Alecia looked around the dance floor, watching the couples grind next to each other, holding bottles of beer in the air. All the women wore dresses that clung to their curvy bodies, and showed slim thighs or too much cleavage. She must stick out like a sore thumb. People probably whispered that she was a child who had stumbled into a place for adults. Why did Ryder insist on this outfit? She could have at least worn a dress with a high neckline only showing a little chest that fell to the middle of her legs. Surely something that tame wouldn’t tamper with Sheila's mood. But, then again, the girl was temperamental.
Ryder banged his glass against Sheila's and Sheila yelled out ‘yeah right’ before they both took their shots. She swallowed, trying to cover the dryness of her mouth. A glass of water would be nice.
“Hey Ryder,” she said. He looked at her, but Sheila jumped off the stool and wrapped her arms around Ryder's waist.
“Take me dancing,” Sheila said, moving her hips in time with the music and smiling at him with that sultry sneer in her eyes.
He turned to Alecia and pointed a finger at her. “Don’t talk to anyone,” he said right before he took Sheila's hand and led her out to the dance floor.
Alecia fell back on the stool. Perhaps, she should just sit here and fold her hands, staring off into space since neither of them had a need for her presence.
Alecia ground her teeth together as Ryder placed his hands on Sheila's hips, drawing her near in the same way he did with her. He moved her hips in time with the music. She should drag him away from her and punch Sheila in one of her luminous blue eyes. Alecia took several deep breaths and exhaled. It was no use. Every part of her felt tense.
“Little out of place, aren’t you?” someone asked. She turned and looked at a werewolf man behind the bar who wiped a glass with a white towel. His curly brown hair was cropped short. Lightbrown eyes filled with a lightness focused on her. Her cheeks warmed. He was handsome with a lean face.
She nodded and then turned back around. Better not talk to him. That would upset The Alpha. He had given her strict orders. Sheila played with the back of Ryder's hair while he bit on the side of his bottom lip. He always bit his bottom lip when he wanted to have sex with her. He couldn’t be thinking about that with Sheila. There was no way those two were like siblings. More like rivals who wanted to sleep with each other. A tear slipped down her cheek. Maybe he was just acting. Please let him just be acting. She brushed away the tear and turned back to the man at the bar. “Yeah, I kind of am.”
The man pointed to Ryder and Sheila. “I’ve seen them here many times,” he said. “But I’ve never seen Hendrix bring another girl.”
“I am his fiancée.” She held up her hand and revealed the three-diamond ring.
“And you don’t mind that?” He raised his eyebrows and motioned his hand in their direction.
She looked at the dancing couple. Ryder sung the words of the song in Sheila's face.
“They’re like brother and sister,” she said.
The man nodded. “If I was going to marry you, I wouldn’t be dancing with another girl like that.” His eyes filled with a harshness as if he saw the injustice of the moment himself. He just didn’t understand. Things were complicated. Ryder was an Alpha, he came from power, money, and as he said, one had to play games in politics.
A thought flashed across her mind: I would never hold another girl like that. She closed her eyes to hold the tears in. “He has to keep her happy for his father,” she whispered.
“What’d you say?”
She faced the bar. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Want something? It’s on the house.”
Alecia bent her head to the side. Finally, someone wanted to take care of her needs. “Can I have a Coke?”
“Want a rum and Coke?”
“I’m not 21.”
“Ah, then one Coke.” The man chuckled and grabbed a hose. He sprayed Coke in a glass, dropped a cherry in it and then handed it to her.
Alecia took a long sip of the Coke, letting the bubbly liquid slip down her throat and cool the parchedness. She rarely chose soda, always preferring tea, but this drink soothed her. She took another long sip and focused on the bartender as he spoke with another customer. A gold chain with a ring dangled from his jean’s pocket. What could that ring mean? Was there someone he loved and wished to be with at the moment?
She heard feet behind her. Alecia looked down at the brown liquid of the Coke. Would the Alpha even notice if she didn’t say one word?
Ryder ordered two more shots. The bartender nodded and turned around to a line of bottles behind him. Alecia swirled the straw around in her drink and bumped the cherry up against the side of the glass. Ryder's fingers ran down the side of her face. Her cheeks tingled with his caress. She looked at him and smiled, but he turned his attention back to Sheila when the bartender set the drinks in front of them.
Sheila took her shot, set it down and then yelled out, “Hey sexy.”
The bartender stared at her stone cold, with a glare in his eyes. “A sex on the beach?”
Mr. Bartender probably had a thousand stories he would love to sell to a gossip
magazine.
“Yeah,” Sheila said as she licked her bottom lip.
The man’s mouth crinkled as he turned for a long line of bottles.
“Hey, Alecia,” she heard Sheila say. Alecia looked up. Sheila had her arms wrapped around Ryder's waist as she leaned her cheek against his chest. A glare filled his eyes.
“I’m going to steal him. Do you mind?” Sheila smirked.
Alecia turned back to the glass.
“Hey, I said something to you.” The taps of heels grew closer. Musk filled her nostrils at the same time well-manicured red nails tapped the bar.
“I don’t care,” she said.
“What? That I said something to you?”
“No, you can have him.” Alecia bit down on her straw, and took a long sip, but the cool drink tasted like acid at the moment.
“Want to dance, Ally?” Ryder asked.
She looked at Ryder who stared straight at her with his hands folded in front of his waist. His brows knitted. She shook her head and turned back to her drink. He walked over to the opposite side of her, bent to her ear and whispered, “Remember, you’re the one I love.”
“I’m fine.” She brushed him away.
He kissed her cheek and then asked the bartender for a dogfish.
“Let’s go dance,” Sheila said.
Ryder led Sheila to the dance floor, but focused over her head and kept about a foot between them. Sheila stepped closer to him, tilting her head to the side, but he just took a step back. The girl stopped moving her hips and said something to Ryder. He glanced in Alecia's direction before bending his head to the petite blonde in front of him, shaking his head.
Sheila turned from him and rushed back towards the bar. “This place blows tonight,” she said. She scooted in next to Alecia, but looked towards the dancing crowd. Ignoring her, Ryder grabbed his phone, pressed a button and put it back in his pocket. He turned to Sheila as he took Alecia's hand, resting both of their hands on her knee. Mike was by their side in a minute.
“Ryder, give me some money?” Alecia asked.
Ryder grabbed his wallet. “How much?”
She looked at the bartender who wiped the counter - his eyes focused on his task as beads of sweat dripped down his cheek. So many questions about him filtered through her mind. But she would never have a chance to ask. She could, though, leave him with a good impression of her instead of the shy girl jilted by her future husband. “Give me a hundred.”
He knit his brow as he handed her the money. She snapped it from his hand and walked over to the bartender.
“Hey, thanks for listening.” She handed him the money.
The bartender smiled. “You’re welcome. I hope he’s good to you.” He took the money and placed it in his pocket.
“He will be.” A heat crept over her cheeks as she turned back towards her small group. Maybe Ryder would wonder about the bartender and be more attentive the next time she was forced to go out with Sheila. He needed to know just what he could lose.