“I’ve had enough. I can’t dance any more.”

Halle’s mouth, shiny with gloss, turned down in a pout. “It’s only midnight!” she shouted over the music.

Midnight in this club was like four in the morning for me anywhere else.

Halle, Tom and Jordan had formed a cabal to convince me that I needed to be introduced to the club scene. I think they thought parties were banned at my college or something, since it was in the Midwest. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I was actually excited to go dancing. When Halle came to pick me up, though, my enthusiasm waned when Nathan said he’d pass.

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” I heard her ask as I was finishing my makeup. I froze, mascara wand in hand and perilously close to my eye, waiting for his response.

“Where exactly are you going?”

Great. Like he’s my father. Thanks, Dad. I didn’t hear Halle’s answer, but the scowl on my boyfriend’s face deepened when I made my appearance.

His gaze floated over me, tickling all my nerve endings, but never landed anywhere long enough to scratch the itch. “You look…”

“Hot,” Halle said with an approving nod. I wore a black top and a plain black skirt, but they hugged the right places, and made my skin look like ivory and my hair bright and warm.

Thankfully my blush spreading down my chest wasn’t visible, thanks to the high cut neck of my top. Nathan’s face screwed up in a strange expression, like reluctant admiration mixed with guilt. The heat in his eyes put me off-balance in the best way.

There was only so far I would fall for Nathan tonight, however. Having learned the hard way on the Fourth, I was smart enough to put on ballet flats. When I turned around to grab a wristlet with my ID, phone and cash, I heard a low growl.

“I think you forgot the rest of your shirt,” Nathan ground out.

I fluttered my recently curled and darkened eyelashes at him. “I did? My bad.” I winked at his obvious discomfort. His reaction to my outfit concerned him more than it concerned me.

From the front, my top was sleeveless but primly went up to my neck. But there wasn’t much to the back, just a couple of strategic ties crossing over my back. I wasn’t so naïve not to expect the adult version of the bra-strap snapping that was so charming in early adolescence. Nope, those suckers holding my shirt together were so tight they were practically Gordian-knotted.

“We gotta bounce, Zoe! The guys are waiting for us in line already.”

Halle’s long blonde hair was twisted up on her head, and the sparkly dress she wore was almost the same color as her skin. She looked like sunshine. Next to her, I looked like I was headed to a funeral. Well, from the front, anyhow.

“Guys?” Nathan repeated.

“Jordan and Tom,” Halle explained to Nathan. I glared at her. Shut the fuck up!

“Tom? Halle, will you excuse us a moment?” Without waiting for a reply, he cupped my elbow and guided me into the bedroom.

“Don’t mess up her face!” my friend called out.

“It’s not her face I want to mess up,” Nathan grumbled under his breath.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Seriously, Nathan? You’re going to be jealous? And don’t give me that whole ‘I trust you but I don’t trust him’ bullshit. You know I wouldn’t let anything bad happen.”

He caressed my face, an indulgent smile on his own. “Zoe, bad things happen even when you don’t let them.”

Spoken like a true, jaded New Yorker. I huffed at him. I knew he was just watching out for me, but it felt—

“And I’m not being condescending—I’m being realistic.”

“Well, realistically speaking, I did manage to get through college without anyone spiking my drink or dragging me into a dark corner to molest me,” I pointed out.

His sigh rumbled against my chest when he pulled me into his arms. “Just remember, don’t take anything, go anywhere alone with anybody, touch anything—”

“Talk to anybody, eat or drink anything, blah blah blah. Are you going to give me a oxygen tank to take with me so you know that the air I breathe is sa—ow!” I rubbed my ass where he’d given it a vicious pinch and pulled away.

“Are you not wearing a bra?”

“Nathan!” I grabbed his hands, trying to get his attention off my boobs and back on my face. “Trust me, please. I’m a big girl.”

“Text me at the top of every hour.”

I rolled my eyes, pivoting on one heel to return to where my friend waited by the door. Feeling his intense gaze on my bare spine made my nipples hard, but I managed to suppress a shiver.

“I’m serious, Zoe,” he warned behind me.

Halle looped her arm through mine. “I’ll take very good care of her, sir. I’ll never let her out of my sight and I’ll have her home from the ice cream social before midnight.”

“Brat.”

Halle mouthed to me, “So hot.”

I sighed. “Oh, for fuck’s sakes. Let’s go.” She let go of my arm in order to get the door.

Nathan still wore a frown, which only eased a little bit when I put my arms around his neck. “I promise, I’ll be fine.” My head lolled back as his fingers trailed up my back. Then they skimmed down again and reached under the waistband of my skirt. “Oh god.”

“Well, at least you’re wearing panties. I still want you to text me,” he ordered as he lowered his mouth to mine.

I barely got my promise out before he sucked the breath from my body. His tongue swept possessively over mine, obliterating whatever smart-ass remark I was going to make. Oh, how I wished I could stay home and molest him in a dark corner, instead of going out dancing. But Halle was difficult to turn down, nor should I have to give up my friends for my... Nathan.

“Good night, big brother,” I teased him on my way out the door. Halle grumbled something about my lipstick now needing to be touched up.

“Text me.”

“What if I forget?” I called out, my voice bouncing off the walls of the hallway.

He leaned against the doorway, watching us walk away, but there was nothing casual about his body language. Nathan was tall, taut, and tempting. I winked at him one more time before punching the button for the elevator.

“Don’t test me.”

Now, a few hours later, it occurred to me that I had forgotten to check in at eleven. I’d sent him a couple of goofy (and sexy) selfies earlier, but the noise made it impossible to hear any ring tones or alerts coming from my phone. I took it out of the wristlet chafing my skin to check—oh shit, four texts and two missed calls. All from Nathan, and increasingly concerned.

I performed some truly stellar mime for Halle and Jordan, indicating that I needed to sit one out and use my phone. Tom was somewhere over by the bar, getting another round of drinks. I hoped he was grabbing water bottles, as well. When I looked around for him, I was surprised to find him on a couch in the corner.

Limping over to him, I realized just how hot and tired I was. It turned out that ballet flats were just as painful as heels after dancing in them for a couple of hours.

“Bottle service,” Tom announced proudly, stretching his arms over the back of the couch like he was a rock star.

Please let him mean water bottles. Nope, there was vodka and tequila—nothing zero proof. I sat down beside him with a sigh, practically panting from thirst now. His arm fell off the couch and onto my shoulder.

Real smooth.

Delicately, I shifted forward to make a show out of admiring the bottles. “Nice.”

“That’s how I roll.”

Douche. I rubbed the red marks on my arm after taking off my wristlet. It wasn’t any worse than being tied up by my boyfriend. Actually, he was much gentler. Note to self: find a small purse with a silk scarf loop.

I was so thirsty that I accepted a vodka shot. It wasn’t the first mistake I’d made this evening, but I hoped it would be one of my last. My head spinning a little from fatigue and booze, I read and re-read Nathan’s texts. I was so distracted by them that I barely noticed Tom’s finger faintly tracing my shoulder blade. He was like a mosquito I was going to have to swat away before the whining got too loud in my ear.

-You missed the deadline. Where are you?

-Answer me. I’m worried.

-WTF Zoe pls

I didn’t even bother trying to listen to his voice mails. The chances were good I wouldn’t be able to hear him yelling over the ambient Saturday night noise.

As both my thumbs and my brain twiddled over how to respond, what I did hear over the din was Tom saying “Oh, shit. Your brother’s here.”