Ignite (9 page)

             
Thankfully, we were suddenly interrupted by a friend asking us whether we were going to make the after party. Feeling shaken from the intimate brunt direction of my thoughts, I couldn’t find any words to respond, so I looked at Jaxon with raised brows, leaving him to answer.

             
“Sure, we could go for a bit. What’s Prom without an after party?” he answered with a wicked smile.

*****

The house was swarming with people, and music thumped so loudly it felt like my chest was vibrating. Alex Marcoux’s house was deemed the perfect place to throw the party because it was on the outskirts of Gosnells and isolated. There were hardly any houses around the fielded, rural area.

             
Alcohol littered the entire place along with the clouds of smoke from cigarettes and other unmentionables. The house itself was a small, basic three by two. It also wasn’t in the most pristine condition, so nobody was keen to mind their step around anything. It was chaos in there.

             
Jaxon grabbed my hand once inside, ploughing us through the crowd of grinding bodies. He stopped when we got to the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of beer. His suit jacket, tie, and white dress shirt were off. He had on his white undershirt and suit pants. I smirked knowing full well he didn’t want to destroy it because of Lucinda. She’d have a stroke if she saw his top was covered in stains.
Oh, Jaxon.

             
Some girls had changed out of their dresses and into miniskirts and halter tops. I kicked myself for not having done the same, but I had been too preoccupied with getting ready for the actual prom than the after party.

             
He handed me a beer and took us into the living area. There was only one seat open on the couch. It didn’t seem to concern him as he sat down and pulled me down with him. He widened his legs apart so that I sat on the cushion between them and then he opened his bottle and gulped some beer down.

             
He barely knew anyone around us, yet he was so comfortable in disrupting their conversations by including himself. Before I knew it, he was having full blown discussions with everyone.

             
“Didn’t know you two were dating,” said Abby Lowes some time later. She’d always had a hard on for Jaxon, being one of my interrogators throughout the years demanding what he was up to.

             
“We’re not,” I replied quickly. The last thing I wanted was people to get the wrong idea.

             
“Really?” asked Mike Kindly, a large robust guy I’d never had any classes with, but I’d known him for being a part of the basketball team. “So you wouldn’t mind if I yanked your
friend
for a dance, Jaxon?”

             
Jaxon’s body stiffened behind me. “We may not be dating, but I’m her Prom date, dude. I’d rather she stayed with me.”

             
“Don’t feel like you have to be baby sit me,” I whispered to him, turning to look at his suddenly dark face. “You go and have fun too.”

             
Before he could reply, I got up and took Mike on his offer. I might not be the best dancer, but Mike was a seriously good looking guy, and I desperately needed to get away from Jaxon. Those feelings I felt back at the dance hadn’t died down, and I figured I needed to get away from him to re-establish the line I was beyond tempted to cross.

             
I sipped my beer half dancing in front of Mike and other guys who seemed to appear out of nowhere. I had to bat wandering hands every so often, but it was all in good humour. Peering over to the couch, Jaxon had three girls draped around him, but he looked very unpleasant and stiff. He met my eyes and ignored my fake smile as he continued to down his beer.

             
I suddenly wondered if I’d ditched him and he was angry at me for it. I attempted to excuse myself to walk back over to him, but Mike’s hands held me in place, and before I could open my mouth to protest, something hard rubbed against my pelvic. I looked down in shock as he grinded his lower aroused self into me. Then he hovered over me, resting his face down so that it was angled at my neck and started kissing me with his wet lips.

             
“Whoa, bud,” I attempted to take a step back, but only hit another guy’s chest.

             
“Shame we had no classes together.” Mike’s alcoholic breath felt hot against my neck. “I’d have asked you out, you know, to Prom.”

             
“All good,” I muttered, pushing his chest back. He didn’t budge.

             
“Did you wanna go someplace quiet?” His hands wandered about my waist and down to my hips.

             
“Actually, I gotta get back to Jaxon.”

             
“Why? He’s taken some girl away.”

             
“What?” I looked over at the couch. He wasn’t there, and there were two girls instead of three. I glowered when I realized it was Abby who’d gone missing. I looked around but he wasn’t in the room either.

             
“Come on, let’s go someplace quiet.”

             
I knew he was referring to a bedroom, and I knew what his intentions were, but I felt suddenly very angry at Jaxon for ditching me among so many guys. I mentally pictured him with Abby getting it on in one of the rooms. That thought made me sick and, surprisingly, sad. “Fine, let’s go,” I breathlessly said.

             
My own intentions were to storm into the rooms and stop him from being a sleaze, which didn’t make any sense really. I told him it wasn’t my business, that he could do what he wanted with anyone he wanted, and yet I felt so irrationally angry that he’d left me with some guy so he could jump the bones of some girl he’d only just met.

             
That’s what you just did to him, dumbass.
Oh, so was he angry with me too and did it to get back at me or something? I didn’t pay attention to the pats the guys were giving Mike as we waded our way out of the room and up the stairs to the second level. There weren’t many people on this floor, but two doors were closed and one was wide open.

             
“Let’s go here, babe,” Mike said, pointing to the empty room.

