Free Marry Me for Money by Mia Kayla

dimple flashed on his cheek. “I like how you change the subject when I’m right,” Kent said. “I’ll have a shot of Crown.”
    I held up two fingers to the bartender and she placed both shots in front of us. I ordered a glass of Coke as the chaser.
    He had been right. I had no right to judge him. The situation would only be wrong if we were dating, but we weren’t, so really, he could do as he pleased.
    I raised my glass up to him, and he mirrored my actions before we both threw back the shots of Crown. The burn touched my tongue and slid down my throat. I closed my eyes and chugged my Coke back to minimize the scorch. When I opened them, Kent was staring at me with a smug smile.
    I widened my eyes. “Yes?”
    “Interesting. I never would have coined you as someone who could handle her liquor.”
    “I said I wasn’t a drunk. I never said that I didn’t drink. Kendy introduced me to wine coolers at fifteen.”
    When he raised two more fingers to the bartender, I pulled down his arm.
    “Uh, no. Let’s not push our luck, okay? Plus, I still have to drive home,” I said.
    He tossed money to the bartender as she placed two more shots of Crown in front of us.
    “To friendship,” he said, lifting up his shot glass.
    I reached for my drink and lightly tapped my glass against his, and we swallowed the shot together.
    “Ugh,” I said, making a face. This time, I had nothing to wash the shot down with, and I coughed a little, which made Kent laugh.
    “Hey, I’ll be back in one second,” he said, glancing at someone behind me.
    When Kent left my side, I already felt the hard liquor coursing through my body. I stepped toward the barrier between where the pretty-people room ended and where the common folk began. Trance music dragged me closer and closer to the other room. I glanced up at the bouncer who was guarding the roped area separating the rooms. When he sidestepped to let me pass, I wondered if I could get back in again later.
    Music filled my ears, and my body started to move to the rhythm. I made my way toward the exterior of the dance circle. Scantily clad bodies moved and swayed against each other. When I felt small hands on my hips, I rotated and noticed a tall, lanky boy dancing to the music behind me. His grip was not overly aggressive, his nearness not as close, so I didn’t resist. I turned around and placed my hands in the air while his hands remained on my hips. I closed my eyes and danced to the trance beat, swaying my hips from side to side.
    I didn’t know how long I’d been dancing there when I sensed someone different behind me. I twisted to see a broader male moving to the music. He was more aggressive as I felt his body flush against mine. I advanced closer to the lankier guy in front of me to give the guy behind me a hint, but he just inched forward.
    Now sandwiched in the middle of the two men, I tightened up and froze on the dance floor. When I tried to disentangle myself, the lankier guy leaned in for a kiss. I turned my head, and he grazed my cheek. My pulse quickened as I used both hands to shove him away, but he didn’t budge.
    The more I tried to disengage myself, the more they pressed me in between them. The guy behind me planted his hands on my behind and slowly down to where my short skirt ended and my bare legs began.
    “Hey,” I said, jabbing him with my elbow. My eyes skittered over the area. I thought of screaming, but wondered if anyone would hear me above the deafening music. Probably not.
    I used both hands to shove the guy in front of me, but he gripped my upper arms with force.
    He smiled, and when I looked into his eyes, they were dilated, and they slightly rolled to the back of his head. Realization that he was high on something set in, and my adrenaline spiked.
    Fight or flight rang in my head, and right before I decided I would bite down on his hand and draw blood, I noticed Kent plowing toward us. There was a tightness around his eyes that frightened me.
    He