Just Breathe (Blue #1) Read Free Page A

Before slinging the rag over his shoulder, he looks up and winks at me.
    After Dar and I exchange a look, we yell at the same time, “Jäger !” There are no questions between us; it’s what we always drink when she drags me out with her. She likes to shoot tequila, but knows I refuse to drink that shit.
    Almost immediately after he speaks, he focuses his gaze back on me. I glare at him as he holds his lips together and turns away from us as his shoulders shake a little. What a pain in the ass! He’s laughing at me! He faces us and wipes his mouth with his hand, no doubt doing a poor job of hiding the fact he finds me hilarious for some reason.
    After I clear my throat, he diverts his attention from me long enough to say, “Happy birthday, Dartanya.” She leans across the bar to hug him and tells him thank you. How in the hell does he know Dar, much less that it’s her birthday? This night is quickly filling up with people from her past, and I have no idea who any of them are.
    “Take a seat. I’ll show you a good time. It is your birthday and all, so I’m obligated, right?” he says with a booming voice over the slower song now playing. She squeals and then quickly sits at the mention of booze. He lines up six shot glasses and fills them to the rim. Three in front of me and three in front of Dar. He rolls his hips to the music as he takes two beers out of the cooler and slowly removes the caps one at a time with the underside of his forearm. His huge muscles move beneath his skin, and I can’t look away. I’m in some type of trance, and at any minute, I might start drooling down my chin.
    He props his elbows on the varnished wood of the bar and sits my drink in front of my nose. Keeping his eyes trained on mine, he asks with a smug grin, “Want to see what else I can do?” As alluring as his voice is, his cocky attitude ruins it for me.
    I’m upset that I might actually like to find out what that man can do. For a fleeting moment, I entertain the idea of him showing me. After being lost in thought of his sinful body, I pretend I didn’t hear him and look to Dar for a distraction. “You ready?” I ask with a little too much enthusiasm, trying to cover where my drifting mind went.
    “Are you forgetting who you’re talking to? Hell, I’m always ready, Cass.” She nudges me with her shoulder and then draws her eyes down at him in disapproval. Clearly, she doesn’t appreciate the hidden innuendo in his statement, but that’s Dar. She’s always watching out for me, and out of the two of us, she is by far the more outspoken. There has been more than one occasion when she didn’t hesitate to tell someone off on my behalf.
    We nod our heads in unison and say our cheer, “To the men whom we love and the men whom we hate, may they at least always pay for our date!” Dar and I tip the shot glasses together and then let the cold liquid slide down our throats. We do the remaining shots and chase them with our beers. Dar bounces up and down as “In Da Club” by 50 Cent blares in our ears.
    She screams, “Come on! It’s the birthday song!” Her excitement overwhelms her as she pulls me by the hand to my feet and leads me through the crowd to the front. When we’re at the stage, the men are doing some dance moves they call “The Dirty Dog”. The tallest of them struts in front of us and thrusts his pelvis in our direction. Before I know it, strippers surround us and pull us up onto the platform, rubbing their bodies against ours as I shake my head, watching Dar bite her lip. After releasing a long breath, I decide to live in the moment and grind against one of the guys to the beat of the song. Dar gives me a thumbs-up as she wiggles about, trying to dance. The poor girl can’t even master the twist. Screams and whistles erupt from the women on the floor, causing my face to burn with embarrassment. I don’t like being the center of attention, but I find relief from knowing most of these women are probably