Shawn pulls me off of Alex, dragging me backwards off the dance floor. People stare at us, shooting us funny looks, but Shawn just ignores them. Clearly Alex and I's little show worked, but a little too well.
When we reach the end of the floor, the area less densely populated and there more breathing room, Shawn let's go of my waist and instead grabs onto my hand. He starts leading me away, but. second hand grabs onto my free hand from behind. I look behind me, and Alex is standing there with a giddy expression on her face.
"Where are you going?" she asks, and I remove her grip from my hand.
"Home." I respond curtly, looking at her uneasily. How is she so relaxed, so calm after what just happened? When I had to kiss Julia as a dare, I could barely even look at her for some time after that without feeling awkward.
"Oh, okay. Let me just get my stuff from-" she begins, but I shake my head and cut her off.
"No, we're going home." I say, gesturing to me and Shawn. "You and everyone else can stay here."
"Helaina, who are you talking to?" Shawn asks, noticing my voice for the first time. He stops walking and turns around, eyeing Alex.
"Just give me a minute." I tell him, and turn my attention back to Alex.
"I'm going to go call an Uber. Come outside when you're done." he says, walking out the door.
"You're being rude, Helaina." Alex says, crossing her arms in front of her chest defensively. The giddy, happy-go-lucky look she once had is now replaced by a hurt one.
"That's kind of what happens when you randomly kiss people!" I yell, letting my voice raise as high as it wants.
"You said you wanted to make Shawn jealous!" she yells back.
"Yeah, by dancing with you a little! Not with you suddenly trying to make out with me in front of him!" I scream, and her lips curl up into a thin line.
"Fine. Whatever." she says, and I begin to walk away. "I don't know who you expect me to hang out with now that you're gone."
"I don't give a fuck!" I scream, turning around. A few people look over at us. "Dance with Julia! She's the person that you invited you here. No offense, but I barely even know you Alex. I met you about two hours ago and frankly I don't give a fuck about what you do."
"I'm going to have to ask you to either keep your voice down or leave." a bouncer says, suddenly appearing at my side. I look up at him, and the room starts to sway. The music somehow turns louder, bumping so hard that it makes my ears hurt. For the first time tonight, I notice how drunk I am.
I look at Alex and say, "It's fine, I was just about to leave anyway."
I turn away and step for the door, pushing it open. I step outside, immediately spotting Shawn a few feet away sitting on a bench. I walk over and sit down next to him, and he doesn't even glance in my direction.
"The Uber should be here any minute." he says, staring out at the street.
"Shawn, I'm really sorry." I say, my words slurring slightly. I put my hand on his leg. "I didn't want to make you mad."
"Can we just be quiet?" he asks, removing my hand from his leg. He puts it down of the bench, and his words and motion sting a little. I nod even though he isn't looking at me, and we sit on the bench for a few minutes before a car pulls up in front of us. Shawn stands up wordlessly, and I follow him. He opens the car door, standing aside for me to get in. I do, and he follows in after me.
"Hi, you have the directions and address of the university, right?" Shawn asks the driver.
"Yeah, I do." he responds, and I see he's a man probably in his 20's.
The car starts moving forward, and I put my seatbelt on. The driver turns on the radio, and music starts playing through the speakers. I sit there and stare out the windows when I feel Shawn's hand rest on my leg. I look over at him, but he's staring out the window himself. I decide to do what he did to me before and remove his hand, putting it back on the seat. I sit there for a few seconds, watching him and his hand before looking back out the window. The moment I do, his hand goes right back to my leg, only this time, it's on my upper thigh.
I sigh heavily, and Shawn's hand creeps up further. Going in between my thighs, Shawn begins to rub circles into my inner thigh. The contact feels good, but I have to remind myself that we're in an Uber with a stranger, not his or my car where we can just pull over at any moment and go at it if we please.
I feel and hear my phone buzz in my purse, and it jolts me away from my impure thoughts. I pull it out of my bag, unlocking it and reading the messages from Julia.
J: You left?
J: Alex says you guys left
J: And that you kissed her?
J: Helaina, I'm confused. What's going on?
I feel my head buzz with annoyance, any and all of the pleasure Shawn was beginning to bring me quickly swept away.
"What the hell?" I exclaim aloud, and Shawn looks over at me.
"What?" he asks, suddenly interested. I just hold up my phone for him to read the messages Julia sent, and when he's done, he exclaims the same thing as me: "What the hell?"
"I'm so done." I mumble, more to myself than to him. I begin to text Julia back.
H: wtf, no i didn't
H: ALEX is the one who kissed ME
J: Well that's not what she said
J: She's pretty angry
H: no offense jules, but this is killing my buzz
H: i'll talk to you tomorrow
I put my phone on Do Not Disturb and slide it back into my purse. I sigh in annoyance and look back out the window.
"You okay?" Shawn asks, and I just nod.
A few minutes pass, and Shawn's hand creeps back up my leg. He starts rubbing my inner thigh again, before his hand shoots up higher and starts rubbing me through my jeans. I bite my lip, trying not to moan. I look over at Shawn.
"What are you doing?" I whisper to him.
"Looking out the window." he says, but I can hear the smirk to his tone.
Shawn's hand goes up higher, unbuttoning my jeans. My hands shoot down and grab ahold of his hand, stopping him. I stare at him, and he doesn't look back.
"Shawn." I whisper. He doesn't respond. "Shawn!"
"Yeah babygirl?" he asks, looking at me. The familiar look of lust has taken over his face, and he licks his lips as he looks at me.
"Stop." I say quietly, but there's no command to my tone. It comes out more like a suggestion, but before Shawn has the chance to react, the car stops. I throw his hand away from me and fix my jeans as the driver turns around.
"Here, keep the change." Shawn says, putting the money in his hand. He throws open the door and quickly pushes me out of it, shuffling out behind me. Shawn closes the door and the Uber drives off, and Shawn immediately leans in and begins to kiss me.
His lips attack mine, biting down on my bottom lip and pushing his tongue inside my mouth. Like always, my hands go up to his hair and tug on the roots. Shawn slaps my ass, his mouth leaving mine and kissing up and down my jawline.
"Can we go somewhere?" I ask.
"We're right by the frat house." he says, picking me up and beginning to carry me. I wrap my legs around his waist, Shawn continuing to kiss me as he walks.
We make it back to the frat house in less than five minutes, the house pumping with music and voices. They're having another party.
"Shit. I forgot about the party." he says, putting me back down on the ground. "Do you want to go someplace else?"
I shake my head.
"My dorm is too far. Besides, it was fine last night." I say. "Let's just go inside."
Shawn grabs ahold of my hand, leading me inside the house. We head upstairs, practically running to his bedroom. Shawn pulls out a key and unlocks it, throwing open the door and yanking me inside.