My back was pressed against the wall. Mr. Capable’s biceps flexed by my shoulders, caging me in but I didn’t feel confined. His smile sent my chest into a flutter, and the heat from his body had my panties ready to ignite.

No.

No. No. No. Strangers didn’t make naked appearances in my fantasies, and they certainly did not take me home. I needed to play it cool.

His green eyes floated across my face like he was tracing every line, memorizing every curve. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

The sound was smooth and melodic, like he should’ve been the one with the guitar in the corner, melting me from the inside out. My tongue felt fat, and every word from the English language seemed to evaporate from my mind. What was he asking?

“Avril!” My name bounced off my tongue in a surprised shout before I could control it.

I clamped my lips together and suppressed a groan. Way to play it cool, Avril. Well done.

He grinned down at me and waited.

What was he waiting for, a kiss? I was not going to kiss a stranger in the middle of a crowded bar.

One brow pulled up, and his grin widened like he was amused. “Luke.”

Heat prickled my neck and pooled in my cheeks. His name. Right. 

“Tory is great.” The statement blurted from my lips.

Two pulsing dots burned on each cheek. What was wrong with me? Had I lost all control over my brain and tongue?

His fingers reached for my hair; one thick, rusty brown strand twirled between them. “I’m sure she is.”

My heart thumped against my ribs, and my throat tightened. Why was I pushing Tory on him? What if he decided he wanted her instead? “She’s looking to hook-up tonight.”

My teeth smacked together, and my mouth snapped shut and bit down on my inner cheek. Just stop, Avril!

His tongue darted out, wetting his lips, and his brows tugged together. “As lovely as I am sure Tory is, she's not the one my dick is hard for.”

I gasped. My heart thumped into my throat, choking me. A flicker sparked between my thighs, and my hips rolled, seeking his. No guy had ever been so blunt with me. The thought of going home with this dirty-talking stranger excited me. But could I do it? “I don’t think I can give you what you want.”

The green in his eyes softened. His fingers buried further into my hair and massaged the base of my skull. “What is it you think I want?”

A woman beneath you, on top of you. I widened my eyes and flattened my palms. Against a wall. “What most people come to a bar for?”

He smirked. “Beer?”

I bit my lip. Mortification filtered through the nervousness and flushed cold in my veins. Was Luke only here for a drink? Was I overestimating this attraction between us?

He laughed, noticing my panicked expression. “I’m here with my brother, celebrating a new job. You happen to be a distraction from that.”

A smile pinched the corner of my lips, and I bit down hard, trying to hide it. My eyes skipped through the crowd, looking for a disgruntled brother.

Luke’s breath whispered close to my mouth. “I’m sure he’s too busy with his own distractions to notice my absence.”

A nervous shiver pimpled my skin. Did Luke and his brother come to the bar regularly looking for distractions? With his sexy smirk and entrancing eyes, he looked like a walking one-night stand. Did I want to get involved with someone like that?

I considered what it would be like to go home with this stranger. Tory was right when she said he looked perfectly capable of working me over. He looked like he knew exactly how to touch a woman. Would it be so bad to spend a few hours moaning beneath him? It's not like I had time for anything more.

He dragged his fingers through my hair, sending a toe-curling tingle down my spine. My eyes dropped to his mouth. It was millimeters from my own. If I tilted my chin up, our lips would touch. Was that what I wanted? To kiss a stranger in a crowded bar? To feel a stranger's hands on me, inside of me?

I wanted to say no. I had chapters to read, a paper to finish, and a friend I was supposed to be supporting. But my feet were glued to the floor, refusing to let me walk away. 

I lifted my chin, and my breath stilled. So close.

His eyes hooded. “Come home with me?”

His voice was strained, raising at the end like a question, but the words rippled over my skin like a plea. Did he feel this aching need for me too?

I nodded, my body agreeing before my brain had a chance to catch up. His touch had lit a fire in between my thighs, and the only thing capable of extinguishing it would be wrapping them tight around him. “Let me tell Tory.”

His eyes sparkled with surprise and some unspoken promise to make this crazy idea worth it. “I’ll wait by the bar.”

My heart catapulted against my chest and my head bobbled like a plastic doll. I slipped past him before he could ask me if any screws were loose.

They must be. Why else would I agree to go home with a stranger? Maybe it was because of the size of the bulge that rubbed a teasing circle on my ass.

A coil tightened low in my belly. That bulge was going to touch me in places that only my hand had been for over a year.

My toes curled into my shoes as I walked between undulating bodies, imagining all the ways he would touch me. Once I knew Tory was okay, I would leave with Luke, go to this strange man’s home and let him do wicked things to my body.

I bit my lip to hold back the grin and scanned the crowd. Where was Tory?

I pulled out my phone. Tory’s name was highlighted on the screen. “Didn’t want to interrupt you and Mr. Capable (Yum Yum). Going home with Liam. Fuck Thomas. Luv u!”

My chest squeezed and my eyes darted through the crowd, searching for her. Liam was Thomas’s best friend. Sleeping with your ex's friend could turn a bad breakup ugly.

My brows knitted together and I reread the message. Why wasn’t Liam with Thomas? He was the single one, not Thomas.

