Page 81 of Breaking Free
“There,” Dominic says, pointing at the bar.
When we approach, a chorus ofHappy Birthdaysring out before Jay says, “Okay, shots!”
I snort, and everybody crowds the bar, ordering shots and putting them on their open tabs. There’s about six guys from the team, not including Jay and Dex, plus Ronan and Renzo, and Jay’s friends, Olivia and Bryant. We’re a pretty good sized group, so once we get our shots and a round of drinks ordered, we head away from the bar and find a table that’ll only fit five of us. Not many are planning to stay seated anyway, so it works out.
“To Trevor, the nicest guy I know,” Jay says, holding up his glass, his eyes dancing to everyone else. “No offense.”
Renzo rolls his eyes. “Happy birthday, man. Here’s to you. We all love you and hope you have the best fucking night you’ll never remember.”
“Fuck yeah!” a few people yell.
Everyone raises their shot glasses before swallowing down the liquid. The rum burns a path down my throat and warms my chest.
“I wish I could lick the taste of that rum from your tongue,” Dominic whispers as he reaches across me to grab his drink.
“You’re killing me,” I groan.
He smirks.
During the course of the next few hours, everyone takes their turn on the dancefloor or attempting to ride that damn mechanical bull. I laughed my ass off when Renzo’s cocky ass thought he would be able to hold on, but was thrown off several seconds in.
A few of the single guys have found girls to dance with, and I think Marcus actually left with someone already. I’m not a big dancer, but what am I gonna do? Dance with a girl I’m not interested in while Dominic watches? No thanks. He’s also kept off the dancefloor, even though I’ve noticed a guy in here watching him who’d be more than happy to take him for a spin.
“That fucking guy is still looking at you,” I say as we’re watching Jay attempt to ride the bull.
Dominic snorts, his head angling to the side to find who I’m talking about. “The one in the stripes?”
“Yep.”
He looks back at me, his lips pulled into a grin. “I’m not interested in him, though.”
I shake my head, fighting a smile. The more I drink, the more handsy I wanna be with him. I’ve had to force myself to leave his side, because otherwise people are gonna think it’s weird we’re so close all of a sudden.
Once Jay falls off the bull, he comes outside the pen, laughing. “I swear to God that guy turns that thing up on me more than anyone else.”
Dex laughs. “No he doesn’t.”
“Wanna head to Lily Pad soon?” he asks us.
I shrug. “Sure.”
“We’re going to Lily Pad?” Shea asks.
“Yeah.” Jay looks at his watch. “In half an hour or so. You guys don’t gotta come,” he says, aiming the statement at the straight guys on the team. “But some of us want to.”
“I don’t really care,” Shea says. “My girlfriend can’t come out tonight, and at a gay bar, at least there’s less of a chance for me to be stupid and fuck up my relationship.”
Liv chimes in. “Ugh. I hate men. How about you just not be stupid. You have to be around people who aren’t interested in you to not cheat?”
Jay laughs. “Less of a chance, so there’s still a chance you could be stupid at a gay bar. I mean, you are a lot of gay guys’ type,” he teases.
Shea flips everyone off before heading to the table.
The group gathers around the table, drinking the rest of our drinks while several of us order Ubers to take us to Lily Pad.
The guy in stripes approaches Dominic, and I watch from the other side of the circle, completely surprised at the balls he has to come up to him while he’s around so many of us.
Most people don’t notice, but my heart rate spikes as I watch him touch Dominic’s arm to get his attention. Dom’s eyes flash to mine briefly before he bends down a little to hear what the guy has to say.