Perfectly Broken (3 page)

Now, just like every other time she was angry with me, I couldn't help but smile at the memory. I reached out and poked her in the ribs, directly under her crossed arms. "Okay, Pix. You win."

"Quit," she said, sliding sideways in the booth to try to get away from my fingers
.
Attempting to hold on to her anger, she snatched her own shot glass and downed it. My grin widened and I grabbed my beer, my gaze slipping around the large room. Our table was at a perfect vantage point to see the entire open area of the club.

As I scanned past the door, my breath caught in my throat. I choked on the mouthful of beer I was trying to swallow, my eyes widening as I forced it down, sputtering and coughing. Lili smacked her hand on my back as they all laughed at me, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the door.

She was standing there, right inside the entrance, wearing a short black sequined number that stood out in contrast to her tanned skin and dyed-blonde hair. She wore a look that told me she was searching for someone.

For me.

I had no idea what my expression revealed but everyone at the table craned their heads to look for what had caught my attention
.

"Holy fuck. What the hell is that bitch doing here?" Tish sounded furious. Within seconds, Lizzie's eyes collided with mine. I didn't react, or I tried not to, but she gave a small smile and started along the edge of the floor, very obviously headed in our direction.

Over the course of the day, I'd missed several calls and texts. Everything from Lizzie was skimmed and ignored once I was convinced it wasn't about Conner. I was determined not to let her poison my birthday
.
But
,
here she came, unavoidable like the infection she was.

"Who?" Lili asked as she attempted to stretch higher, trying to see what had Tish and me so angry.

"Lizzie's on her way over." I looked away from the approaching nightmare, downing the rest of my beer in one drink before banging the empty bottle back on the table. I caught myself popping my knuckles and moved my hands back to the bottle instead. In an attempt to look nonchalant, I began picking at the label with my thumbnail
.

"We could leave. Slide out of the booth and just head toward the door. We'll block her from getting near you," Kas offered, reaching across the table to steady the trembling container in my hands.

I glanced up and saw the black dress approaching the table on my side. "Too late."

"Speaking of repulsive skanks," Tish said loudly, a menacing smile planted on his face. "Lizzie! How inconsiderate of you to show up here tonight. I guess we shouldn't expect anything less from a worthless—"

"Save it, Jared! I just want to talk to Zane."

"Fucking bitch," Tish said, giving her the reaction she was looking for when she called him by his first name.
 

I could feel everyone staring at me, but I kept my gaze locked on the dark brown glass in front of me. My jaw clenched and unclenched several times as I tried to find my voice.

"Zane?" Kas' voice was soft and I knew without looking at her that it was an offer, a way out of this if I needed it. I exhaled a long breath, slammed the bottle on the table, and shoved myself out of the booth. Snatching Lizzie by the upper arm, I tugged her to the bar without speaking. I released her and leaned against the bar, ordering myself another shot and a beer.

"Talk," I said, not looking at her as I accepted my drinks and downed the shot.

"Z, look at me."

I ignored the request
.
Leaning my forearms on the bar, I tipped back a long drink from my beer. "You have thirty seconds to say whatever it is you need to say to me, Liz. Then I'm walking away." To emphasize that I meant it, I kept both hands wrapped around my beer and turned around, leaning back against the bar.

"Aren't you even going to ask about Conner?" Lizzie was pushing me already, goading me to snap at her. I knew what she was doing but I still had to force myself to stay calm.

"Conner is not the reason you came here. Are you trying to ruin today for me? Are you going to spend time rubbing in that he's not mine, too?" I asked through clenched teeth, avoiding the urge to throw my beer bottle against the wall just to release some of the rage.

"He's Adam's," she conceded in a quiet voice, making me drop my head. It shouldn't still hurt but it did. It so fucking did. "But
,
Zane, you're still his daddy. You were the one that was there when he was born. You were there for the first —" I spun, facing her full on for the first time, the motion effectively cutting her off before she could finish.

"Get to the fucking point or get the hell away from me!" I shouted, causing the people closest to us to back away. I ran my hand along the back of my neck as I waited for her to speak. Her hazel eyes were wide, shocked at my outburst. She looked almost nervous.

"Adam left. I haven't heard from him in months. Before that he was just… he comes and goes when he wants. The drugs… It's gotten bad, Zane. And I don't want him. I never wanted him. It was always you. You know that." She reached out a hand, her long fingers lightly grazing my arm. Before I had a chance to react, small hands slid around my waist from behind.
 

"Zane, come dance with me. I owe you a birthday dance." Lili's voice was slurred but in a way that I knew was completely fake. She poked her head around to look up at me and stepped to the side, holding out a hand. A lifeline. I'd rubbed my neck unconsciously but it was my normal sign for Lili to step in and rescue me when we were out together. After two years, she and I were like a well-oiled machine when it came to this kind of thing and I was thankful for her interruption.

"You'll have to forgive me for not caring, Lizzie." I forced a grin at Lizzie's shocked and furious expression and took Lili's outstretched hand, leading her to the dance floor.

"I thought you didn't dance?" I asked as we stopped in the middle of the heavy crowd moving to some techno version of a pop song that was playing
.
Lili was glaring back toward the bar.

"I don't but I'll make an exception," she sighed. "If it wasn't your birthday, Zane…" She left her sentence hanging as she began moving to the beat of the music, her hips swaying as she rested her hands high on my shoulders. In her beat
-
up, old, black combat boots
,
she was nearly a foot shorter than me. I moved with her but it was awkward, like she was intentionally trying to be bad at this. I'd seen Lili move
,
I knew she had more grace than this walking
.
But, I'd never seen her dance so I couldn't be sure. I wondered if it was Lizzie watching that made her nervous or if it was just that she was dancing with me.

