Rowdy (A Taboo Short) (2 page)

The party was pretty wild, but it was also on some property so I doubted anyone would be calling the cops for a noise disturbance.

After entering the party, I moved away from the guys and headed toward the kitchen to grab a beer. The music was loud to the point that it felt as if the walls were vibrating. I was getting fucking old if I was starting to worry about the state of the house. Grabbing a beer, I popped the lid off and started walking around the party. Several of the guys I recognized from the gym, and some of the women as well.

Drinking my beer, I thought about the one person that consumed my mind on a daily basis.

Cassandra.

She was the one girl I wanted but couldn’t have, because being with her would cross a line, and I didn’t want to be that kind of fucker.

But still I searched the party for her, knowing she probably wasn’t here. I’d never seen her at any of these parties, but then I always doubted she got out much. Her father was my trainer and he was one tough motherfucker.

And then I did see her, and my entire body tensed.

Why was she here?

Some jackass was leaning against the wall, reaching out to twirl a strand of her hair around his finger. I instantly became angry, frustrated, and fucking jealous. Gripping the neck of my beer bottle tightly, I watched for a few seconds, telling myself it wasn’t my place to do a damn thing. But this voice in my head screamed at me to be a man and stop it.

She’s mine. No one else can have her but me.

My desire for Cassandra went above anything that was considered rational. I’d known her for years but when she was younger, I just saw her as my trainer’s daughter. She was off-limits, and I wasn’t going to cross that line and be an asshole. But as she got older, matured into a woman, something in me changed. I started seeing her, not as my trainer’s daughter, but something more desirable.

I grew possessive of her, hell, even obsessed. But I was really fucking good at hiding what I wanted, especially when I knew I couldn’t get it.

Eric was like a second father to me, and being with Cassandra almost seemed ... taboo.

But when that motherfucker near Cassandra touched her cheek and she turned her head, clearly not wanting it, I couldn’t stop myself anymore.

Storming over there, I pushed the asshole away, giving him a look that was warning enough, and took hold of her hand.

Eric would want me to do this, I told myself. But the truth was I was doing this for myself.

“Hey, dude, bad move,” the guy said when my back was turned.

My entire body tensed and I slowly turned around. The guy was big but not bigger than me. “Touching a girl that didn’t want to be touched was a bad move on your part.” I stepped up to him, ready to throw down. “We gonna have a problem?”

I
wanted
him to have a problem. I’d love to have any reason to put my fist in his face. The asshole must have finally realized what he was up against, because he shook his head and wandered off.

“What was that about?” Cassandra asked, pulling away from me.

I faced her, seeing she looked just as shocked as she sounded. “Stopping some fucking drunk prick from assaulting you probably. What the hell are you doing here?”

“I was fine, and he was harmless.”

I didn’t answer, just stared at her.

“I was invited here,” she said.

“Your dad would be pissed that you’re here. He know you’re at a wild fucking party?”

“I’m an adult, Rowdy. I’m perfectly fine, and I’m perfectly safe.” She lifted her beer bottle to her lips, and I noticed her thumb was over the top, which she only moved to take a sip.

Good girl.

So many girls ended up in bad situations because they didn’t take care of their drinks. Especially in these random parties were a bunch of drunken frat guys and strangers who had heard about the party through the grapevine wandered in.

“I do know how to take care of myself, thank you very much.”

She glared up at me, and I wanted to knock that beer bottle out of her hand and kiss those damn lips. Cassandra was so fucking beautiful. I did everything I could to ignore her but it was next to impossible to do so. Her smile made me want her so fucking badly. She was this pure perfection that shouldn’t ever be dirtied, yet I wanted to dirty her up so fucking much. I wanted to get her filthy and show her how good it can be.

She licked those full lips, leaving a path of moisture along the plump pinkness, and I couldn’t help but imagine her on her knees, sucking me.

My cock hardened at the image.

“Rowdy?”

I was pretty sure she’d heard the growl that left me, could probably even see the lust cover my face.

“How about I hang with you tonight? A friend to keep an eye on you.”
And to make sure no fucker touches you. You’re mine, Cassandra.

The thought of another guy touching her filled me with rage.

“A friend to watch over me?” Did I see disappointment flash across her eyes? No, I couldn’t have seen that. Cassandra would never give me the time of day, even if I would cross that line.

She came to the gym, did her work, and left with her father. Most of the time I watched her from afar, wanting but never allowed to take what I want. One day, I want to take her, and to prove to Eric that I’m the right guy for his girl.

I wasn’t cocky like Malachi, nor did I have any kind of agenda.

I just wanted her to be mine.

Cassandra, she needed to be treasured, loved, desired, and taken for a walk on the wild side, but in a safe, protected way. I could be the one to do that.

“Okay, Rowdy. It’ll be like having a big brother to keep me company,” she said with a tight voice. She patted my arm, and I grew pissed. The last thing I thought about was her as a sister, but of course she didn’t know that.

This night couldn’t get any better, and yet it couldn’t get any worse, could it?

Cassandra

F
riend

It was one word meant to be good, but when it came from Rowdy’s mouth in reference to me, it sucked.

