University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (55 page)

“Did you have a good time?” Raven
reached up and pulled me onto his lap. My legs shot up in the air and
everything turned upside down.

“Raven,” I giggled as I toppled onto
him. “Yes. I got my nails and toes done and had an awesome massage.” I showed
him fingers and toes.

“You look pretty.” He sniffed me. “And
smell great, too.”

“I look pretty?” I ran a hand through my
frizzy hair. The humid temperatures of the island were not kind. “I’m sure I
look like a poodle after that massage therapist rubbed my head and scalp.”

He swept my hair from face. “You’re
pretty no matter what. But go get ready.” He popped me on the butt with his
hand and I squealed. “We’ve got everything planned. We’re going out to eat and
then headed to a club to dance the night away.”

I glanced over at Luke. “You okay with
all of this?”

“Yeah. I told you, whatever you want to
do.”

I pivoted, sliding off Raven’s lap.
“It’s your birthday, too. I just want to make sure you feel included.”

“I’m good.” He waved me off.

“You look good.” Luke eyed Delaney from
head to toe.

Delaney plopped in his lap and wrapped
her arms around his neck. “I do?”

“Damn,” she waved the space in front of
Luke’s mouth, “someone’s been drinking.”

“Does my breath stink?” Luke tested his
breath against his hand. “I haven’t had that much.”

Delaney rolled her eyes. “Just don’t
pass out before we leave the house.”

“If you don’t hurry, I might.” Luke
kissed her on the forehead. “I know it takes you like two hours to get all
fixed up.”

“No it doesn’t.” Delaney ran her hand
down his chest and Luke’s eyes widened. “Only when you don’t let me get ready.”
Their lips locked again and I turned away. I had never seen them kiss so much.
It was kind of weird.

“Take it to the room.” Shawn leaned
forward, trying to see the TV.

“Sorry,” Delaney said, breaking their
kiss and getting up from Luke’s lap. “Come on.” She grabbed him by the hand and
pulled.

“What?” Luke said, giving a slight shake
of his head. “I’m watching the game.” He pointed to the Ranger’s game on the TV.

Josh made a comment that I didn’t catch
and Raven whistled a sexy tune.

“Yeah, I need your help.” Delaney did a
little shake, trying to entice my brother.

“I guess,” Luke said, getting up from
the couch, a smile dying to be revealed.

The guys whistled and made remarks,
teasing and taunting them. Luke paid them no attention and followed Delaney.
Wow.
She really had a grip on my brother. I hoped she wouldn’t break his heart, but
it wasn’t my business. I just wanted them to be happy and from what I could tell,
they were.

It took hours before we finally made it
to the restaurant. Thanks to Delaney and Luke, we were running late, but no one
seemed to care. We were there to have a good time and celebrate our birthdays.
We piled into Luke’s car after Raven announced he’d be the designated driver
for the night. It was kind of weird seeing him drive my brother’s car, but Luke
didn’t seem to mind. He was either too
into
Delaney to care, or too
drunk to make a fuss. I couldn’t wait to give him a hard time later.

We devoured an incredible seafood buffet
at a local restaurant. My pallet had definitely found something new to savor.
From scallops, to lobster, to crab legs — it was all delicious and I couldn’t
get enough of it. Just as we were finishing our dinner, two waiters appeared. One
had two slices of key lime pie with a candle on top and the other held two very
large stuffed animal lobster heads.

“Hell no.” Luke shook his head. “I’m not
putting that thing on.”

“Oh my God,” I laughed. “That thing is
going to swallow my whole body.”

“Uh.” Delaney crossed her arms and made
perfect duck lips. “Why not?”

“Laney.” Luke gave one of his stares
that said, “Don’t push me”, but she batted her long lashes at him and his faced
relaxed. “Oh, alright.” He motioned for the waiter to give it to him. Everyone
cheered as he put on the overstuffed sea creature. The other waiter helped me
put on mine, and it covered half of my body, as I expected.

“Great. Now we really look like twins,”
Luke said.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked,
struggling to move.

