The Band Next Door

Chapter 16 - The hangover.

Tori's POV

-Last Night-

Frowning at Nikki when she refused to dance with us, I shook my head, the vodka in me giving me a feeling of invulnerability. I wasn't smashed yet seeing as I could handle my liquor, but I couldn't say the same for most of the bodies dancing around me.

Swiftly moving to the middle of the dance floor where the beat was pounding the hardest, and I couldn't figure out whose body was bumping into mine, I danced. Releasing any and all inhibition, I shook my hips, clapped my hands, and just jammed in general.

I had always liked clubs. This is what I knew, what I was good at: dancing and music. Suddenly, a pair of hands was on my waist, hips grinding against mine.

A stranger had come up and started dancing with me, no introductions. Not that they were necessary. His jet black hair and chiseled jaw told me that I would've said yes anyway if he'd asked, and he knew that.

" "You look hot, babe." He breathed on my neck, body moving in time with mine. The seductive purr of his voice darkened my eyes, and I smirked at him, the beat flowing through the both of us.

Our bodies bumped together fluidly, rolling together as one, his breath always heavy and minty on my neck and shoulders. But suddenly his breath was replaced by his lips, kissing their way up to my jaw. At that moment, shock filled my face, and I looked up to see an angry pair of brown eyes boring into me, betrayed.

"Liam." I said. A plea, but he had already turned around and was making his way through the crowd.

"My name's Damian." My dance partner murmured lustfully, but I had already broken away with an apology, calling out to the boy I really did care about.

"Liam! Liam, stop!" I wove my way through the crowd, thankful for the height Liam had. It made him easier to find in the throng.

He burst outside angrily, his chest heaving, and the alcohol heightening all his emotions. I could read the betrayal in his irises; see the conflict in his stance.

"What the hell was that, Tori?" Liam asked whilst his hands were placed above his hanging head against the brick wall. The chilly air shit me and I wrapped my jacket around myself tighter.

My gaze turned cold as ice against his back, and I said monotonously, "You can't honestly expect me to apologize for dancing with a guy at a club. I'm single, I'm fairly tipsy, and that's typically what you do at clubs, Payne."

He flinched. He knew my use of his last name wasn't a good sign, and everything I had said was true.

"What do I want from you? Jesus Christ, T, Don't be so thick." He ground out at me, spinning around.

I walked angrily right up to him and poked his chest furiously. Sheer outrage shone through my eyes, "How the hell can I possibly know what you want from me when you don't even know what you want from me?!?"

Shock and a bit of fear flashed across Liam's face, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh don't be so thick, Liam." I parroted back at him as I crossed my arms, and we were so close that they were pressed right against his broad chest. "It means you have no idea if you really see me as a friend or a girlfriend."

"That's ridiculous! I know exactly what I think of you." He protested. He tried to take a step back from our closeness forgetting how close he was to the brick wall. I had him cornered, and he knew it.

"Then tell me." I looked at him expectantly, waiting for his brilliant response, but he was speechless.

My eyebrows knit together, "Do you see me just as a friend? Everything's platonic?" I prompted as my heart pounded waiting for his answer. All he could do was stare intently at me and shake his head.