The Damage is Done

Ch. 7: Life of the Party

We pulled up to a club on a street crowded with bodies. There was a line from the entrance that wrapped around the block and a large, intimidating bouncer standing with his arms crossed at the door. Dom parked in a parking lot right across the busy street and we all got out of the car and began walking. I started toward the end of the long line but was pulled back by my elbow. I looked down at my arm and saw the strong hand holding me in place. My eyes slowly traveled up the muscular arm until I met Dom's icy blue eyes.

"We don't have to wait in line," he says quietly, his eyes burning into mine. For some reason they always did that. My eye contact with him was different that eye contact with everyone else. It didn't matter how simple his words were, his eyes always seemed to hold too much passion.

I finally pulled my eyes away from his and noticed the other guys heading straight towards the door and the bouncer. "Oh," I said stupidly. "Why?"

He released my arm and started moving in the direction of the rest of our group. I watched the muscles in his back straining against his shirt for a moment before snapping out of it and jogging to catch up to him. "The Hellhounds own the place," he said simply. I should've known.

The bouncer nodded at Dom as we approached and let us through. Blaze, Joshua, and Jared were waiting for us just inside. "Did you get lost?" Jared joked.

"Shh, it's my birthday, don't make fun of me," I smiled at him and he put his hands up in defense.

"You're right, birthday girl, lead the way," he said while pointing towards a doorway that was shining with the lights coming from the club.

I walked into the large, open room that was flooded with moving bodies and spinning lights with the boys hot on my tail. A few people turned and looked at us as we walked in, mostly female, and started whispering to each other. I rolled my eyes at the attention, but I couldn't really blame them. The guys were all very attractive, Dom especially, with his muscular build, dark, messy hair, square jaw covered in stubble, and strikingly light blue eyes. Definitely worth the whispers.

We all sat down in a circular booth along the far wall of the club and they guys ordered us all shots. "I've never been drunk before," I tell them as a warning.

Blaze laughed at me and slid a small shot glass across the table towards my hands. "It's fun as long as you don't do anything too stupid," he said.

"Actually, it's not fun unless  you do something stupid," Joshua argued and his brother nodded his head in agreement. The three of them downed their shots and looked at me expectantly. I hesitantly lifted my glass to my face. Their eyes were urging me to continue.

My thoughts drifted back to my plan of at least kissing someone tonight, maybe more if it felt right, and I downed the bitter liquid. They cheered while I coughed from the burn in my chest. "Oh God," I said. "What the fuck was that?"

"Fireball," Jared said while passing me another. "A couple more of these and you'll be ready to dance."

~*~

He wasn't wrong.

A few shots later, Blaze, the twins, and I were all out on the dancefloor. Dom was still seated at the booth, keeping a watchful eye on us as he drank slowly from his glass of water. I involuntarily glanced over at him every once in a while, and every time, without fail, his eyes connected with mine and sent a shiver down my spine.

Blaze and Joshua both found willing girls to dance with them and I was spinning around in Jared's arms, laughing as we both almost fell, when a guy walked up behind me and cut in. All of a sudden I was dancing with this new person and I turned to try to find Jared again but he was already distracted by a scantily clad blonde. I focused on the new guy again. He was handsome. His broad shoulders and blonde hair gave off the "varsity athlete" vibe, which isn't usually my type, but he seemed to like me so I decided to go with it.