Chasing Red

Chapter One

Caleb

The dance floor glowed as red and green laser beams shot out from the rotating lights in the ceiling. It was Friday night, and the club was packed with people dancing and jumping to the DJ's throbbing music. The floor pulsed beneath my feet, and the heat radiating from the mass was inescapable. My eyes roved over the tightly packed crowd. They reminded me of penguins huddled in the cold—­on crack.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Cameron yelled in my ear, giving me a friendly punch to the arm. His ice-­blue eyes glittered in the dim light. "That was the fourth chick you turned down tonight, and we just got here."

I shrugged. Saying that I was bored with the meaningless sex and monotonous flirting seemed pretty pathetic. All right, the sex I didn't mind, but I was feeling restless, looking for something else lately. A challenge, maybe. The thrill of the chase.

I chugged my beer. "If you ate the same shit every day, you'd get bored of it too," I replied.

Justin barked out a laugh. His blond, gel-­soaked hair stayed in place as he comically motioned with his head and then with his beer to the dance floor. "Check that out, man. Holy shit!" he exclaimed, letting out a high-­pitched whistle.

In the middle of the dance floor, a girl was dancing—­no, scratch that—­gyrating so sensuously that I couldn't help but stare. She moved like... Sex comes to mind. Her short, tight dress covered her hourglass body like a second skin, seducing the dozens of eyes turned on her.

And it was in make-­me-­sin red. Damn.

I might have drooled a little as she bent over and did something dreamy with her hips. Her long ebony hair swayed against her tiny waist, and her legs looked a mile long in those spiky heels. There was something captivating in the way she danced, a defiance that flowed with the silky movements of her body. I felt my heart skip one fast beat against my chest when she looked up and our eyes met.

"Shit. I'm going to take this girl home with me," Justin yelled excitedly.

That was low and annoying enough to distract me. I hated cheating, and Justin had a girlfriend.

Cameron shook his head at Justin, looking up when a redhead asked him to dance. He laughed and whispered something in her ear. The redhead giggled. Cameron nodded to me and they left.

"Hello, team captain."

A soft body sidled up to me, reeking of intense floral perfume. I looked down into the heavily made-­up eyes of Claire Bentley. I can appreciate the magic makeup does to a girl's face, but not when she looked like she was punched and was now sporting two black raccoon eyes.

"Claire. How's it going?" I gave her a small smile, but it only encouraged her to grab on to my arm.

Ugh, no. Why did I sleep with her again?

"Oh, you know, nothing much." She batted her eyelashes, pushing her breasts into my side. I couldn't help but glance quickly at her cleavage. Her breasts were staring at me. Ah, one drunken night and those lovely things must have been enough reason for me at the time.

The strap of her dress slid down her shoulder. She looked up at me from beneath her lashes, and I wondered if that was a practiced move. Still, I thought it was kind of sexy. If she were someone else, I might be interested. My eyes strayed past her shoulder to the dance floor, searching for that girl in the red dress. Claire's grip on my arm tightened, yanking my gaze back to her.

"You owe me a drink, Caleb. I dropped mine when you walked by." Her tongue snaked out to touch her top lip.

I hid my wince. She was trying too hard, and I didn't want to be trapped in her claws all night. Racking my brain on how to shut her down without offending her, I desperately looked around for Cameron or Justin. Neither was in sight. Assholes.