The next song started and the beat turned sultry. I was about to suggest that Lili and I head back to the table when she stiffened and tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing at something behind me.

"Fucking…" Lili clenched her jaw, not finishing her sentence
.
I froze as I felt the press of a body against me from behind. An all-together too familiar body. Long nails trailed along my back in a way that made my muscles clench and other parts of me tighten against my will. Lili's eyes flashed angrily and she spun away from me. For a moment, I thought she was leaving the floor and my brain argued with the one part of my body that wanted me to stay. I took a step to follow Lili and she bent over, folding her body down before throwing her ass back into me and uncurling her torso upward in time with the music.

I was sure my surprise was evident to the people around us as she rolled her body in front of me, her hips grinding against me in a way I'd never imagined before. It was strange, given the height difference
,
and I stared wide-eyed down at her. Lili's head tipped back to look up my chest at my face as she extended her arms above her head to my shoulders and dragged her nails down slowly. The blue of her eyes was almost electric under the pulsing lights and matched the color of her shirt perfectly.

"Oh, hell." I grabbed her hips automatically, my knees bending to put myself closer to her height as my movements mirrored hers, our bodies rolling and grinding into one another.

This was why I loved coming to the club instead of the bar
.
But
,
I never expected it from Lili. As she continued to move against me, I felt Lizzie behind me. It wasn't completely uncomfortable, being wedged between two exceptionally beautiful women as they moved against me. I'd been here before and usually ended up fucking both of the girls together. This time
,
I wouldn't be fucking either one of them. My head was reeling as I attempted to keep my cool.

Lili spun to face me, sliding her leg between mine
.
"Give it up, bitch," she spat past me while grinding herself against my leg. I licked my lips and kept moving, trying not to think as I wrapped my arms around her back, pulling her closer. I glanced down at the short black skirt and the dark tights showing along her thighs.

"You have a lot of nerve thinking you're better for him than his wife," Lizzie's acidic words came in a lull of the music and the heads of those around us craned to see who had spoken. Lili paused for only a second, her eyes locking on mine. I knew what she was thinking and I nodded my approval. She stood straight and grabbed my neck with both hands, yanking me down
.
I used my grip on her to lift her as she crushed her lips to mine.

Lili and I had kissed before
.
In fact, we kissed regularly to rescue one another
,
but tonight it was different. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the dancing, maybe it was the fact that Lizzie was behind us
,
but
,
for whatever reason, I could tell Lili was putting all she had into the kiss and I reciprocated. I was shoved from behind and I almost lost my balance. Lili released me and slid down my body quickly, spinning to find Lizzie.

The music changed again
.
A very distinct and popular hip-hop beat started over the cheering and Lili started moving to the beat in an aggressive way. I saw the look in her eyes, the challenge. Lili was competitive, almost obsessively so at times. I had no idea she knew how to dance at all
,
but to see her move to the beat, I could tell it was something she had done for a long time. Even that realization didn't prepare me for what happened next.
 

Lili
danced
up to Lizzie's face and the crowd around us parted, making a circle to watch. It was like we were in one of those mediocre, characterless dance movies that were so popular now. Only this was real, hotter, and a thousand times more intense.

Lizzie didn't back down to Lili for even a second. Pushing forward, she danced in a style that made Lili slow down to take a breath. I knew Lizzie could move
,
I'd seen her dance enough throughout the years
.
The way she moved all six feet of her body like she was in complete control of the entire world around her was always something else to watch.
 

Lizzie was beautiful and sexy in a way that made almost every person in the room stop to stare when she walked by. Her
,
on the dance floor, swinging her body closer to mine on each pass, was entrancing. Her hair was long and hung in waves past her shoulders. She looked elegant and well put together, even as she moved. Finally, she was against me and our bodies aligned as she danced, pulling me toward her and toward the middle of the circle. I almost groaned aloud as my hands found her waist and ran down the curve of her ass. I pulled myself away quickly, knowing I was getting drawn in all over again
.
Backing up toward the edge of the crowd, I searched for Lili.
 

I finally spotted her when Lizzie made a point of dancing to her, showing off again
.
I tried to gauge Lili's reaction. She had put herself out there, challenged Lizzie and Lizzie was showing her up. I went to reach for her but as Lizzie turned her back to Lili to raise her hands like she'd won, Lili surprised everyone. She ran a few steps and then slid on her knees like it was nothing before falling backward, her spine flat against the polished wood.

She began pulling up her torso, popping to the beat like an invisible person above her was controlling the movement. My eyes widened as she moved up to her feet without using her hands. These moves weren't like anything I'd seen before. The pink streaks stood out in her long black hair and pieces were sticking to her face and arms with sweat. I couldn't look away. I'd never seen anyone move like her.

The crowd around us went crazy
.
The DJ kept the beat going as he laughed into the microphone about the girls taking to the floor to fight over me.

I stared as Lili moved with almost mechanical motions
,
making it seem like she was pausing for small fractions of a second between movements. When she pulled this off perfectly, the sound of the crowd around us surged. I was completely entranced as she continued dancing and her eyes landed on mine. She moved to me and pulled me to her before spinning to press her ass against me again. I wrapped my arms around her waist, resting both my palms flat along her stomach and abdomen as I bent my knees to lower myself while we swayed together. She was so close I could see the beads of sweat running down her neck, the tiny hairs curling along her hairline in an unruly fashion
.

I felt the bare skin of her stomach when her shirt rose and my fingers slid underneath, tugging her even closer. She threw her head back and I gripped her hips
.
Turning her to face me, I lifted her up, my fingers on her backside as she used the position to move against me
.
Wrapping her legs around my waist, she grabbed the back of my hair with both hands, her nails grazing my scalp. I groaned and pressed my lips to hers again without another coherent thought.