SKY
We each ordered one more drink, but I barely touched mine. I’d already had enough, and even after eating, my head was still swimming in an alcohol-induced pool. Chad was having trouble staying upright. He wobbled in his chair, clearly unbalanced and inebriated beyond a simple buzz.
“Do you need help getting up to your room?” River asked, but Chad shoved him away. Anytime River touched him, Chad swatted at his hand.
“Stop touching me. I don’t need your help. I’ll take hers though,” Chad said, staring right at me with eyes that were half-closed. I wasn’t even sure how he could see at this point.
“My help?” I stuttered, clearly shocked and a little scared.
I did not want to be the one to help Chad to his room.
“Come on, Sky, baby.” Chad tried to sound charming, but he was wasted and getting sloppier by the second. “Take me to my room. I’ll make it worth your while. Multiple times. I can get you ice cream.”
Things were definitely starting to spiral, and I took it as my cue to go so I could finally take that bath I’d been dreaming about since we had first gotten here. I gestured toward Raul that I’d like to take my pizza to my room, and he gave me a nod in understanding before quickly disappearing. He couldn’t come back with a box fast enough.
“Sky, come on. Stay with me tonight.” Chad used both hands to push up from the table.
He took a stumbling step in my direction, but River was instantly there, blocking him from reaching me, like a wall made of muscle.
“Don’t,” River growled, his tone no longer joking or even friendly.
I’d never seen him so intense and focused. Whatever scene was happening in front of me, my body reacted to it like a live wire. I was instantly amped up and turned on. Protective River was sexy as hell, especially when I was the one he was defending. I’d never had a man stand up for me before. I wanted to jump on his back and ride him up to my room.
“She can speak for herself. Can’t you, Sky? Come on, baby. Just one night. No one told you to stay away from me. They only told you to stay away from him. He’s off-limits. I’m not.”
Chad tried to shove River out of the way but failed. River was almost a foot taller and was definitely stronger. The only way he’d get past River and reach me was if River allowed it.
And that definitely wasn’t happening.
River glanced over his shoulder, and his deep blue eyes looked almost pained, like he hated being put in this position. He was probably pissed that he was being forced to defend my honor.
“Touch Sky and you’ll regret it. Do you hear me? Are you listening?” River was questioning Chad, who kept trying to get around him. “Leave her the fuck alone, or we’re going to have a problem. Tell me you understand what I’m saying to you.” River was making a mockery of the guy, treating him like a little child, but honestly, Chad deserved it.
“What if she wants me to touch her?” Chad asked, his words still slurring.
“She doesn’t,” River answered for me.
“She hates you. Not me,” Chad continued to argue.
“She doesn’t hate me,” River snapped, and I huffed before being distracted by Raul.
He placed an empty to-go container in front of me, and I shoved my extra slices inside as quickly as I could.
“I’m going to head upstairs and call it a night,” I announced, desperate to get away from this situation.
I couldn’t leave the bar fast enough.
“I’ll walk you up,” River said forcefully.
It wasn’t a request, and I did not have a say in the matter.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Chad was trying to whisper to Carmella, but he was loud and too drunk to have any real volume control.
“That we should all go to bed?” she asked, and he laughed, patting her forearm with his hand as he sat back down in his chair.
“You’re funny,” he said with a grin. “But no. Those two are going to hook up and then lie to our faces about it tomorrow. If she’s not fucking me tonight, she’s definitely fucking him.”
My mouth dropped open, and my eyes instantly shot to River. I’d never seen him look so angry. His hands were balled into fists, and his jaw was clenched so tight that I thought I heard his teeth grinding. He was going to kill Chad. And I wasn’t sure that I’d blame him for it.
“Chad, I’ll politely ask you one time to shut your fucking mouth. I’m giving you a pass because you’re hammered, but it’s the only one you’ll get. Talk about Sky again, and it will be the last thing you do for this airline.”
“You can’t do that,” Chad huffed, his face turning even redder than before.
“I can. And I will,” River threatened before taking a menacing step toward Chad. “I dare you to fucking test me.”
River hovered, making sure that Chad didn’t move a muscle in my direction, before he added, “And you owe Sky an apology.”
Before I could argue or say it wasn’t necessary, Chad was stuttering, his words affected by the alcohol, his anger, and his embarrassment. He didn’t want to give me anything, least of all an apology.
