Something big. Something big. I look around the room knowing that If I don’t do it now, there is a chance that she might go home with that dumbass. Not that I think she’s a slut—she’s far from it—but I don’t want his hands anywhere near my girl. This shit needs to happen and now. Think. Think. What the fuck would Emmett do right now? He would definitely know what to do. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, listening to the music play.
BAM, that’s it! I look around. I quickly chug the last bit of my beer and hand Kyler my cup before I turn to walk away.
I hear Kyler yelling in the background, “What the fuck? I didn’t mean right this second. Oh shit.”
But I choose to keep walking. I walk up to Aaron, who is in charge of music, and lean in and ask him for a favor. He looks at me like I have two heads, and I nod so he understands that he did hear me correctly. He shrugs, but nods and moves to the music to find my selection.
It’s now or never. Fuck! I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans and walk toward the beer pong table—that seems like a good enough stage to do this. If only Emmett and Dani were here to see me now. Dani would definitely laugh; I think Em would too, but I think he would also remember the time he pulled this shit at Dani’s sweet sixteen. A moment I will forever wonder what the hell I was smoking for agreeing to dance to that, but here I am about to do it for my girl. Well, hopefully, she is my girl after this.
I climb up on the beer pong table during the middle of the game as everyone yells.
“Zach, what the fuck, man?”
“Are you serious?”
“What the fuck are you doing!”
I ignore them and look around the room till my eyes find her. The music switches over from some Calvin Harris song to an ’80s slow jam. Not only does the change in music grab everyone’s attention, but seeing me stand on the beer pong table has all eyes on me. Her eyes lock on mine as I begin to sing the words of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
I couldn’t think of a better song to profess my feelings to her. It’s true, I’ve found heartache and pain lately, but there is something about her that makes me want to be a better man, and she has helped heal those wounds.
I am not the best of singers, but I enjoy getting down on karaoke. I give this song all I have, channeling my sister and Haylee’s moves from their typical Katy Perry dance-off. I can only imagine what everyone is thinking, but honestly, I don’t fucking care. My eyes never leave hers in hopes she realizes this is for her. It’s all for her. I want to know what love is, and she is the girl I want it with. I’m not fucking around.
As the song gets closer to the end, I jump down off the table, and the crowd separates as if in the middle of a damn John Hughes film when they realize I’m not just some drunk asshole doing this for fun, but I’m headed to get the girl.
I don’t see anyone else around, just Haylee. I walk up to Haylee, who is frozen in place. I take that as a good sign; she didn’t run off. I reach up and cup her cheeks, my thumb rubbing against her porcelain skin. She closes her eyes and leans into my touch, another good sign.
“I’m fucking crazy about you, Hails.”
Before I can say any more of the quick little speech I thought of to say in the fourteen steps it took to get to her from the table, her lips are crashing against mine. I pull her tight against my body, knowing well she can feel my hard cock pressed against her, but I don’t care. She is in my arms, and that’s all that matters. My tongue plunges into her mouth as I realize it feels as though it has been forever since I have tasted her even though in reality it hasn’t even been more than a day. As our kiss deepens, I run my fingers through her hair, working my way down her back and over her ass, my fingers kneading deep enough in her skin to leave a mark.
I end up lifting her, and she instinctively wraps her legs around my waist. Fuck, that’s hot. I need to get Haylee out of here and fast. I’m ready to bust right through my jeans. I don’t want to lose the feeling of her lips against mine until I feel her bite my lower lip hard, forcing a deep growl from my throat. It is at that moment I pull back from her. Her cheeks are flushed, and we are both out of breath. I place a quick kiss against her forehead before I reluctantly release her back to the ground, but she still keeps her hands clutching to my shirt.
“Hi.” I brush the hair that had fallen in her face from our make-out session.
“Hi.” Her raspy voice is even sexier.
It’s time to take my girl home. So I do what any man would do in this situation: I lean down, reach behind her legs, and lift her as if she were a new bride.
Am I thinking about marriage right now? I shouldn’t be, but for some crazy reason it doesn’t freak me out like I feel it should.
I kiss her one last time before I focus on getting her out of here. I look around as I move forward, making sure I don’t knock into anyone—I am carrying precious cargo, of course. People cheer and slap my back as we make our way to the front door. When I look to the left, I see Chad playing tonsil hockey with some sorority girl. Real classy, asshat! And to think he thought he was good enough for Haylee. Fucking Chad!
I quicken my pace as I feel Haylee’s lips meet my neck as she begins to nip at my skin and ease the sting with her tongue.
“Baby, you know I love when you do that, but I need you to stop if we have any chance of hell of making it back to the apartment, let alone getting out of this house.”
Oh my God. Is this really happening? I must be dreaming. Zachary Jacobs is carrying me through the streets of Philadelphia. He got up in front of a college party and belted out “I Want to Know What Love Is,” and not just for anyone but for me. I am thankful that the apartment isn’t too far from campus.
“You know you don’t need to carry me, right?”
He makes no move to put me down and laughs, and I feel the rumble in his chest.
“Seriously, put me down, Zach.”
“Not gonna happen, sweetheart. You better get used to it.” He looks down, smiling at me.
Shit, I could get lost in those blue eyes. They’re eyes I never thought I would see looking at me the way he does. I nearly collapsed during his performance, and when he walked up to me, holy shit, it was like a scene from a movie.