“Ugh! You’re no fun sometimes,” she complains, while lacing her fingers through my free hand and swaying her hips to the slow rhythm. “Two hours and then we can leave. No sooner, dammit.”

Forty minutes later . . . and unfortunately she’s not bored with forcing me to dance with her yet. Every time I try to step away she pulls me back to her and captures me in her ninja grip.

Sweaty and out of breath, I finally escape and reach for my phone when I feel it vibrate in my purse. THANK YOU! “Give me a sec,” I say breathless. “My phone is going off.”

Pulling it out to look at it, my heart drops when I see Colton’s name flash across the screen. It’s not the name that I was hoping to see and disappointment quickly sinks in.

Colton: Are you having fun dancing? You look sexy in that dress.

Huffing, I look around the room in search of the jerk. He knows damn well that Madison likes to drag me here every couple of weeks, so I’m really not surprised that he’s here.

It takes me a few seconds to spot him across the bar, watching me from one of the small tables. He’s dressed all slick in a black shirt and dress pants, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the guys here.

Avalon: Trying to, Colton. Please don’t come over here and start anything. We’re leaving soon.

Colton: I just want to dance with you. Nothing more. Stay . . .

I look up from my phone and shake my head in annoyance. I really don’t want to deal with him tonight. Every time I think about him, it angers me.

“What’s wrong?” Madison questions over some guy’s shoulder that she randomly started dancing with when I escaped her grip. “Who is it?”

“Colton,” I say stiffly. “He’s here.”

“Great!” Madison scoffs. “He’s such a pain in the ass. He better not come over here.”

Avalon: That’s not a good idea . . . No.

By the time I hit send and look back up from my phone, Colton is standing in front of me, giving me a creepy ass smile.

“Crap, Colton.” I shove my phone into my purse and take a step back when he gets too close for my liking. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea for us to dance and I honestly don’t want to.”

“Why?” He questions, while fixing his watch and rolling up his sleeves. “We dated for six months and you can’t let me have one fucking dance?”

“Take a hike, Asshole.” Madison eyes him up and down as if she’s a vicious junkyard dog, ready to bite his balls off. “She said she doesn’t want to dance. Don’t you have some pants to go piss or something,” she says with hope.

Colton ignores Madison and turns back to face me. “We’re both already here . . . might as well try to be civil and enjoy the night. We used to have fun, remember?”

I release a small breath as Colton reaches out and grabs my hip, rubbing his thumb over my side. “Used to,” I remind him, while pushing his hand away. “As in we don’t anymore and I don’t want to. Please,” I say in aggravation. “Just drop it and go back to the other side of the bar. I don’t want to fucking dance.”

“Avalon.”

I freeze at the sound of my name and slowly look up to see Royal pushing his way past a dancing couple with Blaine following at his feet, looking intense.

My heart stops in my chest at the sight of him looking so damn sexy and lethal in his beat-up leather jacket. His eyes are so fierce as he looks Colton over that it even makes me nervous at what he might do.

“Back the fuck off.” Facing Colton, he pushes in between us and protectively guides me behind him with his arm. “She’s with me, and she’ll only be dancing with me, motherfucker.”

Royal and Colton stare each other down for a few seconds, before Colton finally speaks. “No way she’s with a fuck up like you.” He motions around the room. “You don’t belong here. Look around, asshole. Go back to your own shithole of a bar and let me work things out with my woman. You had your fun at dinner, but it’s done now.”

“I’m not your woman,” I seethe. “And as far as I see it, you’re the one that fucked up. We’re done.”

Royal tilts his head from the sound of my voice and then turns around to face me.

I swallow from my nerves as his eyes search mine with an intensity that makes my heart skip a few beats. His power makes me want to break down at his feet and beg for him to take me: any and every part of me.

“Come here,” he demands.

My breath hitches in my throat as he grabs the back of my neck and pulls me to him, not waiting for me to obey.

His lips lightly brush mine, making me release a small breath of desire, before possessively claiming them as if to tell the whole fucking room that I’m here with him and to back the fuck off.

It feels so good, and is something I wasn’t used to with Colton. I was always lucky if he even acknowledged we were in the same damn room.

Kissing me hard and deep, he moves both hands up to grab my hair, tugging gently as he deepens the kiss. While breathing hard against my lips, he finally pulls away, roughly biting my bottom lip to leave his mark.

“You’re here with me now,” he says firmly. “No one fucks with you. Not even my brother.”

“Are you shitting me, Marie? You’re going to let him kiss you like that? Get over here with me. Now.”

Releasing my hair, Royal turns to face Colton again, but gets up close and personal in his face this time. “Do I need to fuck her in front of you for you to get the fucking hint, brother? Leave. Her. The. Fuck. Alone. Touch her again and I’ll slit your fucking throat. Don’t test me.”

“Fuck you both. You’re a crazy lunatic and she’ll figure it out soon enough.” Colton pulls out his phone and grins as he looks away from it as if he’s just won something. “I have better pussy waiting for me anyway. You remember Misty, right? Not that dried up shit . . .”

Before Colton can finish, Royal swings out hard, punching him right in the mouth. Colton falls back into some guy that pushes him back to his feet and complains about him spilling his beer.

“Watch what the fuck you say,” Royal growls. “Better show her some fucking respect.”

Grabbing his mouth, Colton looks at me as if I should feel sympathy for his ass. “That’s really the kind of guy you want? He just fucking punched me in the middle of a nightclub. He’s crazy as hell.”