Chapter 4: Wild Freedom

Julien’s POV

Saturday Night

Eclipse Night Club

The club is jam-packed with people from UMD tonight. When I told Evie I would work tonight, she didn’t tell me some sorority had booked the whole place for a party. Now, I’m drowning in an ocean of half-naked college girls with no inhibitions.

I scan the room and my eyes are filled with hot pink lace and skimpy pieces of leather scattered everywhere. I’ve been here for three hours and this event shows no signs of cooling down anytime soon. I’ve kept myself behind the bar so far, but I've got a whole lot more time between me and the door than I would like.

I pop in my earplugs to keep from going deaf. The DJ is blasting everything possible from the past ten years. I zone out into clearing away empty glasses and swapping out empty liquor bottles. I felt like an old man. The crazy atmosphere was still foreign to me. I wasn’t even thirty yet, but there was something about the recklessness of people younger than me I never understood.

As I grab a highball glass from the bar I spot some redhead in a cotton candy pink see-through thing smashing her a*s into some guy’s pelvis. The guy has his cup in his teeth with his hands grabbing whatever he can reach. I feel the need to intervene, but one of my co-workers follows my stare and just shakes their head at me.

“Don’t even get involved man. These chicks are into that kinda sh*t nowadays. You’re more likely to get decked in the face than get a thank you.” He quipped.

I roll my eyes at the insanity in front of me and keep myself as busy as I can without having to get in too many people’s faces until my shift is over.

***

Cionna’s POV

I am never going out with Alexis again. There are more bodies in this club than in a graveyard. The music was pouring out of the speakers and I felt the bass in my chest. I clutched my white trench coat tightly over my body. I let Alexis shove me into a powder blue mesh off-the-shoulder bralette with matching lace panties, thigh-high stockings, and a lace choker.

My hair was in fluffy curls and layered around my face. Alexis did my makeup so my face was blushed, powdered, and painted. I told her to keep it simple, but she still put lash extensions on me. At least my lips only had clear gloss on them. I wasn’t big on high heels, so I wore some short, white, sweetheart heels to finish my outfit.

I felt so out of place under the flashing lights with guys ogling me through my coat. Alexis spotted me cringing and attempting to back out of the crowd. Grabbing me to her side, she walked us over to coat check and practically snatched my safety net off my body. The cool air of the club pricked the exposed areas of my skin. So this is what living was like huh?

Instantly, I was pulled off in a different direction with Lex as she clung to my arm tightly. My head swam as a blur of people passed us by. The next thing I know we’re in the center of the dance floor and I am ready to kill Alexis. I don’t dance. I definitely don’t dance in front of people, half-naked in the middle of a nightclub. I tried to slip from her vice grip, but she held tight and tried to show me some moves.

Cautiously, I begin to roll my body to the rhythmic pulse of the mix playing around me. Alexis beams at me as we dance together. I try to let my mind go blank and almost succeed until I feel hot hands on my hips shocking me back to reality. I jump at the foreign feeling and crash into Alexis. Catching herself, she looks over my shoulder to see an obviously tipsy frat boy giving me goo-goo eyes. My skin crawls as he stares at me. I turn to Lex so we can move somewhere else, to find her eye-f*cking frat boy.

Now thoroughly disgusted, I leave them to their “fun” and squeeze my way through the crowd to some kind of open space. I end up being shoved around until I wind up at the bar. I’m gonna need a drink if I'm gonna survive this night. I search for the nearest bartender and spot broad shoulders forced into a black shirt. I follow the bar until I'm close enough for him to hear me and yell.

“Oy! Can I get a shot of Tequila?!”

When he turns around, my jaw almost drops to the floor. He had glaciers for eyes, and long hair tucked into a messy ponytail. His lips looked perfect for biting. What was I thinking? I've seen hot guys before, but d*mn. I guess my face echoed my thoughts because the sinful smile that graced his face spoke volumes. He approached me and swiftly poured two shots of tequila. He slid one to me and kept the other. What surprised me the most was what he said.

“Do me the honor?!”

My words went missing when I heard the steamy silk that was his voice. I nodded like an idiot and together we threw back our tequila. Big mistake. I slide my shot glass back to him for a refill and he refills his as well. I raise an eyebrow at him to ask if he’s sure he wants to drink with me.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re meeting each other shot for shot. Now, the alcohol is starting to kick in and his sexy aura is teasing me. Despite me being dressed like a stripper, in my opinion, his eyes stayed on my face.

The way he stared at me made my whole body shiver. In between shots, I found out that his name was Julien and that he was from New York. He loved Jazz and working out, but best of all. He was single. I don’t know if it was me trying something new or the tequila loosening up my stress, but while talking to him, I wanted to live without thinking about how broken I was for once.

Before I could think too hard about it, my lips made contact with his. I melted into him, bracing myself on the bar and pushing my chest into the air. He was warm and tasted like the faintest drop of tequila. His scent was light and lofted up my nose. He smelled like a man. I felt his hand cup my chin and tilted my face to deepen our embrace. His tongue slid languidly over her lips until parting them and delving inside.

My tongue tangled with his in a hot passionate game of twister that filled me with a need I didn't know I had. A small moan brushed my sensitive lips and that’s when he pulled away. The loss of his heat took my breath with it. The lust on his face read like a Las Vegas sign, but I was whisked away into the crowd and the rest of the night was a dim memory.

Everything except his face was foggy.

‘What was his name again?’