I bit my tongue. What I really wanted to tell her was to shut the fuck up, but I held off on my acidity. I had to play nice. She isn’t worth it, Eliza. I smiled sweetly at her as she took a step forward. “Sure.” I touched her dark, straight hair, pretending to enjoy the feel of it before pulling away. “It’s really soft and it smells good, too.” I lied.
She smiled smugly at the compliment and took a step back, lacing her fingers with Gage’s. I frowned at that, but she didn’t notice. Of course Gage did because his head tilted and his eyes were hard on me, still pleading.
I finally gave him the question with my eyes: Was he going to spend the rest of his night with her or me? I didn’t like competition, so it was up to him to decide. If he was to go with her, I was going to have to cut back on some of the flinging with him—possibly leaving it at just flirting.
The music got louder and Penelope squealed, pulling Gage in by his belt loop and grinning up at him. “Oh, babe! I love this song! We have to go dance.”
Rigidly, Gage ran a hand through his hair and, sighing, said, “Sure.”
What!? Was he serious? I scowled at him, taking a step back and turning my back to them. I stormed for the coolers, not daring to look back as I grabbed a beer. I popped the cap, took a long pull, but as I took another, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned to my right and Cal was sitting on a log, his smile amused as he watched me.
“Wanna sit with me?” he asked, patting the spot beside him. I blinked quickly, then took a glance over my shoulder at the crowd of dancing people by the bonfire. I spotted Gage with his head down, his focus on Penelope and her groove. She was dancing hard, his hands at her waist, his smile lazy as she looked over her shoulder to see if he was actually enjoying her. From what I saw, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.
I cringed but then remembered how upset Gage had gotten over me talking to Cal. At the wicked thoughts coming to mind, I grinned and leisurely took the seat on the log. I sat a little closer than he expected, but as my knee bumped against his, he only smiled.
“Having a rough night?” he asked.
“Nah.” I lied. “Just need some real fun, you know?”
He raised a brow, confused. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” I took another sip of my beer. I really didn’t know what the hell I was talking about. I was a blubbering, furious mess and I despised myself for it.
“Ohh! You mean ‘fun-fun?’” Cal asked, smiling at me.
I smiled, nodding slowly. “What exactly do you have in mind?”
Smirking, he finished his beer and placed his empty bottle down. I finished mine as well, but as I set the bottle down, Cal hooked his arm around me. “We can dance. It’s been a while since I have.”
I stilled, taking a glance at Gage again, but this time Penelope was in his arms, looking into his eyes with her arms locked around his neck. He was smiling down at her, his hand sneaking past her waist to most likely get to her ass. I looked at Cal before I could see him touch her there. “Sure, I’d love to.”
Eagerly, he brought me to my feet, his arm still around my waist and allowing me to walk ahead of him. I held on to his hand, leading him toward the crowd of dancing people. I didn’t want to dance near Gage, but I wanted to be somewhere he could see me. As soon as I found the perfect spot, I turned and faced Cal. His grin was goofy and wide, but I ignored his silliness and turned around again.
He placed both hands at my waist as I buried my ass into his groin. He stifled a groan, gripping me tight by the hips. The music had grown even louder with each dip, twist, shake, and grind. The crowd around the bonfire thickened and became sweatier, heavier. I opened my eyes slowly, allowing the back of my head to fall against Cal’s shoulder.
He was obviously getting turned on because something hard and thick poked against my backside. I smiled. It was amazing how much power a woman could have over a man’s body. And not only was I pleased by Cal’s hard-on, but I was thrilled to see that between the bouncing bodies, waving arms, and bobbing heads, Gage was watching me, a beer in his hand. His hazel eyes were rock-hard, boring holes right through me. A line was drawn between his eyebrows, and with each sip of beer he took, his grip seemed to tighten around his bottle. The ink on his arms stood out along with his tense muscles. He seemed almost deadly as the flames flickered across his face.
Penelope was no longer by his side but running off with a friend of hers to walk along the shore of the lake. I saw her as I looked away briefly before meeting Gage’s aggravated eyes again. With a ticking jaw, Gage turned his back to me and walked toward another crowd to busy himself.
Pleased by his annoyance, I turned in Cal’s arms and he stared down at me, his eyes glazed over with lust. He’d sweated out his perfect blond hair, but it was sexy as it hung on his forehead. His lips parted and he inched in, but I tilted my head, pressing the palm of my hand against his chest as my eyebrows stitched. Does he really think I’m going to kiss him?
“I’m gonna go grab another beer. Will you wait here for me?” I asked.
He blinked quickly, swallowing and then nodding his head. “Sure. Would you grab one for me, too?”
“Yeah,” I breathed, forcing a smile.
He smiled. “Don’t be too long, Eliza!”
I pushed through the crowd, taking a glance over my shoulder as a girl came up to Cal, grinning up at him. She grabbed his hand and started dancing on him. He didn’t object. Good. He was occupied with someone else. I needed to take a breather anyway. I needed to clear the fogginess in my brain.
I dug my hand into the cooler but frowned as I searched and searched only to find wine coolers. Shrugging, I grabbed one and downed it.
“Have fun?” a familiar, deep voice asked from behind me.
I frowned, spinning around quickly. Gage was staring at me, his head lowered, tilted, and his eyes darker than usual.
“I had a lot of fun, actually. Thanks for asking,” I said smartly. “Have fun breaking your promise?”
“I didn’t promise you anything,” he countered.