             
Ignoring him, I stormed into one of the closed rooms. There were two couples in there making out and doing other… sordid things with each other. Astoundingly, they didn’t seem to mind my intrusion.

             
I closed the door and burst into the other bedroom, ignoring Mike’s questioning. A girl screamed and hurried to cover herself and a guy turned and glared at me. I mumbled an apology and closed the door. Where the hell was Jaxon?

             
Mike grabbed my hand and began steering me into the unoccupied room.

             
“I have to go, Mike,” I told him, pulling back. “I need to find Jaxon.”

             
“What about me?” I turned around and saw Jaxon emerging from the bathroom, alone. He sounded angry, and so did the look his face when he saw Mike’s hand around mine pulling me into the room.

             
“Now you know where he is,” Mike said to me, stiffly. “Let’s go now.”

             
“Where do you think you’re taking her?” Jaxon snapped, pushing past a few people in the hallway.

             
“Dude, would you stop being such a fucking cock-block?” Mike retorted, gaping at Jaxon with growing animosity.

             
I tried to pry my hand loose, but that only made Mike’s grip tighten. Jaxon stopped in front of him, standing a few inches shorter than the big guy.

             
“Let her go,” he demanded. “She’s not some five cent skank that you think will spread her legs wide for your punk ass.”

             
Mike abruptly let go of my hand and moved closer to Jaxon so that they were face to face. The tension in the air was thick, and even the talking around us wilted off making these two the centre of attention.

             
“I didn’t force her up here,” Mike said, flaring his nostrils as he tried on the menacing look. He pulled the look off well, I noted.

             
“Looked like you were dragging her into this room–”

             
“Then ask her yourself. She said she wanted to come here.”

             
Jaxon looked over at me with questioning eyes. “Is that true, Sara?”

             
I felt my face heat up and shrugged. “I was looking for you.”

             
“Lying bitch,” Mike cursed. “You said you were fine–”

             
“Don’t you fucking call her that again,” Jaxon interrupted, turning back to Mike. “She doesn’t want you, so fuck off.”

             
Mike abruptly shoved Jaxon back, swearing wildly at him. Knowing Jaxon like the back of my hand, I dreaded what he was going to do. He never took kindly to anyone touching him.

             
“Touch me again and I’ll beat the shit out of you,” he warned Mike.

             
Mike, who was taller and bigger than Jaxon, laughed mockingly. He balled his fists up and stepped forward, ready to throw a fist at Jaxon, but Jaxon was quicker. He punched him straight in the nose, and shoved the disoriented guy back until he hit the wall harshly. Then he put an arm under Mike’s chin and a fist at his face, as if challenging him for more.

             
“Jaxon, just leave him alone.” I touched his back lightly, unsure of how he would react to my touching. “Let’s go home.”

             
He ignored me for a long moment, staring intently at Mike’s face. Mike made no move to fight him off. Then he let go, grabbed my hand tightly and stormed out of there.

Six

He drove me home in silence, never batting
me an eye even when I turned my whole body to stare at his face. He just ignored me.

             
Heart sunken, I felt like I’d ruined the night, and didn’t I? I shouldn’t have left him sitting there on the couch, especially when he’d been so attentive to me. Why did I react so stupidly? Now things were even more awkward.

             
If I’d known I’d feel this way twenty four hours ago, I would have avoided Prom altogether and have gone back to our strictly friend zoned selves. Yet if things had been so damn friend zoned, why did the smallest event like tonight ignite something that felt so different? Or was I just reading into it too much?

             
The house was dark and quiet. Lucinda was fast asleep. I looked at the clock on the wall in the entrance room and was surprised it was almost midnight. Time sure flew. Jaxon walked past me and up the stairs without so much a glance in my direction. I hurried after him. Maybe talking to him would break the ice.

             
In the unlit bedroom, he opened his dresser and pulled out his briefs and shirt, and then turned to make his way out. I stood in the doorway, blocking him.

             
“Can we talk?” I asked quietly.

             
“About what, Sara?” His voice was hard as rock.

             
“Is that a yes?”

             
He sighed, frustration etched in the features of his beautiful face. “Fine.”

             
I shut the door and sat down on the bed, and motioned him to sit down too. When he did, I grabbed his hand and, with a deep breath, said, “I’m sorry. I was so stupid tonight. I shouldn’t have left you alone like that.”

             
“You let him take you to the bedroom, Sara,” he replied. The anger in his face turned into one of disbelief. “You were going to…”

             
“And where were you?” I rebutted, frowning at him. “I saw that you were gone, and I thought you were with Abby in one of those bedrooms. The only way Mike would let me go was telling him he could take me up there. I did it so that I could stop you.” Embarrassed, I looked away. Even in the dark, we were quite visible.

             
“Stop me?” He scoffed and shook his head. “You tell me I could do whatever I want with girls–”

             
“You could!”

             
“So why would you want to stop me?”

             
“Using your logic, why do you even care if I was going into the bedroom anyway?” It was silly and cowardice avoiding his question with my own question, but it shut him up and had him sulking for one very long minute.

             
“I guess I had it in my head that you were my date tonight,” he said quietly. “I thought you were mine for the day, and I got a little shitty when I saw everyone staring at you like a piece of meat they had a chance with. I was able to handle that, but not them grinding on you like that.”