The Bond That Built Us (5 page)

             
Our food comes and I can see MJ and Cara hungrily eying our plates. Tough shit, girls, you should have ordered something else. Aubrey eats all her tacos and even a taquito off of my platter.

             
“I think I’m in love,” I say to her.

             
She throws her head back and laughs. “Why?”

             
“Because you eat. And you made this little moaning sound when you first took a bite. It was hot, not gonna lie.”

             
After that comment, I notice Cara making sex noises when she eats a tortilla chip. How fucking obvious can a girl be? Instead of giving her the attention like she so blatantly demands, I keep my eyes on Aubrey. The sombrero on her head is tilted a little and I can see her eyes are glazed over already.

             
“How many margaritas have you had?” I ask her.

             
She looks down and chews on her lip in thought. Dirty things about what to do with that mouth flash in my head and when she says “three” I forget for a second what she was answering.

             
We finally make it to the club and the cover is only five dollars for guys, free for girls. The bouncer is huge, with biceps the size of a fucking bowling ball. I see Josh look at him like an idol. He wants to get that big for some dumbass reason. He first wanted to be a wrestler, then when he found out how it was all staged, he changed his mind. Now he is interested in weight competitions. When we get back he is starting with a new trainer for one at the end of March. In a way, this is his last hurrah before beer, cheeseburgers, and fried shit are void from his diet.

             
The music is blaring and a clusterfuck of people are littering around the bar and dance floor. Cara and MJ immediately go straight for the dance floor. Within two minutes they are on a small platform, grinding on each other. I notice a few guys below them, and one points up Cara’s dress and smiles.

             
For about an hour Josh, Aubrey and I stand near a cocktail table drinking while Cara and MJ dance like whores on top of the platform. I see Aubrey letting loose a little as she sways back and forth to the music. Even though everything is loud, I hear the sound of her drink being emptied through the straw. She looks down at her empty glass and frowns, then disappears toward the bar.

             
Aubrey somehow wiggles her way to the front of the bar and comes back within seconds, with two beers for us and a rum and coke for her. I pull out a twenty from my wallet and hand it to her but she waves it off and turns from me, sipping from her straw. I come up right behind her so my front is touching all of her backside.

             
“Take it or I’ll shove it down your dress,” I whisper in her ear. I feel her shiver and see goose bumps envelop her exposed skin. I can’t control the grin that tugs at my lips. I did that to her.

             
When she still doesn’t take it but steps forward just slightly so we aren’t touching anymore, I push harder. I enclose the distance once more and grab her elbow, turning her to face me. Her eyes are huge and she looks scared. I step forward so our bodies are touching from knee to stomach. I take my fingertips and lightly and slowly trace them down her neck and chest. Her chest rises and falls quickly from her sudden intake of breath. When my fingers trail just above her cleavage, where her dress begins, I take the bill and tuck it into her dress.

             
I take a couple steps back and smirk at her. She is stunned beyond movement at first, then anger takes over. She slams her drink onto the table, making the empties clank together and the salt shaker to tumble to the floor and roll away. Her lips are tight and in a scowl as she storms toward me. She reaches down and pulls the twenty out of her bra and wads it into a loose ball. I am not sure what she is going to do, but when she grabs hold of the waistband of my jeans I am actually shocked.

             
She yanks on my jeans and shoves the twenty down the front of my pants, lets go of the waistband, pats the front of my jeans in the right spot, smiles then walks away while scooping up her drink in the process. I don’t know whether to be turned on or pissed. Or both. Yeah, definitely both.

             
I see her sporadically on the dance floor, with guys and girls. Whenever I see a guy touching her I grit my teeth and have the urge to pick him up by his neck and throw him shot-put style. My blood boils and I swear I am about to turn green and become the Hulk.

             
I don’t even notice other girls. A few come up to me but I get so focused on making sure Aubrey is okay I ignore their persistence and they get pissy and walk away. Josh goes back and forth between dancing with MJ and standing at the table with me.

             
“Why don’t you go out there? If Aubrey won’t dance with you, Cara sure as fuck will.”

             
I contemplate it for only a second and down my beer. For added flare I slam the empty bottle down. The lights above move with the music and the pedestals that the girls are dancing on are glowing from within. A black light is on above the deejay, causing everyone that smiles around him to have glowing teeth. Some Skrillex song is playing from the speakers, making me forget I am in a foreign country and not a frat party.

             
On our way into the middle where the girls are, I get bumped and groped by numerous amounts of girls. I think I even get grabbed by a dude, but when I push forward faster the hands let go and I am too afraid to look back. Maybe looking back is the gay signal for ‘I accept your advances and am now playing hard-to-get… so come and get me.’ No thanks.

             
A dark-skinned girl comes out of nowhere and begins dancing with me. The way she is moving around I have no doubt that she is a professional. She deserves to be up on the pedestal, though there is no pole for her to work her magic. I grow bored with her quite quickly and slink my way further into the crowd until I come up beside Aubrey.

             
The glass in her hand is empty but she keeps holding it. Her hips are rolling around and as she moves her hair swings from side to side, the golden honey brown color looking almost purple in this lighting. As I look at her, I see a guy behind her. His hand is on her waist and he looks like a fucking creep. His t-shirt is a size too small and his khaki shorts have a huge stain on the front of them. He is eying her like he owns her. No fucking way dude.

