Spiralling Skywards: Falling (Contradictions #1) (4 page)

She turned her wrath back to Luke. “I love you, Luke Carter, but sometimes
you’re
a selfish prick, and
all
of the time, Melanie Thompson is a spiteful, deceitful whore. You need to wake up to both of those facts.” She took a deep breath before turning to Sarah and adding, “A drink is in order I think?”

“I think you’re right,” Sarah replied as Sasha grabbed her hand and steered them both towards the bar.

“Fuck me, is it wrong that she just gave me a hard-on?” All eyes turned to Dicklan.

“Deck, walk away while you still can. Walk far, far away,” Will told him without taking his eyes from Sarah’s arse as she made her way to the bar.

I was drunk.
Drinking and swearing were two things I wasn’t good at. I swore in my head, but when I said it aloud, it just didn’t seem to sound right.

Luckily, the alcohol didn’t affect my dance moves. I loved to dance, and after the disappointment I’d felt at my brother’s words earlier, I’d spent the rest of the night drinking, dancing, and swearing in my head a lot more than I normally would. If I were being honest, it wasn’t just my brother that had me all in a spin, it was Liam Delaney too.

I threw my head back and raised my hands in the air as the Scissor Sisters “Filthy/Gorgeous” began to play.

I was twenty-two years old, and I had managed to get to this stage of my life without ever having a man make me feel that way. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or disappointed by that fact. It was intense, and it made me feel both scared and euphoric at the same time.

I wasn’t naïve or stupid when it came to men, but I most definitely had very limited experience, which was entirely through choice. With just a stare, he’d had me feeling just a little out of control, and I didn’t like it. Or perhaps I did. I actually had no clue. I wasn’t a virgin, it was two thousand and six, not eighteen twenty-eight, but neither of Sasha or I had ever slept around. Sasha had a little bit more experience than I did, but that wasn’t really hard. I’d had sex, with actual men, exactly twice in my life. Twice, two times. Each time had been with a different person, but since both times were terrible, I gave up. I went out on dates, sometimes with the same person more than once, we kissed, and there may even have even been a little bit of boob rubbing and squeezing, but that was exactly where I made sure things ended.

I wasn’t a prude, and I most certainly wasn’t frigid, my rabbit was more than rampant and the batteries were replaced monthly, I’d just decided after my second awful encounter of the sexual kind to stay away until I met someone I actually wanted a relationship with.

One look. We’d shared just one look, and my whore of a little heart was offering herself up on a platter for him to devour. I was under no illusions that he would consume her whole.

Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” started to play, and Sasha slid her front up my back before she whispered in my ear, “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you for the last three songs.”

I turned around and faced her, held on to her shoulder with one hand, slid my knee between both of hers, arched my back, and ground my hips forward. When I straightened I asked, “Who?”

She slid her hands down over my waist and hips, bending her knees, and lowering herself to the floor as she did. We were putting on quite a show, and we both knew it. We were good girls, Sasha and I, off the dance floor that was.

“The hot as fuck Aussie,” Sasha said into my ear.

“What?” I asked. She stopped dancing and took a step back. Frowning, she looked all over my face.

“Are you pissed?” She sounded almost astonished.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe a lil, lil bit,” I told her with a smile.

“Good girl. Let’s get another drink.”

“Na, na, na, na. The hot Aussie, what were you saying about him?”

“He’s not taken his eyes off you for a while. He’s still watching you now, so make sure to brush past him on our way to the bar.”

My stomach churned. That man had me feeling all kinds of weird. He was most definitely as hot as fuck, but it wasn’t only that. It was the way he looked at me. When he did, I wasn’t just Sarah or Sunshine, I was more than that. He
saw
more than that. Each time it was as if he’d seen right through who I was to everyone else and just seemed to see
me
. I felt his stare touch me, like a gentle stroke or caress, each glance from him was how I imagined his lips might feel brushing across my skin.

I needed to stop drinking. My brain was talking shit to my whorey heart and giving her ideas.

I swallowed hard as I felt myself blush. Sasha, who was still holding my hand, didn’t notice as we manoeuvred ourselves off the dance floor and towards the bar.

“How ya goin’, ladies? Vodka tonic and a G and T. Both with ice and a slice. Figured you’d need those after the little performance you put on out there.”

Fuck me, that accent just made me, yeah, squeeze everything tight.

Luckily, I was already hot from dancing, hopefully the glow that had spread across my skin could be attributed to that too.

“Thank you,” I said quietly as Liam passed me my drink.

“Cheers, mate,” Sasha replied with a terrible Australian accent as she accepted her drink. “I’m just gonna get more ice for this,” she added, thankfully losing the accent, before turning and heading towards the bar.

I’d been full of confidence when I’d spoken to him earlier, I would have thought now that I was three sheets to the wind, I’d be even more so. We were in a crowd then, but now it was just me and him. My mouth felt dry, and my tongue felt fat, possibly due to the vodka I’d consumed and the tequila shots we’d necked earlier.

“So you live nearby? I know Luke said he stayed with you for a while when he first came home.”

I heard every word he said. My brain just didn’t seem to want to process their meaning.

“Hmm?” It was all I could manage in response, and then our eyes met and stayed met.

“You have the most amazing skin.” He shook his head as soon as the words were out but never took his eyes from mine. “I … that’s not a pick-up line or anything. I never say things like that to women … or blokes for that matter.” He laughed nervously. “No one in fact, not ever . . . but you do. Have amazing skin.”

I loved the way he fumbled over his words. I loved his accent. I especially loved the way he hadn’t taken his eyes from mine.

