CHAPTER 5

But on second thought, the drink I had just gulped down was hitting me harder than expected. A warm, fuzzy wave washed over me, making my head feel pleasantly light and my limbs a little heavier. Right now, the most pressing matter wasn’t playing relationship referee, it was the sudden, urgent need to pee.

I took one last glance down over the terrace railing, steadying myself with both hands as the world below tilted just a fraction. As suspected, Clarissa had already reached the cabana. She was standing there in front of him, her hands gesturing animatedly as they fell into conversation.

Heaven knows what she was spilling out to him. With a soft sigh, I turned around and pushed open the sliding glass doors that led from the terrace into the spacious living room area of the mansion. The air was thicker here, filled with a mix of cologne and weed . In one corner, a group of guys had taken over a large sectional sofa, controllers in hand as they battled it out in some intense video game, shouting trash talk.

Not far from them, a couple was wrapped up in each other on a plush armchair, kissing passionately as if the rest of the party didn’t exist. I navigated carefully through the crowd, weaving past clusters of people. I spotted the hallway leading to the bathroom and quickened my pace, silently praying there wouldn’t be a long line.

Sadly there was , so I had no other option than to explore the rest of this mansion,hopefully there could be another bathroom somewhere. I got into a private area of the house , there wasn’t anyone around the hallway. Still really pressed, I opened all the doors , and one of the bedroom doors was unlocked, so I jolted to its bathroom. I let out a long breath , my nerves relaxing as I peed. The music from the party became muffled behind the door, replaced by the faint hum of the air conditioner and the sound of my own unsteady breathing.

“Oh God,” I whispered to myself, as I grabbed a paper towel and dried my hands before taking a deep breath. I needed to slow down, before I embarrass myself . I stepped out of the bathroom, carefully controlling my movements. I tried to walk normally, as though the floor wasn’t shifting slightly beneath my heels. I hadn’t intended to get drunk, but with my desperate need to stop thinking about Jason, I had lost track of how much I’d actually consumed.

“How did you get into my bedroom?” A voice from behind me startled me so badly that I almost jumped out of my skin. I froze for a second before slowly turning around. The guy was sitting on his bed, watching me with an amused expression on his face. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, tall, broad-shouldered, shirtless. The lamplight traced the hard lines of his chest and the faint ridges of his abs. Dark hair slightly tousled, jaw sharp enough to cut glass, eyes that looked almost black in the low light.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I stammered, heat flooding my face. “There was a really long line, so I had to find this one. I didn’t realize anyone was in here.” He stared at me for a moment before shaking his head.

“Oh, no. You don’t need to apologize...” he said, getting up from the bed. I watched as he began walking towards me. One step. Then another. Deliberate and unhurried. I instinctively moved backward, till I felt the edge of a dresser press into the backs of my thighs. my eyes traveling up his intimidating height. He was much taller than I had expected, and the closer he came, the more nervous I became. Yet, strangely, I didn’t feel like running. He stopped directly in front of me.

For a moment, neither of us said anything. Then his hand lifted, his fingers brushing lightly through my hair. “I’ve been staring at you since you walked in with your friend,” he murmured. My breath caught.

“You’re...” His gaze drifted over my face, then lower, lingering on the way the thin fabric of my dress clung to my breasts, the soft swell of them rising with every nervous breath, then returning to mine. “...sexy. And breathtaking.” I felt heat rush to my face.

“Th...thanks,” I managed, the word coming out smaller than I intended. I lifted a hand to fuss with my hair, trying to look less flushed, less drunk, less like I was already imagining what those hands would feel like on the rest of me. Right now, it wasn’t only the alcohol making me feel dizzy. It was him too . His physique was the kind that made it difficult not to stare. His broad shoulders, defined chest, and confident posture made him look as though he had stepped straight out of the pages of a magazine. And somehow, despite how intimidating he looked, there was something incredibly magnetic about him.

Then there was his scent. Clean, and intoxicating. I looked up at him, and our eyes met. Neither of us looked away. His hand moved from my hair to my cheek, gently cupping my face, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth. My heart began pounding harder as he leaned closer , The next second his lips were on mine, tasting faintly of whatever he’d been drinking, I was kissing him back, my free hand coming up to rest against the solid heat of his bare chest .

He made a low, approving noise and deepened the kiss, tongue sweeping against mine as his other hand grabbed my waist and pulled me closer . My breasts pressed against the hard plane of his chest. The thin material of my dress did nothing to hide the way my nipples had already tightened. I could feel every inch of him, heat, muscle, the steady rise and fall of his breathing.

His hand at my waist slid lower, fingers splaying over the curve of my hip, then he was lifting me like I weighed nothing at all. Soft sheets met my back as he laid me down on the king-sized bed. He followed me down, bracing himself on one forearm so he didn’t crush me, but close enough that I could feel the heat of his body all along mine.

One of his hands drifted upward,as he cupped my breast through the dress squeezing, gently, testing the way it filled his palm. A soft moan slipped out of me before I could stop it, thumb brushing deliberately over the stiffened peak of my nipple through the fabric.