“I’m sorry, Sky,” he said, his tone filled with anything but remorse.
He wasn’t sorry. But I didn’t care. I just wanted to get away from him. Chad’s level of drunkenness and behavior was unacceptable from a professional standpoint. If I wanted to, I could report him to management and make sure we never crossed paths again. He could get in a lot of trouble. Not for the drinking, but for the harassment. Our airline took that stuff very seriously.
“Let’s go.” River grabbed me by the arm and started to lead me away.
I shook out of his grip. “You don’t need to manhandle me.” I balanced the pizza in my other hand, trying not to drop it.
“Sorry,” he grumbled, and I could tell that he wasn’t even remotely okay with everything that had just occurred. He pressed the elevator button before facing me, his expression pained. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. I just …” So many thoughts were crashing together in my head, and even though I’d always hated River, the very last thing I was feeling right now was animosity. I was grateful he had been there.
The doors opened, and we stepped inside.
“Thank you for standing up for me.”
I watched as he pressed the button for the seventh floor, and my mind started imagining what else his fingers could do. They could touch my body, explore my curves, get tangled in my hair, plunge inside me, make me come.
“It was the right thing to do,” he said, almost nonchalant, like he would have done it for anyone and I wasn’t special. Maybe he would have. Maybe I wasn’t.
When the elevator dinged for our floor, he held the doors with one hand while I exited first. I stopped abruptly, and River almost ran into my back before I turned to face him. Without warning, I threw my free arm around his waist and buried my face in his chest. I was hugging River.
His strong body melted against mine as he bent down to cover me in a protective stance. I swore I heard him groan and not out of displeasure either. He liked touching me.
“You know, they also called him Half-Pint Chad,” I said with a smirk as I pushed away from him and tried to break the awkward scenario I’d just created by touching him so intimately.
“Because he’s short?”
“I think it was both. A dig at his height and the ice cream thing.”
River laughed as I finally started heading toward our rooms … which were next to each other … with an adjoining door between them. If I opened mine and he opened his …
Ugh! I admonished myself for even thinking those thoughts, so I tried to push them away. The guy did one nice, sexy, super-hot thing, and you throw your hatred out the window along with your pants? Think about Stacy and how much he hurt her.
Was River worth losing a girlfriend over?
Was any guy?
When I reached my door, River stood dangerously close to me, both of us holding our key cards in our hands, but neither one of us racing to get inside, like we had before. I could feel the heat penetrating from his body. I was supposed to hate him, but the feeling was eluding me. My hard shell toward him had cracked and was chipping away.
“Sky?” His voice hung in the air between us like a cloud.
“Uh-huh?” I mumbled in response, unsure of what he might say next.
“Maybe tomorrow, you can tell me who made you hate me so much.”
I blew out a soft laugh. “Well, I hate you a little less right now, if that counts for anything.”
He tried to close the gap between us, but I stepped back until I was pressed against the door. His arms encircled my body, holding me in place, and I couldn’t stop staring at his mouth.
Was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to?
Don’t do it.
Please do it.
Oh God.
“Well, I don’t hate you right now at all. I might even …” He paused, and I wanted to scream at him to finish the thought.
“Might even what?”
He shook his head, clearly content with driving me out of my mind. “Nah. It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m definitely starting to hate you again,” I said because I didn’t enjoy not getting my way.
He leaned down close to me, his lips brushing against my ear, and I swore my knees almost buckled on the spot. I held my breath as he spoke. “I know how to make you stop. Just tell me, Sky. Who said it?”
“I can’t,” I said, hoping my words weren’t as shaky as my body currently was.
“You can. It’s easy. Just tell me.”
“I can’t.” I swallowed hard, my resolve crumbling for no good reason other than his nearness.
I waffled between keeping the information to myself and giving him what he wanted. His thumb was under my chin, gently lifting my face so I could focus on those blue eyes that I suddenly didn’t find myself despising.
“Who did I upset, Sky?” He asked the question so softly that I couldn’t help but respond.
The name slipped out from under my tongue.
“Stacy.”
“Who the hell is Stacy?” His eyes pulled together as he shook his head and took a step away from my body, leaving me cold and empty.
I almost believed that he didn’t know who I was talking about. But that proved my point as to the kind of guy he was.
“Oh my God. See? This is why I have to hate you. Good night, River.”