My heart beat loud and strong in my chest, painful but so fucking good. For so long I’d thought I’d never feel this. I knew it was out there, I was aware that it happened, but it had never happened for
me
, to
me
. Until now. Until Liam Delaney.

“Dance with me?” He held out his hand. “Please?”

I took it.

He laced the fingers of his left hand through those of my right and slid his other hand across my hip, resting it on my lower back. I slid my fingers up his arm before settling my hand on his shoulder.

“They are Aussies ya know?” he said into my ear. The sensation of his hot breath combined with the earthy smell of his aftershave caused goose bumps to erupt across my skin.

I assumed he was referring to Savage Garden. It was their song, “I knew I loved you” that we were currently swaying to.

“I did know,” I replied.

“I’m sorry if I made you feel awkward or nervous earlier. With what I said. About your skin I mean.”

I smiled and shook my head. “You didn’t, it’s fine.”

“That dimple you have is so fucking cute—” He pressed his lips together as if to physically stop himself from talking, but the moment he opened them again, he was swearing softly. “Shit, fuck. I’m sorry. Sorry. I’ll just shut up dance.”

I laughed. “Please don’t, you’re amazingly good for my ego.” It was his turn to smile. He had straight white teeth and his light blue eyes stood out against his tanned skin. He obviously spent a lot of time outdoors, the sun leaving his skin with a soft glow and crinkles around his eyes when he smiled, which he seemed to do often. I felt hot, too hot, and wondered if he could feel the heat of my body as I was pressed against his.

“Yeah? You’re good with me telling you that shit?” The smile must’ve fallen from my face because his disappeared too.

“What you’re telling me is shit?”

“No! Oh no, no, no. What I’m telling you is so
not
shit. There is so much more I would like to tell you, none of which is shit . . .”

“Go on then.”

His smile was back, and it almost knocked the air from my lungs when it combined with his sparkling blue eyed stare.

“Yeah? You sure you wanna hear more of my shit?”

“Absolutely.”

He let go of my hand, slid both of his up over my hips, waist, and ribs before lifting my bare arms and placing them around the back of his neck. He rested both of his hands on the top of my arse cheeks and pulled me into him. I looked down, already knowing the view that would greet me. With my arms raised and my chest pushed against his, my boobs were spilling over the top of my corset.

“Fuck, you have the most fantastic rack . . . tits, boobs, I mean boobs. Shit, please don’t ever tell your brother I said that.”

We both laughed before falling into a comfortable silence as we danced to Alicia Keys’s “If I Ain’t Got You”.

My head rested against his chest, and as I listened to the slow steady rhythm of his heart beat, mine slowed in sync with his. My thoughts were random and drifting deliciously around in my head, my feet felt like they were floating on air, and I could
not
wipe the smile from my face. I felt happy, peaceful. I’d maybe even push it as far as serene. The sensation of his arms around me, his breath in my ear, combined with the music and the vodka in my system, all added to the moment. Our moment.

The song ended, and I felt unsure of what to do. Were three dances with the same man too many?

“You mind taking your hands of my sister’s arse and letting me cut in there please, mate.”

It wasn’t a request from my brother. It was an order.

“I’ll get us another drink. Come find me,” Liam whispered into my ear whilst squeezing me a little tighter before letting me go.

“Seriously, dude?” I looked up at my brother as he addressed Liam with his eyebrows raised.

“Fuck you, bro, it was just a dance.” My heart landed with a splatter somewhere in my belly.

Just
a dance? Did he not
feel
that?

Liam winked at me over my brother’s shoulder, gave me his crinkle-eyed smile, and gestured towards the bar with his chin.

My heart regrouped and swam happily and effortlessly up through my insides like a mermaid, a beautiful smiley, sparkly tailed mermaid, taking up its rightful place in my chest, before picking up its happy euphoric rhythm.

He felt it.

“Yeah, make sure it stays that way too. Just a dance, next time without your hands on her arse.” Liam shook his head at my brother’s words while walking away.

Luke wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. Shanice’s “I Love Your Smile” was playing. It was too fast to slow dance to but that wasn’t a problem for Luke and I we had the moves covered.

Despite the fact that I had never had any formal dance training, I had always loved to dance. Sasha shares my love, but before she was around, when I was younger, it was always Luke that I made practice with me. Since he was the perfectly obliging big brother that he was, he never said no.

He twirled me around and away from him before pulling me back in.

“I’m sorry,” he said into my ear. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I’m drunk. It’s no excuse, but it’s all I’ve got right now.” He paused and looked down at me. “I’m sorry, Sunshine. I fucked up. It started as a business meeting, and we ended up in bed. It was nothing more than closure, I promise.”

I looked up into my brother’s handsome face as he spoke. Melanie Thompson was about the only thing we ever argued about. Well that and his overprotectiveness.

“You’re an idiot.”

“I know. That’s exactly why I snapped at you earlier. I’m pissed off with myself, not with you.”

He kissed the top of my head again. “Thanks for this, for tonight. I can’t believe you and Will managed to keep it a secret from me.”

“It wasn’t hard.” I shrugged. “You’ve been so busy setting things up for the new business that you weren’t paying much attention to anything else going on around you.”

The song ended, I took my brother’s hand, and steered him off the dance floor. I loved him, but now that his apology had been delivered and accepted, I wanted to go find Liam.

“Just watch yourself with her Luke. I’ve no clue what business dealings you have going on with her, but just watch yourself, yeah? Mel was a liar and a cheat as a girlfriend so be under no illusions that she’d behave any differently in any other aspects of her life.”