It had been about an hour since he’d pushed that drunken loser away from me, and although I liked being beside Rowdy, even if we weren’t touching, or hell, even really talking. He smelled good too, like a mixture of the beer he drank and the dark and heady cologne on him. It was a weird combination but worked well.

I looked up at him and saw he was talking to a few guys from the gym. The house we were in was huge, and it was packed. I only saw a few guys I recognized from the gym. Everyone else was a stranger.

I also felt really underdressed, or maybe it was overdressed. Seeing as I had on a cardigan and a pair of jeans, and the majority of the female population had on barely-there shirts and skirts short enough to show off their toned bodies.

The music pumped through the house from speakers, but the rush of voices and conversation seemed to drown even that out. God, I wanted Rowdy so badly, and hearing him say we were friends hurt like a bitch. Although I wasn’t a fool and had known that already.

As I stared at him, took in the fact his six-foot-five frame was huge, muscular, and made me seem petite in comparison, I also noted he towered over pretty much every other guy here. Aside from the few fighters from the gym I saw at the party that were as big as Rowdy, everyone else seemed small in comparison.

My entire body heated at that thought, at the realization that this guy that I was so in love with could crush anyone without even a second thought. I lowered my gaze to his biceps, seeing the tattooed golden flesh flex slightly when he moved his arm. Continuing to lower my gaze to his forearm, I saw the thickness of his arm and hand, the visible veins that made him look so manly. Even though he wore a T-shirt and jeans, I could see the muscle definition and power coming from him.

If I had to sit here and be his “friend,” I needed a hell of a lot more to drink than this.

I downed the rest of my beer, set the empty bottle on a table, and walked the few feet to the cooler where the other cases of alcohol were. Then I turned around I saw Rowdy had his gaze transfixed on me. Walking back to him when he looked at me like that made me feel nervous, but in a good way. I downed half of this beer as well, already feeling a buzz as I was on my third beer but needing more of a disconnected feeling to get through this.

Or maybe I should just go home?

I could get drunk and call a cab, pass out, and forget about this night and what I really wanted to do with Rowdy.

What I really wanted to do was be in a room with him, living out the one thing I’d wanted to share with him for longer than I could remember ... my body. I finished off that beer, held up the empty bottle to him, and gestured toward the kitchen. He could follow me if he wanted, but I was getting something stronger.

Rowdy

M
aybe I should have stopped her from drinking so much, but this was her life, and I was here to watch out for her. If she wanted to get trashed, I’d make sure she was safe at the party, and later on got home okay.

I followed her into the kitchen and stood behind her as she took two consecutive shots. I couldn’t help but feel amused at the disgusted look that covered her face when she swallowed that second shot.

“Damn,” she gasped out, and I started laughing. She was cute as much as she was fucking hot.

“Maybe you should take a step back from the alcohol until those kick in?” I might have said I’d let her do what she wanted, but I also felt very protective of her.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’m sure these will sneak up on me.”

I grinned and gestured for us to get out of the packed kitchen. There wasn’t anyone I wanted to hang out with at the party aside from the girl that was standing right beside me.

We chilled off to the side for about twenty minutes as some of the guys from the gym came up to talk to us. And then I noticed how she was acting. Cassandra braced a hand on the wall, her eyes appearing glossy, and her inhibitions down. She was talking to a girl I knew she probably didn’t know.

Cassandra was drunk. That was clear by the exaggerated motions she did with her hand, the smiles she gave this stranger, and the fact on any other day she wasn’t this outgoing.

I leaned in close and brushed a strand of hair off her shoulder. Fuck, that felt good. “You okay?” I asked. She turned and faced me, the scent of alcohol coming from her parted lips turning me on when it probably shouldn’t. I was buzzed but not getting drunk since I had to work out tomorrow afternoon.

She smiled up at me. “I feel great.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, cause you’re drunk.”

She shook her head. “I’m not that drunk. I’m just feeling really good, like I’ve broken out of some prison.”

I chuckled again. Was this the first time she’d drank this much? It wouldn’t surprise me. And then I saw the look she gave me, and my cock jerked.

“It’s hot in here,” she said, and I nodded. It was fucking hot, but then again there was a shitload of people crammed in here.

“Can we go somewhere to talk?”

I straightened to my full height and looked down at her. I was about to suggest outside, but before I could say anything she grabbed my hand and started pulling me through the living room and toward the stairs.

“Wait, Cassandra,” I said and pulled her to a stop. She looked over her shoulder at me.

“I just want to talk where we aren’t crammed in like a sardine.”

I didn’t want to presume anything, and I sure as fuck wouldn’t take advantage of her, but I shouldn’t have nodded and let her lead me up the stairs. I should have said we should just go outside.

And then we were walking into a spare bedroom and she closed the door.

“Cassandra, this isn’t right.” But my body was ready. I’d wanted this moment for a long time, to just be alone with her. But I sure as fuck didn’t want it to be while I was buzzed and she’d drank more than she was used to.

“You think I’m drunk and don’t know what I’m doing,” she said but started speaking again before I could answer. “I’m not too drunk to know I’m here with you. I’m just feeling good enough I don’t have to hide anymore.”

I didn’t know what she was getting at, but I kept my distance.