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It was starting to weird me out

And then when the plates had been cleared, Eva stood up to go to the bathroom I set my napkin down, careful to hide the blood stains, as if to stand up with her I mean, wasn’t it a universally known fact that woether? At the very least in pairs? But before I could stand up, the full weight of his arht

I sighed and went back to staring at the table, watching the s of the Liberty Tavern Eventually, the bill was paid, by Taylor, who insisted that this was his treat and ere on our way to after dinner drinks

I had to assuo anywhere they carded Not that I didn’t have my fake ID withmy way passed bartenders and bouncers, because I was But warning bells were ringing in ive another ed for me

He did not seem like the type that played ith others

The whole underage thing turned out to be a null point anyhen tothe hotel to drive somewhere else, the men led us over to the bank of elevators Anaxandra and Eva were cozy and friendly, draped on their dates’ arms, but I remained stiff and cautious next to Taylor

Even though I hadn’t had anything to drink at dinner, everyone else had plenty and Drew and Blake were h; even though I could tell they were still very much in control

Taylor on the other hand… he was clearly on his way to inebriated, but instead of getting loud and goofy, he held on to ainst hiertips digging into ainst his body so that ainst his It ard to walk that way, and I was obnoxiously off balance

Not to mention he reeked of beer

Once ere all piled into the elevator, he grippedhis whole ar his face in the crook ofsound and then inhaled loudly "Daood"

I le out of his hold We were in the back corner of the elevator and even though I wasn’t exactly in danger, I was extremely uncomfortable and I desperately wished Ana or Eva would pay attention to otten very handsy the with their own probleht," Taylorwent s stilled and my heart stopped completely

"No, I don’t think we’re supposed to be alone," I fuood idea"

"Sure it is," he growled, digging his fingers intohis other hand around reat idea A fantastic idea"

I let out a shaky breath and placedme"

The pressure let up, just a little bit "Say it, Ivy, say it’s a good idea"

I shooktears that were threatening to spill His fingers went back to jabbing my skin and I would have doubled over if his ar position

"Say it," his voice was deadly quiet, just a whisper in erous whisper I had ever heard

"I would love to be alone with you," I forced out But no No I did not want to be alone with hihtened against my stomach and shoulder and I used thebreath

I had to get out of this

I wasn’t exactly sure what the protocol was here Last night, Nix made me understand that it was my duty to make my date feel welcomed and at home I was supposed to be the perfect date, have no expectations on the man and allow him to relax completely with a beautiful woman on his arm

But surely this was not in the contract There had to be some kind of code that I could use to warn Anaxandra and Evaleen that one bad Really bad

The elevators finally opened on the top floor and we all poured out of the closed metal box Drew and Eva started down one hile Blake and Ana walked along with us

"See you in the hed hysterically in return

I looked over at Ana until I caught her attention We were side by side with the boys on the outside talking about stupid things above our heads

"I can’t do this, Ana," I whispered fiercely

"He knows not to push further than you’ll let hiot to relax," she bit out back at et out of this," I begged as silently as I could A treacherous tear escaping down my cheek "Please"

Taylor’s pull on me was abrupt and painful as my body slammed back into his I didn’t know if he had heard ainst the strength of his arms

Ana must have seen the fear inme because suddenly the annoyed look on her face turned to concern

"Hey, why don’t we party together for a while?" She suggested coyly She turned in Blake’s arms and played with the top button of his open oxford "It could be fun Just a few more drinks? Maybe play a little poker?"