Air puffed up my cheeks and I pushed the anxiety aside. It didn’t matter, Tory was right—fuck Thomas. I grinned and typed a reply. “Going home with Luke aka Mr. Capable (O.M.G.) Check in later. Luv u 2.”

Nerves trickled down my back, but the fire pulsing deep inside evaporated them. I didn’t care that I had a major paper worth 40 percent of my grade due in seventeen hours. It didn't matter that I had never met this guy before tonight. Something about him made me want to forget everything else in the world for one night. I wanted to go home with this stranger.

I spun on the spot and moved between bodies, aware of the silky flick of fabric against my thighs as I walked. My chest swelled with each breath and a tightness tugged at my skin. I was hot and needy with a craving so foreign to me that it was overwhelming and consuming all at once.

My body ached for this stranger, and it wouldn't stop until I had him. His body pressed against mine, his lips kissing a slow, steady path from my chin to my collarbone. My nipples tightened in expectation. Would he wrap his lips around the tips? Scratch them a little with his teeth?

Shallow breaths wobbled from my lips. Would Luke be slow and soft or hard and rough? His cocky smirk hinted at a guy who liked to have fun. A nervous energy spiked in my stomach. Fun was good.

I stepped up to the bar. A crowd had gathered and the two bartenders looked flustered. Each face lining the bar was a stranger, but not the stranger I wanted. My teeth clamped together, and a frown tugged my lips down. Did Luke leave?

My body groaned. He can't have left. I hadn't felt this burning need for sex in…never. My fingers wouldn’t be enough to satisfy me tonight.

Black curls appeared at the end of the bar. My stomach flipped, and a pulse swelled my aching bud until every breath caused my lace panties to tease the tip.

Ripples of desire twitched in my thighs and I bunched the end of my dress in my fist. My nails scratched at my skin, ready to slip my fingers between and ease some of the tension building. I wasn't sure how long I could wait. Maybe we could fool around on the way home.

I smoothed my dress down and my hips swung, pushing me forward until I was close enough to see Luke's face through the crowd.

His eyelids lowered and his lips parted like he was lost in some moment. Was he picturing me?

Tingles tightened my nipples until they puckered. I suddenly wanted to go home with him more than I’d ever thought possible.

I stepped closer as the throng parted, revealing Luke's hands curled around the arms of another girl. Her brown hair flicked over one shoulder in perfectly styled waves. Her full red lips kissed his collarbone, and her hand pressed between them, fingers locked on his belt buckle. She looked like a girl who went home with strangers often. She looked like a girl who would know exactly what Luke wanted, not some inexperienced geek who only knew the male body based on lame teenage experiences and medical textbooks. 

My stomach rolled up my throat and slammed back down. Mortification burned every inch of my skin. Luke was supposed to be waiting for me. Was I that easy to forget?

I didn't care about the answer. I spun on my heel and headed for the door, not even bothering to look back. I was just some random girl in a bar. We probably all looked the same to him.

The cold night air hit me fast. It soothed my heated skin but did nothing to ease the fire raging beneath. My body still wanted Luke. The first time I agree with a one-night stand, and he blows me off. Damn it.

I slumped against the wall, bricks biting at my bare shoulders. My head flopped back and I groaned. My body hadn't gotten the memo that Luke was a player.

My fingertips grazed my outer thighs and a surge of heat pulsed between, urging me closer.

“Why the sigh?” a low voice rasped from the shadows.

My back stiffened and my fingers jerked from my thighs, smacking into the wall. 

A red light flared between us—a cigarette pinched between a thumb and finger—and I squeezed my sore knuckles. I laughed a short, derisive tone and shook my head. I was willing to go home with a stranger and masturbate in public. What the hell had Luke done to me? “Tonight just didn't turn out as planned.”

The man held the cigarette out to me. I shook my head and cringed. “Do people still smoke these days?”

He grinned. “Looks that way.”

Dark locks that reminded me of Luke's curled tight around his ears. My skin flushed.

Damnit. I needed to stop thinking about Luke.

This stranger’s smile was cute, not seductive like…someone else's, but his lips looked soft. His chest filled out the white button-down shirt nicely. Tanned skin peeked out from the rolled-up sleeves. He didn't make my body threaten combustion like Luke did, but a pleasant warmth filled me. Maybe he could help me out by extinguishing whatever it was that... the other person had inflamed? 

“Are you here with anyone?” My heart thumped against my ribs. What! Did you really just ask him that?

He turned to me, and one corner of his lips tugged up. “A few people.”

I rolled my tongue over my teeth, the next question catching in my throat. How do you ask someone to take you home?

You don't. Walk away, Avril.

The idea made me nervous. Could I do it?

I didn't even know this stranger’s name. But my clit pulsed in anticipation and that burning need Luke had ignited sparked. I refused to go back into the club and act like I held some ownership over Luke. If he couldn't wait ten minutes for me, then I wasn't going to waste the rest of my night thinking about him. Or the way he felt pressed against me.

My breasts swelled, causing an ache in my nipples. I needed something that I couldn't give myself.

I focused on the stranger. He wasn't what I wanted, but he could give me what I needed. “Take me home?”

The stranger grinned. “Yes, ma'am.”