Dart and Dash - Mary Smith Page 0,23

I’d danced today. I needed to find myself again. I had to.

However, right now, I needed to drink.

The party was thumping. I mean, literally. The bass was pounding so hard, the windows and walls were shaking. I had mingled with a couple girls I knew from my math class, and we were trying to have a conversation, but it wasn’t working out well because of the volume.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and a nice looking guy pointed to the dance floor. I assumed he was asking me to dance. I nodded, and he took my hand.

The first thing I noticed were his hands were super soft, unlike Dash’s, which were rougher. My memory of him holding my hand during the reading made me wish I was holding his now. This guy wasn’t as tall as Dash either, which was one thing I really liked about Dash. The other thing I liked most about Dash’s body was how built he was. This guy was lankier, but he had some rhythm to him.

He held onto my hips as I ground up against him, keeping with the bass of the music. As the song continued, I got a strange feeling that I was being watched, but didn’t search for the source.

When the next song started, I still had that uneasy feeling. As I scanned the room, I saw the blue eyes of Dash Terrance staring me down. His usual hard stare was now full of anger. He looked pissed off, standing there with his friends, but pinning me with his glare.

The guy I was dancing with broke my stare down with Dash, and made the motion to get something to drink. I nodded, and pointed to the front door, letting him know I was heading outside.

When I reached the sidewalk, the music was still loud, but it was the ringing in my ears that was really bothering me.

“You’re not leaving with him.” I spun around to Dash’s stern order.

“What?”

“You heard me.” He crossed his arms, towering over me.

“Enough, Dash.” I gave it right back to him. “If I want to leave with him, I will.” I wasn’t going to back down, and I’ll be damned if he was going to order me around.

“You’re drunk.”

“No, I’m not,” I shouted at him. “I’ve only had three drinks and they weren’t strong.”

“Good, then you’ll be able to understand when I say you’re not leaving with that douche bag.” He narrowed his eyes.

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes, turned on my heels, and walked away. I’d already had a long day, and I wasn’t going to argue with him.

“Well, you’re not walking alone.” Dash tugged on my arm toward his motorcycle.

“It’s one block.” I jerked my arm from his grasp. “And I don’t need help.” I stomped up the block, but I knew Dash was following. My blood was boiling because he was treating me like a child.

When we reached my house, I faced him. “You can leave now.”

“Not until I know you’re safe inside.”

I growled, unlocked the door, and stepped over the threshold. “Happy?”

“Have a good night, Garnet.”

I slammed the door in his face. Damn him. One minute, I couldn’t get out of my head, and the next second, I wanted to ring his neck.

I paced around the living room for a moment, calming myself down, when I realized I was an adult. Dash Terrance couldn’t tell me what to do. A smile grew on my face, I tilted my chin up high, walked out my front door, and I headed back to the party.

“Hey,” the lanky guy I was dancing with waved at me when I was close to the house.

“Hey,” I smiled at him.

“I was looking for you.” He grinned at me.

“Oh, yeah, I had to run over to my house real fast,” I lied.

“Okay.” I heard the uncertainty in his voice. “I’m Troy.”

“I’m – ”

“Leaving,” Dash’s deep voice cut me off, before I could say my name.

“Dammit,” I turned around to him, giving him the meanest look.

“Hey dude, she’s underage, and has been drinking. So, unless you want to get in trouble, I’d suggest you run away.”

I gasped at him, but Troy left. “You’re an ass, Dash Terrance.” I slapped his shoulder, but it only caused my hand to sting.

“I took you home.”

“And I came back,” I informed him.

“You’re going back home, Garnet.”

“Why do you even care if I’m at this party? Am I cramping your style or something?”

“No.”

“Then what the fuck?” I threw my hands up in the air in frustration.

“You