             
When she flips her head to the side so I can see her face, I can see how uncomfortable she is. That is my cue to interfere. I step a few feet toward her and when she looks at me, a relieved grin spreads across her face.

             
She breaks loose of Creep and throws her arms around my neck. Some sweat from her temple drips slowly down the side of her face and I fight with all I have not to lick it off. Her hooded eyelids and goofy smile make her look a lot more drunk than the last time I saw her.

             
“Thanks, that guy was creepy,” she singsongs. I wrap an arm around her waist and look over at Creep, who has murder in his eyes. Just to drive the point, I kiss her cheek then her bare shoulder, never taking my eyes off of him.

             
Creep lunges forward, but his friends grab him and pull him the other direction but not before he looks at her and licks his lips seductively. I am glad Aubrey’s back was to him when he did thator she might have freaked.

             
I am acutely aware how close we are as we dance. She is clinging to me like I am keeping her up, which I very might well be. But then I wonder if it is because she thinks Creep is still behind her and she is keeping the show up. I bend my head down a little and whisper, “He is gone. Don’t worry, I got you.”

             
I feel her nod into the crook of my neck but she never lets go. I take a deep breath and can smell her sweat mixed in with her perfume. It makes me want to bend her over right here in front of everyone.

             
After two more songs, she loosens her grip and wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. “I think I’m ready to go,” she says. I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. It’s just barely past midnight. The club is open for another couple hours and I know MJ and Cara aren’t the type to leave early. They close clubs down every weekend.

             
“Okay, we can go.”

             
She snaps her head up at me and says, “You don’t have to go with me. Stay, I know you want to.”

             
“No, actually, I don’t. I’ve had enough to drink and I’m ready for bed.” I did kind of want to stay, but I had a feeling Creep was still keeping an eye out for her and I didn’t want to take any chances.

             
“Oh. Okay,” she nods and moves out of the throng of gyrating coeds. I find Josh on my way out and tell him we are going back to the villa. He winks at me and makes a perverted gesture with his mouth and hand.

             
“Dude, it’s not fucking like that. I hate you,” I sneer at him and walk out the front door where I saw Aubrey escape just a moment before. I peer up and down the street but don’t see her immediately. My heart jumps up into a frantic pace. She was just fucking here! Then I hear her.

             
“No!” She yells. I can hear the panic in her voice and it pulls me into defensive mode.

             
I run toward her frightened voice and see Creep pushing her up against the side of the building and holding her arms above her head. His lower half is pressed up against her and he’s moving his hips around like a pervert.

             
“You fuckin’ tease, just give me what I came here for an’ I’ll leave you alone!” He spits out in a funny accent.

             
I grab the back of his shirt and yank him off of her. He stumbles backward and falls on his ass. I take the opportunity to punch him square in the jaw. The back of his head slams onto the dirty ground and his eyes roll so the whites show almost completely.

             
“Never fucking touch her again, you sick fuck! She said no,” I yell at him. The enormous bouncer comes around the corner and grabs me so I don’t land another punch.

             
“Get the hell out of here!” He yells at me. He shoves me away from the building and cowers over me, begging me to fight back.

             
“Just let me get my girl and we’re leaving.” I’m breathing heavily from the adrenaline, punching someone felt good.

             
“No way in hell she’s going with you,” he seethes and stands between us.

             
“It’s okay, he’s my friend,” Aubrey interjects. “We were leaving and that guy attacked me. He was just defending me.” She delicately places her hand on his forearm, and I can tell her touch is soothing him. I know the feeling, bud.

             
The bouncer looks from her to me, to Creep who is slowly coming to on the ground, then back to me. “Sorry, man. I’d have let you get another hit in if I’d known.” With that he turns and walks back to the door, leaving Creep to fend for himself.

             
I take Aubrey’s hand and we walk together back to the villa. She is shaking profusely, and I wish I knew what to do to make her feel better. “You okay?” I ask, though I know she isn’t.

             
“Getting there. Thanks again. I owe you.”

             
“No, you don’t. It was no big deal.”

             
She scoffs. “Because you showed up it isn’t,” she mumbles under her breath. Then I realize what I stopped. He might have dragged her off somewhere. My imagination gets the best of me and before I know it, I am picturing Creep on top of her in his douche car with his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.

I stop walking and grab her by the shoulders. “Promise me you won’t go anywhere without someone else.”

“That’s just silly, Kellan-“

“No! I’m serious. There are some sick fucks out there who know exactly what they are doing. Just because you think it’s safe doesn’t mean it is. You were outside for, what, a minute before I was? And that guy grabbed you. What could have happened if I was just another minute late? Promise me, Aubrey.”
I shake her shoulders a little for added effect.

“I promise,”
she whispers, looking straight into my eyes.

“Thank you. Now let’s get you back.”
I begin walking and tuck her under my arm. I’m not sure why I’m so protective of her, I’ve let girls walk home alone all the time. And I am sure if it was Cara or MJ I’d let them wander by themselves, but for some messed up reason, I feel responsible for her. I don’t want anything to happen to her. If anything did, I would never be able to forgive myself.

We are both sitting on the couch soon after we get back, laughing about Josh’s facial expressions when he dances. Aubrey washed off all her makeup and her freckles are dominant on her face now. She has on a white tank top and blue shorts she had on earlier.