Crash Into Me

Ryder turned around, scanned the crowd near where Jamison was dancing. Sure enough, his drummer and keyboardist had ditched the women they’d been hanging with and had started dancing with Jamison instead. It should have made him feel better, did make him feel better. At least until the music changed to a slow song and she threw her arms around Quinn’s neck and whispered in his ear.

Quinn laughed at whatever she told him, then settled his hands on her waist and pulled her close. Too close, in Ryder’s opinion, but a glance at Jared—who was totally relaxed as he nursed a beer—told him he might be overreacting a little. The knowledge did nothing to cool his blood, or the sudden urge he had to break his bandmate’s fingers. Who cared if they were at the beginning of a worldwide tour? The guy didn’t actually need his fingers to play the keyboard, did he?

Feeling like an idiot for being so overprotective, yet unable to do anything about it, Ryder turned to the bartender to order another drink. When the shot came, he tossed it back, gestured for another. It was going to be a bad night—was already a bad night—and after years of them, he knew getting shit-faced was the only way he was going to make it through.

Except, when he turned back to the dance floor, Quinn was making his way back toward the bar and Jamison was slow-dancing with someone else.

Someone who wasn’t Wyatt or Micah.

Someone who looked like he was seconds away from putting his hands all over Jamison’s sexy ass. She wasn’t pushing him away, but she’d had way too much to drink tonight, so it wasn’t like her judgment synapses were firing on all cylinders. Jared might be too stupid to figure out his sister was in trouble, but Ryder wasn’t going to make that mistake ever again.

Adrenaline roared through him and he was halfway across the club before he even realized what he was doing.

The asshole on the dance floor had moved his hands so that they rested on Jamison’s lower back. It wouldn’t be long before he moved them lower still. Ryder grabbed onto Jamison’s elbow as soon as he reached her. “My turn,” he said, spinning her to face him.

“Hey!” The jerk she’d been dancing with started to object, but Ryder didn’t give him a chance. He snarled, “Get lost!” at the same time he shoved the loser hard in the chest. The guy’s fists clenched and for a minute, it looked like he was going to come after Ryder. But a well-placed glare had him turning tail and slinking back into the crowd he’d come from.

Ryder smiled grimly. Sometimes looking like a badass really did pay off.

And sometimes it didn’t. He turned to find Jamison staring at him, a furious look on her face. “What are you doing?” she demanded, voice about three octaves higher than it normally was.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m dancing!”

“You’re drunk.”

“So what?”

“That guy had his hands all over you!”

She narrowed her eyes, tossed all of that glorious hair, and it took every ounce of self-control he had not to reach out and touch it. Not to wrap it around his fist and tug her closer to him. Not to—

He shifted uncomfortably as his cock grew hard. Damn it. What the hell was wrong with him?

“It’s called dancing!”

He saw red, even as he shot her a disbelieving look. “Yeah, well it looked like an invitation to fuck to me.”

She blanched. “You’re being a real jerk.”

“And you’re being careless. You don’t know these guys. You can’t trust them.”

“I just wanted to dance.” Her voice shook a little and her amethyst eyes were nearly incandescent with rage. And something else. Something that looked a lot like hurt. It made him feel like a total prick for throwing what had happened earlier in her face. He’d wanted to protect her, not hurt her. She was his friend, Jared’s little sister. It was his job to look out for her. Wasn’t it?

He glanced back at the bar, where Jared was deep in conversation with Quinn. But if Jared wasn’t concerned, why should he be? Jamison was entitled to have a little fun, wasn’t she? Especially after the evening she’d had.

Of course she was. He stepped back, thrust a frustrated hand through his hair. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I made a mistake.” Except it hadn’t felt like a mistake. Getting that guy’s hands off Jamison had felt as necessary as breathing.

He shook his head to clear it. He needed another drink. Badly.

“You aren’t just going to leave me out here alone, are you?” Jamison grabbed onto the back waistband of his jeans. “I still need a dance partner.”

He froze. Her fingers were brushing against his lower back, setting off all kinds of sensations deep inside of him. “I need a drink,” he told her, refusing to turn around.

“And I need to dance.”

She let go of his waistband and Ryder breathed a sigh of…relief? Disappointment? He couldn’t tell. At least not until her arms wrapped around his waist and she splayed herself against him. He nearly groaned at the feel of her breasts pressed against his back. What the hell was she up to? And then she started to move, swaying softly to the ballad that had just started.

It was one of theirs: “Entice.” He and Wyatt had written the lyrics during a three day bender—after Wyatt had broken up with his girlfriend—and Ryder had added the music about a week later. It was a favorite of his. A favorite of a lot of people, it seemed, since it was currently sitting at number three on the charts after a seventeen week run at number one.

He’d heard the song a million times, had analyzed every word in the verses he’d helped put together, but this was the first time he’d really connected with the chorus Wyatt had insisted upon.

I push, you pull.

I walk. You run.

I reach for you and you slip away.

Why do you entice me so?

Why do you Eentice me so? I’m stunned. I’m stunned. I’m stunned.

It was surreal standing here, listening to his voice as he sang about the same emotions that were currently ripping through him. “What are you doing, Jamison?” he demanded, turning to face her.

“What do you mean?”

He started to snap at her, to tell her not to mess with his head. But her eyes were slightly unfocused and this time when she swayed, he knew it had a lot more to do with the tequila she’d consumed than the music currently blasting through the club. He couldn’t be angry with her when she was drunk, and he couldn’t blame her for being drunk after what had happened earlier. Which meant there was only one thing he could do. Dance with her. Because there was no way he was leaving her out here, vulnerable to any jerk who wanted to take advantage. Jared could act as unconcerned as he wanted, but he knew the second Jamison started grabbing on to strangers the way she was currently grabbing on to him, her big brother would be all over that shit. It seemed…expedient to just dance with her himself and keep things on an even keel.

Gritting his teeth, he turned back to Jamison. Took her in his arms. And did his damnedest not to notice how sweet she smelled. Or how soft she was. Or how perfect her body felt pressed against his own.

She rested her head on his shoulder—he was suddenly, absurdly grateful for the five-inch heels she wore that enabled her to do that. She was tall for a woman, about five-eight in her bare feet. But he was six-foot-five and it wasn’t often he could just bend his head and place his cheek on a woman’s head. He did it now, savoring the sweet peaches-and-cream scent of her and the way her crazy hair tickled his nose.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

“For what?”

“For this.” She sighed. “No one’s ever worried about me before. It feels kind of nice.”

He stiffened. “Jared worries about you.”

“That’s not the same thing. He’s my brother. He has to worry.”