My hands go flying when I’m jerked backward and some of my drink runs down my shirt. “What the …?” I yell over the music as I turn and reach for some of those little square napkins that bars think are useful.

“Sorry,” Savannah yells in my ear. I pull back as it rings from her words. She looks down at my tits and gives me her puppy eyes. “It was an accident,” she hollers.

“What did you want,” I call out, grabbing a few more napkins. I take a quick look around before I try to wipe what is left of my drink off my shirt. I no longer see the mysterious guy on the stairs.

“Bathroom …” She grabs my hand and starts to pull me again. Thankfully, this time I hold on to my drink.

She drags me through the heavy crowd, and I scream out sorry and excuse us. I’m pretty sure no one can hear me, and those who can, don’t really care. We make our way to the end of the bar, and she pulls me to the left. We walk down a dark hallway as the music starts to fade a little more with every step. I like that fewer people are back here than in the main part of the club. I look curiously into a few doors that are staggered down the hallway. One labeled PRIDE, the other LUST. I wonder what goes on in those rooms? The next one reads WRATH. We pass more, but Savannah is on a mission, so I don’t get to read anymore.

Finally, we come to the end of the long hall and the door that says Restroom on it. She pushes it open as she releases my hand. “Let’s get you washed up,” she says with a big smile on her face.

I look at myself in the mirror and am thankful I wore a black top; it hides most of the drink. “What were you doing?” I ask. “When you grabbed me. You could have just tapped my shoulder, you know?” I laugh.

She yanks some paper towels down and her smile brightens. “I saw the other owner.” She places her hand on her chest and sighs heavily. “He is so fucking gorgeous.” I wet the paper towels and continue to clean myself off as she continues. “He’s been arrested …” Her voice trails off as she gets a dreamy look on her face. “That’s so hot!”

I look up at her. “And that makes him attractive?” I wonder.

Her green eyes widen. “Seriously? He is a total bad boy. Doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit. I heard he beat the shit out of a cop. Like broke some of his bones.”

“Nice,” I say dryly. I can see why he was arrested.

“I’ve been told that women beg to fuck him and men beg to watch him fuck them,” she says matter-of-factly.

“Have you begged him for anything?” I ask trying not to laugh at how in awe she sounds.

“I haven’t had the chance yet.” She winks at me playfully, and I allow myself to laugh. We both know that she would never cheat on Blane.

“Well, if you ask me, he sounds like a jerk,” I say. “You know the ones we hated in high school.” He probably uses people to his advantage.

She rolls her green eyes. “We’re not in high school anymore, Taylor. Those guys were dicks with Mommy and Daddy’s money. They were conceited and thought they ruled the world.”

“This guy sounds no different.” I look down at my chest and examine the damage. Besides being wet, it looks pretty good.

She spins me to face her and places her hands on my shoulders. She gives me a little shake as her eyes widen. “You need to open your eyes, Taylor. I love you, but you are too innocent.”

I snort as I push her away. “What kind of statement was that? There’s nothing wrong with not being a slut who dates the guys who will spend fifty percent of their life in prison and the other fifty percent looking at themselves in the mirror.”

“You’re not a slut. But you play it too safe.” She frowns. “You need to have some fun.” She faces the mirror as she fluffs her blond hair with her fingers. “There is nothing wrong with sleeping with someone for your own pleasure.”

“How did we get on the topic of my sex life?” I ask, watching her as she licks her plump red lips in the mirror.

“You have no sex life,” she declares.

“Who can get horny when you have to hear your brother having sex with your best friend?” I shudder.

She chuckles. “Be that as it may, you need to get some as well. It’s been too long.”

I let out a sigh, knowing that she is right. I just don’t sleep with a man unless we are in a relationship. One-night stands have never been my thing. “I’ve been busy with school,” I add defensively.

“School is over,” she says turning to face me now. “And there’s no time like the present.” She grabs my hand and pushes the door open for me.

I let Savannah pull me by the arm as we walk down the hall heading back to the bar. I cringe as the music blares the closer we get. As we come up to the bar, she comes to a stop, and I run into the back of her.

“Seriously,” I hiss as I try to hold up my drink, or what’s left of it. I’ve worn enough of it already.

She spins around to face me. “Blane’s gone,” she announces over the music. Before I can respond, she gets up on her tiptoes and looks around the club for him.

I do the same, and when I come up with nothing, I look back down the hallway from which we just came. “Maybe he went to the bathroom?” I offer.

She bites her lip nervously and then nods her head. I’m not all that nervous because he wouldn’t leave us here. I start to walk back down where we just came from when I see one of those private room doors is open. I look into it as we pass and see the back of my brother as he sits down in a chair. Without thinking, I walk in.

“Blane, what are you doing …?” My words trail off when he jumps up from his seat, and my eyes land on the black coffee table sitting in front of him. “What the hell, Blane?” I shriek as I see a baggie full of pills on the coffee table. “Are those drugs?” I demand. My brother doesn’t take any kind of medication. He doesn’t even like to take Tylenol when he has a headache.

“Is there a problem?” a man who sits across from my brother demands as he jumps to his feet. He glares at my brother in question.

“I assure you, there’s not.” Blane places his hands up in surrender. He then turns to face me and narrows his eyes at me. “Is there, Taylor?” he snaps.

“Of course …” Savannah grabs my arm and yanks me backward. I can feel her body physically shake as I press against her.

“Please, shut up,” she begs in my ear.

“But …” She digs her nails into my skin, and I grind my teeth together. I take a deep, calming breath and nod my head. Speaking wouldn’t be good at the moment.

I look up at the man who still stands in front of my brother. I now realize he was the man I saw standing on the stairs earlier. His body is stiff and his hands are fisted by his sides; his tense posture pulls at his tattoos on his arms as he stares down at me with narrowed blue eyes.

“No problem,” I say trying to defuse this situation. I sure as hell didn’t get out of bed to get my ass kicked by a man who looks like he wants me dead.

“You need to leave,” he demands with a deep voice.

I blink a few times as he directs his attention to Savannah and me. “Excuse me?” I question. You hear about situations like this all the time—drug deals gone bad. Is that what this is? Oh, my God, is my brother selling or buying drugs? I suck in a shaky breath. “Blane …”

The man cuts me off. “Leave.” He delivers the one, simple word as a demand with the promise that if I don’t walk out right now, there will be consequences.

My heart beats hard against my chest, but I square my shoulders and lift my chin. Trying to find some courage, I swallow nervously, but my brother has made no attempt to tell the man otherwise. But I refuse to leave without him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see something move and turn to see what it is. My heart stops beating completely when I see it’s the security guy who stood at the bottom of the stairs by the entrance. As I turn to face him, I take a step back. He looks much bigger as he stands in front of me. I can see why someone would choose him for security. He’s gotta be over six-foot-four. And it’s not only his height. He’s massive everywhere else as well. His shoulders are wide as if he once were an NFL player. One of his thighs is bigger than my waist. His black security shirt is tighter than most pairs of jeans I own.