Kelly's Quest (NYC LOVE Book 2) by Jennifer Ann Page A

I’ve proven my family and everyone else to be right about me.
    “I lost you out there!” Jewels hollers above the noise. “Where’d you go?”
    Theo hands me a glass. I thank him and take a quick gulp, hoping to calm my frayed nerves. “I had a smoke with some girl,” I tell her. While in the past I’ve tried a few cigarettes, I’ve never really understood how someone could enjoy making themselves sick and smelly for a brief buzz. The lie really sucks, but it still beats the truth.
    Theo’s thick brows bend, giving me one of those looks a person emits when they’re judging your character. “You smoke?”
    I shrug, grateful for the dark lighting. The way he’s studying me closely, he may be able to see the after-sex glow on my cheeks. “Not really. I’ve only tried it a couple of times. She was nice, and I didn’t want to offend her when she offered one.”
    Adam wraps his arms around Jewels from behind, grinning. “This is New York . You’re bound to offend someone at some point. May as well get used to it.”
    From the unsatisfied glint to Jewels’s gaze, I know she isn’t buying it. She tilts her head to the dance floor, only half looking me in the eye. “Chloe’s band is about to play. Let’s go work our way up to the front row.”
    Theo waits for me to trail behind the other two, setting his fingers on the curve of my back. I stiffen when I think he’s trying to take a whiff of me again. Is he looking for the smell of the shampoo, or trying to validate my story?
    As we work our way through the crowd, it sinks into my skull just how badly I screwed up by having impromptu sex with Erik. Now if I tell Jewels I’m moving in with him, no strings attached, I’ll be lying. I can’t lie to her. Not about this. How can I expect her to take it without freaking out on me?
    And I really am interested in dating Theo because I know he’d be good for me. I’d be a fool to pass up someone who served our country and has the kind of job most people would dream of having, plus he’s sweet and really fucking hot. He’s exactly the kind of guy I need in my life. But if he discovers I banged another guy in the alley while he was buying my drink, he’ll believe the reputation that I’ve now earned.
    I’m the whore everyone accused me of being.
    Someone makes an announcement into the microphone and everyone around us cheers in approval. I feel Theo’s hand on my back. The bodies surrounding us suddenly seem too close. My head spins with the brutal dose of reality I was stupid enough to bring upon myself. My vision blurs in and out before everything turns to black.
     
    “She’s awake!” I hear someone yell above brash, seemingly angry music.
    My eyelids flutter open. Adam and Jewels watch over me, their expressions a mixed bag. I’m propped against Theo in a booth near the entrance of the bar. The hardness of his chest and musky scent of his cologne are like a zinger to my already daunted conscience. I try to move away, but his arms hold me in place.
    “Take it easy,” he whispers into my ear. “You passed out on the dance floor.”
    Jewels hands me a sweating bottle of water. “Drink!”
    With shaking hands, I take it from her and down nearly half its contents.
    “It’s my fault,” Jewels tells me, leaning against Adam. “I should’ve been on you to drink more water since you got here. I swear I drink a glass every hour in this heat.”
    “I’m a big girl,” I insist, waving her off. “And I usually drink more water than you, Jewels.”
    I peer past my friend to see Chloe on center stage, rocking a blue electric guitar the same color as the streaks in her bangs. A tattooed guy with gages in his ears stands at her side, dressed like he stepped directly out of the grunge era, and a skinny drummer who looks 16 or 17 slouches behind a set of drums, his arms a blur of movement as he plays. Their music cuts through the bar like knives as Chloe’s sultry voice screams out indistinguishable lyrics.