Jackasses.
The minute I reach the red velvet ropes quartering off the table, a drink is shoved into my hand.
“Took you long enough,” TJ yells.
Music thumps, making us have to lean in to speak. But Nate slaps my shoulder, pointing toward the half wall lined against the back of the booth.
“Bro…”
As I look, some girl with a smile that could stop traffic is lifted by security over the back, her feet landing on the shiny black seat of the booth.
Her eyes are bright and her hair a little wild. She looks like she’s been dancing all night. She’s got a bottle in her hand with a sparkler stuffed inside, spraying bright crackling streams of light into the air, creating a spotlight on her.
“Happy Fourth of July, bitches!” she screams, making everyone around her go wild.
Nate beelines for her as TJ hollers, and the DJ starts spinning more bass, calling everyone’s eyes to the sky.
TJ leans in, saying something I don’t hear, but I nod anyway because I can’t take my eyes off her. She’s winding her hips, her head thrashing back and forth as sparks shoot up into the sky behind her, exploding in the air.
Fuck.
“Who is that?” I thunder to TJ.
Bright pink rains down, crackling as it decorates the sky, but this chick doesn’t even look up. Why would she? She’s the main attraction. But whoever she is, she’s singing at the top of her lungs while holding the bottle in the air as more people cheer in celebration.
She’s in her own world. But I’m mesmerized.
I’m going to eat her the fuck up.
TJ taps my arm, and I make a considerate effort to look away. But she’s fucking something. When I finally do look, it’s directly into TJ’s smirking face.
“That’s your dibs… Her name is—”
“Mine.” I grin. “Her name is mine.”
TJ laughs, then nods. “It’s also Eleanor.”
I watch Eleanor climb onto Nate’s shoulders, high above the crowd. Rightfully so, because this girl is fucking hot.
She’s holding Nate’s hand, her other in the air holding the sparkler bottle toward the sky as more fireworks explode and the crowd cheers. TJ whistles toward the sky just as the beat drops, and everyone starts jumping, like a massive wave dipping in slow motion.
My brows pull together, not liking what I’m seeing because even though Nate grips her thigh as he joins the motion, bouncing with her on his shoulders, she lets go of his hand.
Nope. She’s going to fall.
I shove my drink into TJ’s hand as I barrel past him, cutting around the inside of the table. Eleanor holds the bottle higher, dancing with her arms, just as Nate falters and lets go of her leg.
That’s when it happens. In a split second.
She falls backward, losing her grip on the bottle, dropping it as she tumbles, headed for the floor. People around lunge, but instinct takes over all three of us.
Nate stops some guy from trying to push me out of the way, TJ’s hands reach for the catch, and I make the play.
The entire sky is lit, fireworks detonating one right after another as Eleanor stares up at me, held like a bride in my arms. Caught.
“I got the bottle.” TJ smirks as all the sparks begin dying out.
“And I got the girl.”
Eleanor’s head falls back, her laugh filling my ears before she slips her hand down my chest, pats it, and shrugs.
“This is a helluva way to ask for my number. But okay.”
I look down as she bites her bottom lip, so I wink, shifting her around so her legs wrap around my waist, palms laid gently on my shoulders.
“Crew,” I offer, our eyes locked.
“Eleanor.”
My head tilts.
“Drink? Then your number?”
Her brows raise.
“Shots… then, maybe.”
The highlight of my Friday night slides down my body before looking up between the three of us, setting her eyes on me, then Nate, before landing on TJ as she grins.
“Come on, fellas. Let’s have some fun.”
“Shots. Shots. Shots.”
Eleanor and I reach out, grab our respective tequilas, and gulp them back before snatching up lime wedges and sucking the juice.
She licks her lips, staring back at me.
“You’re more fun than I gave your assumed six-pack credit. I thought football players were all healthy and shit.”
“Limes are a fruit.”
My tongue darts out, feeling a piece of lime left behind before I draw it into my mouth and smirk. Because she’s staring at my lips again.
Damn, she’s as bad as a dude.
We’ve been doing this all night—flirting, bantering, and flirting some more. Down to fuck has been volleying between us like we’re playing for the championship at Wimbledon. Except on my side of the court, there are three of us playing to win. Not that we’re gaining any points. This fucking girl’s been running game since she showed up, and my balls are firmly in her hand.
“Where the fuck did you come from?” tumbles out of my mouth as I stare down at her.
“Does it matter?” she teases, blinking up at me as she licks the salt rim of her glass. “Cuz I bet you already know where I’d like to end up.”
Her eyes tick between me and then over to the guys before she grins.
A long, drawn-out “Fuck” rumbles in my chest as I tip my head back to the ceiling, simultaneously reaching for her waist.
Our eyes meet again as I pull her flush to me.
“You’re a fucking wild card, you know that?”
Nate comes around behind her, twisting his hand around her hair before gently tugging her head back as he lifts a bottle with a pour spout attached.
“Shot, hot stuff?” he offers, his eyes connecting with mine for a moment before he smiles down at her.
Eleanor licks her lips before she leans further back and opens her mouth.
My fingers dig into her hips, keeping her pressed against me as my bottom lip draws between my teeth, then slides out slowly, my eyes never leaving her. Nate lifts the bottle and pours the liquid directly down her throat.
Goddamn, the dirty shit I’m going to do to you tonight.
The minute he’s done, she says, “Lime,” before swiping her fingers under her bottom lip. TJ holds it up, wiggling it between his fingers.
“Come and get it, sweet thang,” he drawls from beside her, but something about how she’s corralled us in around her makes me impatient.
Fuck flirting. I want her. Now.
The last thing I hear is “Oh damn” before I steal the lime, suck the juice, and seal my lips right over hers.
Nothing about Eleanor backs down or even fucking hesitates.
Her tongue dives inside my mouth as my palms cup her face. I’m hovering over her, the tips of my fingers touched by the dampness just underneath her hair from the balmy night.
Music bounds around us, and I can feel her chest rising and falling quickly because neither of us can get enough. We stumble as her fingers crawl up my back, the taste of tequila and lime bleeding between us, maybe making us drunker, but it really only serves to make me want to taste every fucking inch of her.
I suck her bottom lip between mine, letting it glide out before I dive back in, dipping my tongue inside her warm mouth again.
She moans. And my fucking dick twitches.
Goddamn, that was hot. More.