Not So Loved (West Coast Campus Book 2)

Chapter 25

Maeve

A gala. A fucking gala.

I'm going to kill Rhys Beckett.

"Holy shit, you look like a fucking goddess." Rhys drawls, his hand running up and down my bare arm as we step into the ballroom.

"What exactly is this gala for?" I snap, slapping his hand away from my ass.

Rhys blinks out of his trance, his eyes casually looking me up and down because we both know how sexy and fuckable I look.

I'm wearing a black silk dress that hugs me in all the right places, the skirt jutting out slightly at my hips. It matches my hair perfectly that flows down my back and meets the arch of my lower back.

And I can't help when my eyes trail over Rhys, his large frame filling out black dress pants and a white dress shirt.

And when he rolls the sleeves up to rest on his elbows, large veins running down his forearms and matte black rings resting delicately on his fingers?

I bite back the urge to drag him behind the curtains and beg him to make me come.

Rhys shrugs, helping me into my seat at our round table. "Children's hospital. Basically all the major sports teams who play for WCC get to dress up real fancy, buy some 50/50 tickets and get a free dinner and at the end of the night, someone gets to hand a big ass cheque over to someone who works at the hospital."

I huff, tapping my spoon against the table. I invited Ava to come tonight but she had practice and she preferred to hang out with Liam apparently, especially now that we've been teaching him how to ride his bike.

Cam and Mike suddenly plop down at our table, wearing similar attire as Rhys.

Cam plops a handful of bread in his mouth, ignoring all the crumbs that fall down his shirt, Mike deciding to whip some peanuts at Rhys. Fucking toddlers.

I catch Allie's blonde hair weaving through the crowd, her hand tightly clung to Noah's as she drags him to our table.

"Hey guys. Everyone looks so good." She exclaims, taking the free seat beside Cam with Noah on her other side.

The couple must have planned their outfits together because they're both wearing green in some form. Allie's wearing a green silk dress, so light it's almost white, the material at the front hanging loose like a necklace. Noah's wearing the same attire as Rhys but he's added a green tie.

Everyone chats and eats our weight in bread, most of us diving right into the bottle of wine on the table.

The tempo of the music changes and I realize that they're playing YMCA at a fucking gala.

Rhys chuckles at my surprised expression. "It's a gala full of student athletes. Of fucking course they're going to play shit like this."

He stands, offering me his hand, which I gladly take as he leads me through the tables and onto the dance floor, where many athletes have migrated.

Rhys leads us to the empty corner of the floor, resting both of his hands on my hips, his nails digging into my dress. My arms hook around his neck, watching him swallow before I rest my head on his chest, slow dancing to fucking YMCA.

He's practically trembling under my touch so I look up to meet his eyes, finding that they're already watching me.

I grip the hair at his neck, fingers twirling. "You look like you want to devour me."

His eyes flare, leaning down until his mouth brushes over my ear, making me shiver. "That means nothing compared to what I actually want to do with you." He whispers, biting my ear playfully before straightening.