Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Thirty-Eight

    The energy in the club was palpable. Dark, except for the roaming lights that moved across the floor. Bass from the music made the floor tremble, shook her very bones as she twisted her hips on the dance floor. The mystery man behind her didn't leave, didn't pull his hands away once. Mia didn't tell him to. Somewhere in the midst of her buzz, she knew that she should tell him to back up. But she ignored all common sense, until her buzz gradually wore off. At this point, she was almost frightened to turn around and look around. For all she knew, she would turn around and see Trevor standing behind her. The stuff of nightmares, she thought with a shudder. The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that it was Trevor standing behind her. With that possibility in mind, she forced herself to turn around.

    When she turned around, she was greeted with the sight of a tall young man with a lean, muscular build. He had to be at least six-five, and had a complexion lighter than Drake's. Even standing this close to him, it was difficult to tell the color of his eyes, since it was so dark, but his eyes looked light in color. He was dressed in a simple dress shirt, dress pants, and exquisite burgundy dress shoes. His feet were unnecessarily huge. "I'm-shocked-they-make-shoes-in-your-size" huge. He returned her frank perusal with a smile teasing his lips. She was so close to him, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

    "Why do you look familiar to me?" she asked him outright. She glanced down, realizing that he still had an arm around her. Slowly, she backed away from him until his arm dropped down at his side.

    "My name is Zach," he shouted over the music, extending the arm he'd dropped. "I play for the Chicago Bulls."

    "Zach Lavine? As in, basketball player, Zach Lavine?" she asked, accepting his offered handshake.

    He laughed as he shook her hand. "As in basketball, yes."

    Another athlete, she thought, glancing over her shoulder at Nicki and Kenneth, who were grinding on each other to their hearts' content. Turning back to Zach, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well...thank you for dancing with me." She started to walk away from him, headed back towards the VIP area.

    He turned and walked alongside her. "Hey...I never got your name."

    "Because I didn't tell it to you," she responded as she stepped off of the dance floor.

    "A woman of mystery, then?"

    "Something like that." More like, a woman with a boyfriend, a woman who is ashamed of what she just did. "If you play for Chicago, why are you in New York?"

    "We played the Knicks tonight. We do get to travel from time to time."

    "Did you win?" She stepped up into VIP and sat on the couch.

    He laughed again. "Of course. We were playing the Knicks." His heavy-lidded gaze lingered on her before he took a seat beside her. "What are you doing in New York? Something tells me you're not from around here."

    Was it that obvious? "No, I'm in town for business."

    He nodded. "You don't like to talk about yourself, do you?"

    Not to you. Not when I'm in a relationship.

    "Do you have a boyfriend?"

    She lowered her eyes, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Yes."

    He nodded in understanding and sat back on the couch. "Ah. That's why you're all...closed off now."

    "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I don't know what got into me. I was just dancing and feeling good, and then..."

    "...And then you were dancing and feeling good," he finished for her.

    Her cheeks grew redder. "Yeah. I should have stopped it. I'm sorry."

    "Hey, it's fine," he told her. "I mean, I'm definitely disappointed. You're gorgeous. I was trying to build up the confidence to ask you out, actually."

    She looked away from him and held her breath.

    "But...I wouldn't want to step on another man's toes like that. That's not really how I roll."

    "Thank you for understanding."

    "Of course." He grinned and stretched an arm along the back of the couch. "What, did you think I was going to give you a hard time for dancing?"

    She shrugged.

    "You have a man and I can respect that. But...that doesn't mean we can't talk and get to know each other, right?" He leaned closer to her, his smile easy and casual. "Just as friends, I mean."

    "That's fine, sure."

    He scooted closer to her.

    A waitress stopped by and asked if they'd like something to drink. Mia ordered another Myx Moscato, and Zach ordered a drink she'd never even heard of before. She arched an eyebrow at him as the waitress walked away. "Do you always celebrate this hardcore? And where are your teammates?"

    He turned his head, scanned the crowd, and pointed. Sure enough, across the club in what looked to be another VIP area, stood a group of ridiculously tall men. Some of them were dancing with women while others just reclined back on the couches, catching some much needed rest after their game.

    "Looks like they're having fun over there," she commented. "What brought you out to the dance floor?"

    "Let's just say...the women they were letting into VIP were not my type," he responded with a stroke of his chin.

    She glanced across the club again. The VIP area was slightly elevated over the dance floor; so she was looking over the tops of the heads of energetic dancers. Across the way, she noticed that a lot of the women partying with the Bulls players were thin and blonde. "Oh," she said softly.

     "They're beautiful women, nothing against them," he said quickly. "They're just not what does it for me."

    "What does do it for you, then?" she asked him, laughing and turning her head to look at him.

    His eyes, which she could see now were a light hazel color, lowered down the length of her, slowly and deliberately. Diamond studs glinted in the flashing club lights, and the sparkle in his eyes outmatched the shine from the diamonds. "Do you really want me to answer that question?" he asked, his voice dropping lower.