Drowning

Chapter 25:

We got out of the car and started walking towards the line that had already formed by the door. The night air was hot and humid. Even with the small amount of clothes I had on, I could feel how sticky my skin was starting to get from the sweat.

JD and Anna were walking hand in hand in front of us towards the line gathered outside the bar. I walked slowly behind them, trying not to trip over the broken pavement. I looked back to see Ezra was walking closely behind me, hovering over me protectively. JD's warning about kicking him out if he didn't do his job must have worked. Ezra had punched the time clock to begin his watch. We walked past quite a few eager concert-goers looking for Aiden and Mark. JD spotted them and pointed to a place about thirty feet from the door.

As we walked past the line of excited concert goers, I heard some guy call out, "Love the outfit blue."

I chuckled and looked back to see where it came from.

Ezra already had his fists clenched and turned back around to the guy to say something to him. A little giggle escaped my lips, watching him taking everything way too seriously tonight. He turned his gaze back at me and glared as I covered my mouth, trying to hide the laughter. Ezra started mumbling something under his breath that I couldn't quite make out.

My bodyguard wasn't in a playful mood tonight. I hoped he didn't plan on ruining my fun with his bad attitude.

Mark and Aiden turned as we walked up to the line. I was waiting for Aiden to come over and pull me into the usual friendly hug but he stayed glued to the sidewalk. Instead, he shifted awkwardly from side to side without saying a word. Something about his feet must have caught his attention because he was staring at his shoes like they were the most interesting thing here. Aiden had never been shy and quiet. I wondered why he was acting so odd tonight.

"Damn girls, you two look hot." Mark praised us.

"What about me?" JD asked, playing with Mark.

"As gorgeous as ever, boss."

I found my place in line next to Aiden and bumped his arm with mine to try to get his attention. He shifted again and did not look up at me.

"Hey, Aiden," I said playfully when he didn't acknowledge me right away.

"Oh, hey, how have you been?" He whispered quietly, still looking down at his shoes.

"Sober." I answered and Aiden chuckled. He took a chance to look up at me finally.

Just when Aiden looked up, Ezra moved in close behind me. Aiden returned his eyes down to his feet. What was that about? Why was tonight so unbelievably strange? It had to be because of what happened the other night at the party.

The line began to slowly start inch forward and we moved closer to the doorman and bouncer. Anna and JD were the first to go in, followed by Aiden and Mark. They quickly disappeared into the bar and I lost sight of them in the crowd while Ezra and I waited for our turn to go in next. When we stepped up about to have our tickets taken, I noticed the bouncer was the same scuzzy guy who felt me up the last time. Great.

Ezra took my ticket out of my hand and handed them to the doorman. He snatched them out of his hands and waved us through.

Ezra walked up to the bouncer and raised his arms to get the standard patdown to make sure he didn't bring anything dangerous into the bar. After a few seconds, the guy gave him the all-clear to go on.

When the bouncer looked up, he saw me and smiled. He motioned for me to move closer. Ezra was standing a few feet away, waiting for me to be finished before going in.

I held my arms out and the greasy bouncer looked me up and down. His eyes stopped at my breasts overflowing from my corset. He ran his hands along my sides and down my hips. He patted around my butt and went to move his hands over the front of my skirt. I looked up, getting impatient and not wanting to watch where his eyes were. His hand went up to my thighs and began to slip under my skirt. I gasped when I felt him pull at the fishnets.

"I think you're done." Ezra walked up and grabbed my arm to pull me away from him. He went to go back after the guy ready to pounce. I pulled him back to me to try to stop him.

The bouncer didn't flinch and looked over at Ezra with a quick smile. He shrugged his shoulders and motioned for us both to go inside.

"Fucking pervert." Ezra mumbled under his breath as he pulled me into the bar.

"You could be a little nicer." I said, pulling my arm out of his hand.

"He was feeling you up. What was I supposed to do? Thank him for his services? Tell him to keep up the good work?" He looked down at me, annoyed.

"No, I'm not saying that. I just didn't want you to get thrown out for fighting the bouncer." I said, putting my hand on his arm. "Can we please just go in now?"

He threw up his hands and began to walk in. I tapped him on the back and he lowered his head when I motioned to him, letting him know I wanted to say something else.

"Thank you." I said into his ear. He nodded and headed into the bar entryway.

When we went inside, I began searching the room for our little group. I couldn't see anything through the tall crowds of people, another severe disadvantage of being incredibly short. Ezra touched my bare shoulder and pointed to our group standing near the bar. I craned my head around the crowd and was able to catch a quick glimpse of them before the crowd thickened, blocking my view.

The place was packed tonight and it was going to take some creativity to find a way to get to them. I tried looking for a path, but there was no way we would be able to get to them without pushing through the crowd. I started to try to squeeze through and push without any luck. There was no way I was going to make it to the bar without some help.

"Follow me." Ezra said, leaning into my ear from behind me. His warm breath tickled my neck when it hit my skin.

He ran his hand along my back and I almost collapsed from his touch. He stepped in front of me and grabbed my wrists.  Ezra pulled me close to his back and began to push his way through to the bar. He held my hands over his hard stomach tightly so I wouldn't get separated from him.  His shirt rode up as we inched through the crowd and I felt him inhale sharply when my fingers grazed the skin underneath. I went to try to pull away and he held them against his skin tighter.

The night had barely begun and Ezra Miller had already flipped me upside down.