Mister West by R.J. Lewis (animal farm read .TXT) 📕

He’s not eating. He’s smiling softly at me, the stubbornness in him present as he tells me, “You danced with me the night we went out.”

“That was different. We danced together.”

“I’ll dance with you then.”

I just stare at him as the song starts up again. Stupid auto-play.

Aidan doesn’t wait for my response this time. He gets up – and my heart jumps and then quickens – and rounds the island. He offers me his hand, staring down at me now with that loosened tie, that sexy as fuck haircut I gave him, those eyes playful and serious at the same time, those lips still curved in a soft smile.

I take his hand and slide off the stool. I’m surprised by his lead. He takes my hands and wraps them around the back of his neck and then his hands are on my hips.

“Be a fool,” he tells me in the most seductive tone. “I like it, Ivy.”

My hips sway to the song, and my eyes are pinned on the bottom half of his face. I can’t look him in the eyes. My cheeks are burning hot, and if it wasn’t for that wine, I would have been stiff as a board. But I feel a little looser. My head is swimming in a good way. Aidan’s touch is light, but I feel his desire. He’s watching me and wanting me. There’s something primal about his yearning. It fills me with confidence. I know you’re not meant to have someone be responsible for making you feel self-worth, but he makes me feel worthy of his company. It’s flattering and it gives me a boost I didn’t expect I needed, like…maybe I’m not as much of a nobody as I led myself to believe I was. Maybe I’m capable of more.

I finally meet his eyes, my smile gone. I stare deeply into his eyes, and then he’s spinning us around, moving closer to the lounge. I laugh when he pulls away, holding my hand to spin me around.

Aidan knows how to dance.

He brings me back to him and this time he dips his face down to a tender spot between my shoulder and face. I feel the slightest graze of his lips along my neck. By now I’m really moving to the music, and he’s gripping my hips a little harder, feeling my motion.

Move for me, move for me, move for me ay, ay, ay…

Every time I listen to this song, I will be thinking of this moment.

He pulls away and looks down at me. I see his hunger. His eyes settle on my lips and he stares for a few beats before they settle back on mine. His face hovers close to mine, and now we aren’t moving at all.

His hunger is met with resistance. He keeps pulling back and I’m letting him, even though I don’t want to, but I understand. The incident with Derek is still fresh. He’s a dark cloud hanging over us. I sense Aidan wants to talk about it, but he’s holding back.

“Did you hurt him?” I whisper.

It severs the moment, but we must talk about it.

“No,” Aidan says coolly. “I wanted to.”

“He just let you go?”

That’s not something he would do. Derek is a fighter, especially when he’s drunk.

“He said some things,” Aidan responds.

“What things?”

Now he frowns, and a dark look comes over him. “Don’t you dare go back to him.”

I step back, and he lets me go. I feel a little misunderstood. “I have no intention of doing that. I’ve tried to leave him several times.”

“I know it’s not my place, but I wish you would have physically removed yourself from there a long time ago.”

My shoulders fall. I look away as guilt wracks me. “I know. I think I needed someone to push me, otherwise I would have kept taking it.”

“He would have hurt you. Has he…” His teeth flare as anger surfaces in him. “Has he ever laid a finger on you, Ivy?”

“He hasn’t beaten me or anything,” I say. “We’ve had tiffs before. He’s pushed me around.”

“You were on that bed when I found you. Your hair was a mess. Did hepush you on there?”

I chew my lip to stop my eyes from watering. “Yeah.”

He simply nods, but his face is a storm. He leaves me standing there and returns to the kitchen. He’s pacing, tossing empty containers in the sink. I go to him and stand just beyond the island, watching him. He’s rolled his sleeves up. I see the thick cords in his forearms as he clears the island. I wonder what the rest of him looks like bare.

When I look back at his face, his eyes are already on mine. He’s caught me watching him, but there’s no cheekiness in his expression. He just watches me back. The tension is back. Again, I’m standing just before the edge, and I’m willing myself to jump off, but I need Aidan’s lead.

Dance Monkey is still playing, but I can barely hear it now. I swallow hard. My lips part to speak, but Aidan beats me to it.

“Follow me, Ivy.”

I take my phone and turn off the music. He brushes past me and leads me down a wide hallway. He goes to the first door and opens it. I enter after him. It’s a giant bedroom, probably half the size of my apartment.

I’m staring at the bed and then him, wondering if he’s actually going to seduce me. Not that it would take much seducing. But he’s looking around like he’s inspecting the place instead.

“I haven’t been here in a while,” he mutters, opening a closet door wide and then another door of the bathroom in the corner.

“This isn’t your bedroom?” I ask, surprised.

“No,” he answers, glancing back at me with a faint smirk. “I’m further down the hall, across from you.”

“Oh.” Do I sound disappointed? I hope not.

“There’s a full bathroom here with all the comforts already provided,” he then tells me. “And a decent sized closet. You’ve