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Chapter 13

The music is so loud I can feel the bass pounding through the floor against my feet, pulsating through my chest. I have a drink in my hand– my third, I think. Or maybe fourth? It doesn’t matter, because I am feeling more relaxed than I have in ages. Maybe ever. Between the alcohol and the amount of bodies in here, the chill that lingered on my skin from the night air outside has long since vanished, replaced by a flush of warmth. I am glad that the lights are low, apart from the strobe lights flashing, otherwise I am certain that flush would be showing in red splotches across my face.

The club is packed tonight. I am normally overwhelmed by crowds, but tonight I am excited to be out and among the throngs of people. It is invigorating. Not wanting to get felt up by some random guy, and not wanting to give Jason the wrong idea, I set down my now-empty drink and I pull Jamie out onto the dance floor with me, eager to release some of the energy pulsing through my body. I let go of my usual high-strung tendencies, and I begin to move my body with the music, not caring whether I look stupid or sexy as hell. I just let the beat move through me, letting go of all of the stress and tension I have been holding onto. Not just since moving here, but for the almost year that I was planning my escape from Andrew, and the three years before that I spent under his control, and the lifetime before that, bouncing from foster home to foster home. My entire life has been one shitshow after another, but tonight none of that matters. Tonight, it is just me, moving my body with the music, becoming the music.

As if matching my energy, the people who are surrounding me begin dancing even more wildly. I catch a glimpse of Jason between writhing bodies, making his way toward us from across the dance floor, with an odd look on his face, and I wonder how much he has had to drink. At least we took an Uber to get here, so we don’t have to worry about how we are getting home. Those thoughts are pushed from my mind as a random man begins dancing up against me, invading the blissful bubble that I have been in.

Uncomfortable being so close to a strange man, I take a few steps back from him, only to find myself bumping into another man that immediately starts grinding up on me. I step back from him as well, spinning around trying to find Jamie so I can get back to her. Faces flash around me with the rhythm of the flashing lights, but none of them are Jamie. Instantly on edge, I try to push through the wall of dancing bodies that seems to be encircling me, roughly in the direction that I saw Jason approaching from. I hope I can find him, and hopefully Jamie with him.

Luckily, I do find Jason. Jamie isn’t with him, though. She did mention on the way here that she was hoping to find someone to bring home with her tonight, so hopefully she is off living her best one-night-stand-finding life. I make my way to him, and he still has a slightly dazed look on his face. For a split second, I debate the benefits and risks of dancing with him. On the one hand, we are coworkers, and I need to be able to work with him without being awkward and embarrassed. On the other hand, he is definitely safer than some random guy, and I want to keep dancing. Plus, despite being a huge flirt, he seems to be harmless. Besides, judging by his glazed over eyes, he likely won’t remember this tomorrow anyway. Dancing with Jason it is.

I dance closer to him, and shift my body to face him fully. He mirrors my actions, but still keeps a respectable distance between us, somehow instinctively knowing that I don’t really like to be touched, especially by men. Reassured that I can fully enjoy dancing with Jason without any… unintended consequences, I relax once again and let myself sink back into the pulsing music.

Jason is a natural dance partner, and he moves with me as if he can sense what I am going to do next, and I love it. We sway together, and I tip my head back, almost euphoric at the sense of freedom I am experiencing, allowing myself to fully let go. Someone behind me bumps into me, causing me to stumble closer to Jason, my body pressing against his. He slides his hand around my lower back, and pulls me firmly against him, our bodies flush. I want to step back, but the people around us are so close there is nowhere to go. A flash of panic shoots through me, and a feeling of claustrophobia tightens my throat. I need to get out of here.

“I need some air,” I shout to Jason over the music. He seems like he is too far gone to acknowledge me, though, and he simply keeps dancing, our bodies still close.

I put my hands on his chest and press against his chest, putting a few inches of distance between us, which is really the most I can manage considering how close everyone else is to us. I realize I’m going to have to be somewhat aggressive if I am going to make it to the exit, so I step to the side, and press shoulder-first through the tightly-packed room. After making it a few feet, I realize that I must have been right in the center of the most crowded part of the dance floor, because the further away I get, the more dispersed the crowd seems to be. In fact, once I make it past that point, it is essentially a clear shot to the exit.

My head swirls, and I stumble a bit as I make it to the door. I grab onto the handle to steady myself, then press out into the night. The chilly air hits me in a wave, and I feel the prickle of goosebumps rising across my skin. The cold helps bring the fuzzy edges of my mind into sharper focus, and I take in my surroundings. I thought I was leaving through the front entrance, but apparently I was mistaken. I am in an alley on the side of the huge brick building. A city alley. Worst possible place for me to be at this time of night. Or is it morning now? I’m not sure.

I make my way towards the bright end of the alley as quickly as my unsteady legs will carry me, glancing over my shoulder repeatedly to make sure that I am alone, and not being stalked by some murderer who will land my name on a true crime podcast. The alley is blessedly empty, though, and I make my way to the corner and into the bright streetlights of the main road that the club sits on. As I round the corner, my eye catches something that makes me shrink back into the shadows of the alley. Or, rather, someone. I blink a few times, and peek around the corner to make sure my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me. My heart races, and nausea churns in my belly as I swear I see Andrew exiting the club, and heading in the direction opposite from me. I only saw his side profile, and now the back of his head as he heads away from me. I would know him anywhere, though. His walk, his stature, the cocky, untouchable way that he carries himself. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

My body goes into fight or flight… but unfortunately, I don’t fight or take flight. I simply freeze as I watch who I swear is my abuser shrinking in the distance. I am so focused on the now barely-visible figure that I don’t notice another man exiting the club, just twenty yards or so away from me. I don’t see him getting closer and closer to me until his wide chest blocks my line of sight, and I leap away from him with a high-pitched squeal of surprise, nearly twisting my ankle as I struggle to catch my balance.

“Whoa, whoa. I’m so sorry, Cambree. Are you okay? You look like you have seen a ghost.”

I shake myself out of my terrified stupor, and find myself looking up into the dark, gorgeous eyes of Caleb fucking Reed.

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