“Smile!” Delaney said as she took our
picture.

“Um, you can’t see our faces,” Luke
reminded her.

“Whatever.” She snapped several shots of
us. Everyone laughed and I’m sure we looked ridiculous.

The waiters lit the candles and everyone
sang happy birthday. The waiters helped us remove the lobster heads and we blew
out the candles. After we finished our dessert, we headed to the bar. It was a
few buildings over from the restaurant, so we walked. The line extended into
the parking lot. It looked like every college student on the island was there.

“Damn, it’s going to take us an hour to
get in.” Delaney checked her phone. “And it’s almost ten.”

“No it won’t. Just follow me,” Josh
said, taking the lead. We followed him to the front of the line.

“If he thinks he can buy our way in,
he’s crazy,” Delaney told Shelby.

Shelby gave a slight shrug. “Who knows?”

“Just wait,” Luke said, lighting up a
cigarette.

“I thought you said you were going to
quit.” Delaney pulled it from his mouth and took a drag.

“Hey.”

“What?” She laughed and then put it back
in his mouth.

Josh spoke with a huge guy standing at
the front door. He had on a neon yellow muscle shirt and jeans. Sweat trickled
down his bald head and he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. It was
definitely warmer tonight; the air was humid and sticky. I was now glad that
Delaney had pulled half of my hair up. Otherwise, I would’ve really looked like
a poodle.

“He’s needs to see our IDs,” Josh said,
stuffing his wallet into his back pocket. “Come on.” He took Shelby by the hand
and waited for the guy to unhook the red rope that blocked the entrance. The
bouncer released the latch and moved to the side, checking our IDs as he
allowed us entry.

“No way.” I smiled at Raven and he
winked.

“Bullshit.” Delaney shook her head and
asked Josh, “What did you tell him?”

“That I had a section reserved for us.”

“Sweet.” Delaney turned to Luke. “Why
didn’t you tell us?”

“We wanted it to be a surprise,” Raven
said, pulling me close. “Happy birthday, baby.”

I gave him quick kiss. “Thank you.”

We entered the huge, two story
nightclub. Colored lights flashed through the smoky air, giving the place a
very seductive atmosphere. Eighties music blared through the speakers and
everyone was dressed to match it. I looked at my outfit and it made sense. “So
that’s why you wanted us to dress like this?” I yelled to Delaney and Shelby.

“Yep. It’s an eighties club.” Delaney
laughed as she danced her way to our reserved seating. She and Shelby had on
neon off-the-shoulder shirts and short jean skirts paired with Chucks, which
had most of the guys turning their heads. “I’m glad you trusted me.” Delaney
put her arm around me as we shuffled through the groves of people and entered
the reserved area.

With a direct view of the dance floor,
we had the best seats in the house. Our reserved area was the size of a large
cabana, with plush couches, lighted palm trees, and curtains on the side, for a
bit of privacy. It was sweet.

“Why didn’t you just tell me? I probably
would have picked out something different.” I looked down at my see-through
blouse that revealed my black bikini top underneath.

“What, you don’t like what we picked
out?” Delaney flagged the waitress in the cabana next to us.

“I kind of look like Madonna or
something.” I held up my hands, showing them my fishnet gloves and jelly
bracelets coupled with a big leather band with spikes, which they had picked
out.

“That’s the whole point.”

Raven laughed. “You do look like Madonna
from the eighties.”

“Great.”

“It’s good. I mean, I’m liking your get
up, if you know what I mean.” He pulled on my black tulle skirt and acted like
he was trying to catch a glimpse of what was underneath. “And we can do it like
a virgin, if you know what I mean.”

“Ha-ha.” I swatted his hand away in a
playful manner. “I’ll remember that for later.”

“Not sure if I can wait until later.” He
pulled me close and my chest pressed to his. Even under his neon green polo shirt,
I could feel every bulge waiting to be explored, inch by inch. My fingers
traced a direct path to the button on his shorts and I gave it a little tug.

