We walked in slowly, taking in the chaos that resembled a small, post-apocalyptic, underground city.

However, despite the darkness, the raw feel of the unclean and cold metal, and the bonfire raging to the left as people danced to Devil’s Night by Motionless in White, the madness here was better than any frat house party I’d attended at college.

No one cared what they looked like. They were going to get dirty anyway. Everyone, including the girls, wore jeans and Chucks, and you didn’t really care about conversation, either, because it was too loud to talk. No airs, no drama, no masks. Just music, rage, and noise, and eventually, when the high hit you just right, you’d find a girl or she’d find you, and you’d disappear upstairs for a while.

People greeted us as we walked in, and without asking, four Solo cups of beer showed up, a young girl smiling as she handed them off to us.

“We need one more,” I told her and handed mine off to Rika.

But before she had a chance to take it, arms circled her waist and she was pulled off the ground.

She gasped and then broke into laughter as her friend, Noah, who I remembered hanging around her when we were in high school, bounced her up and down in his arms.

I tensed, wanting to take his fucking hands away, but then I remembered that, not only were they friends, but he was also the reason she hadn’t suffered more at the hands of Miles and Astrid at that party in the spring.

So far, he had my trust.

“Well, what the hell, Rika?” he bellowed, putting her back on her feet. “You said this week that you didn’t want to come out tonight.” And then his eyes snapped up to us, and he narrowed them as if just realizing. “You’re here with them? Are you okay?”

I nearly snorted. Turning around and leaving them to catch up, the guys and I walked off to find our table. A few teenagers were sitting at it, but as soon as they saw us approaching, they scurried out of the semi-circle booth which sat right in front of the make-shift dance floor, offering a perfect view.

Damon grabbed the remaining kid, who trailed behind his friends, and yanked him out, sending him stumbling forward.

I hooked my arms around the back of the booth, four more beers showing up at our table, just in time as Will finished his.

The rain, glistening in the utility lights that were set up around the room, fell lightly through the roof, slowly wetting the hair of the dancers on the floor.

Casting a quick glance over my shoulder, I saw Rika and Noah joined by another friend—a girl—whose name I didn’t remember. And then my eyebrows nose-dived, seeing Noah hand Rika a drink.

But she waved it off, refusing it.

I turned back around, scowling ahead. Good. If that little lesson with Miles and Astrid hadn’t taught her to get her own damn drinks—or at least get them from me—then I was going to beat her ass. The last fucking thing I ever wanted to imagine was what almost happened to her while I was away at college.

We drank our beers, leaning back, relaxing, and watching the action around us. Damon lit a cigarette and stared at the floor ahead, watching a girl dance as she eye-fucked and taunted him. Will pulled off his sweatshirt and poured beer after beer down his throat, while Kai kept turning his head, stealing glances toward the door where we came in. I knew he was watching Rika.

The muscles in my arms tightened, and I stared ahead, trying not to care. No one comes between friends. Least of all, a woman.

I heard light laughter and looked up, seeing Rika round the booth and pull her sweatshirt over her head. She wore a huge smile as she tossed it at the empty space next to me, and followed her friends as they pulled her to the dance floor.

I breathed harder.

That tank top was killing me.

I could still make out a few small bloodstains from Miles, but it was barely noticeable in the dimness of the surroundings.

A good inch of her toned stomach showed, and the thin straps of her gray tank barely gave her tits any support. It left almost nothing to the imagination, showing off her ample chest and sexy fucking body.

Her hair flowed down her back, and her round ass was perfect in her jeans. I could almost feel her straddling my lap.

Fuck.

Lightening hit low in my stomach, getting me hard, and I grunted under my breath, trying to clear my fucking head.

Laurel’s Fire Breather started, and she and her friends made their way to the middle of the floor, right under the hole in the roof where the rain drifted in.

The slow, sonorous tune wrapped around my dick, filling it with heat as I watched her move to the beat, pumping her hips and arching her back like she knew exactly what would jack me up and get me ready.

Damon tore his eyes away from the girl on the floor, breathing out a cloud of smoke as he started watching Rika instead. She laughed, letting that friend of hers rub up on her as they both moved in sync, lost in the music.

I might be jealous if it wasn’t so hot. And he didn’t have a chance with her anyway. Her little glances at me across the breakfast table had more heat in them than the way she smiled at him.

Will leaned his elbows on the table, watching her as well, and I didn’t spare a glance at Kai to see if he was staring. I knew he was.

Who wouldn’t?

The deep beat filled the room, carrying into the rafters, and I watched as she rolled her hips nice and slow, sliding an arm around his neck behind her as her girlfriend came up in front of her, and the three of them started grinding together.

I shifted in my seat, liquid heat rushing to my groin.

“Holy fuck,” Damon breathed out, turning around to face us.