“Damn, can’t you guys wait until we get
home?” Josh shook his head as he motioned for us to get out of his line of
sight.

“Whatever, man.” Raven waved off his
comment and we sat down.

“What can I get you to drink?” A
waitress with brown crimped hair wearing a white T-shirt and shorts with paint-splattered
suspenders appeared.

“Fireball shots for everyone,” Josh
informed her.

“Except for me, I’ll take a Coke,” Raven
quickly interjected.

“One Coke and five Fireballs. Anything
else?”

“Yeah, what do you have on draft?” Luke
asked as I turned my attention to Raven.

He was keeping his promise and I
couldn’t be prouder. “Thank you.” I smiled and rubbed his leg, feeling his huge
quad under my fingertips. He looked damn hot in tan shorts and Sperry’s. I
retrieved my hand, keeping it under tight control. I could wait until later.

“Hey, I told you, I’m not screwing up
this time.” He crossed his leg over his knee and rested his arm behind me.
“Besides, I’m designated driver. The last thing I want to do is wreck your
brother’s car.”

Luke quickly turned his head in our
direction. “That’s right,” he pointed at him, “I’m trusting you.”

Raven nodded. “I’ve got your back, dude.
Don’t worry.”

Luke shot him a thumbs up and then
wrapped his arm around Delaney. It was neat seeing them together after they hid
their relationship for so long. They seemed more at ease and definitely
into
each other. The angst between them had definitely disappeared.

“Is that a pool?” I leaned forward,
catching a glimpse of outside. There was a huge swimming pool jammed with tons
of people in the center of the patio. Some were playing water volleyball while
others were drinking at the swim-up bar. “That’s so cool.”

“Yeah, you didn’t see that when we came
in?” Raven asked.

I shook my head. “No, I must have missed
it.”

“That’s why we told you to wear your
bikini.” Shelby winked. “I can’t wait to get in there later.” She leaned
against Josh, stroking his short blond hair.

“Whatever you want, sweets. We’ll do
it.” Josh snuggled up to her and kissed her on the neck. Shelby squealed and
they exchanged a playful struggle for each other’s affection.

“What the hell is this?” Raven held up
his hand. “Why don’t you two get a room?”

Josh shot Raven the finger and Raven
shot him one back.

“Leave them alone, they’re in love.” I
nuzzled him. “Like we are.”

Raven took my hand and kissed my
fingers. “Baby, I’m more than in love with you. I’m crazy for you.” His lips
claimed mine and my eyes fluttered closed. I drank in all of him — from the
sweet taste of his lips, to his tantalizing tongue that did a divine dance with
mine, to his scent that melted every part of my body. I devoured it all,
shackling myself in his embrace.

“Shit, is this the make out booth or
what?” Shawn asked as our lips parted.

Raven leaned forward. “Hey, man, glad
you could make it.” They exchanged fist bumps.

“Someone has to watch out for your ass,”
he joked, putting his arm around Christine. “Lexi will be drunk before the
night is over.”

“Hmm. Maybe.” I shrugged. “Glad to know
you have his back.”

“I’ll always have his back.” Shawn gave
a playful punch to Raven’s arm.

Kyle and Megan joined us shortly after Shawn
and Christine sat down with us. Later that night, we ran into Jordan and Forbes
who were there with a few other guys from the baseball team. I knew Collin
wasn’t there, since he was in Breckenridge with my family. I was glad I didn’t
have to worry about that.

After two rounds of Fireball shots and
two glasses of Malibu and Coke, I was ready to dance. The music had me bobbing
my head side to side and I was eager to show Raven my moves.

“Oh. My. God. We have to dance. I love
this song!” Delaney shouted, pulling Luke to his feet.

“Are you serious?” Luke rolled his eyes.
“Michael Jackson?”

“Come on.” Delaney waved for me to
follow and I grabbed Raven’s hand, pulling him with me. Josh and Shelby joined
us. The dance floor filled up quickly as everyone rushed to partake in the zombie
dance. We all moved like a pack of sardines, to the left and to the right,
following the beat of the music in perfect sync.