NOTE: If you are reading this anywhere other than W a t t p a d, IT IS STOLEN. THIS IS ONLY ON THAT SITE. Please report the site and go read this in its proper place! 

CHECK IN: First time reader? Rereading? Let me know in the comments and say HI! --> 

─── ♔♔♔ ───

 Freedom is the pulsating bass, the thrum of alcohol, flashing lights, and the feel of those green eyes boring into my frame as it gyrates against this tall, muscular God-like form as he joins me back from the bar.

Freedom is control. Control is freeing.

Freedom is what you make it, after all.

"Is that him? The one staring at us with the black shirt?" Lucas' husky voice whispers in my ear. Despite the pounding bass and heavy singing that fills my ears, every time he whispers in my ear, it becomes the only thing I can hear. He's doing it on purpose, so Brayden can stare at us and get jealous, and so far it's working.

Lucas passes me a second drink as the song starts its descent towards the end.

"Yeah, that's him." I sip the double vodka and coke — my second and last drink. The alcohol is never the reason I come clubbing and dancing, anyway; for me, it's the freedom and control that intertwine like pieces of rope.

Lucas runs a hand through his hair before leaning down and pressing a kiss on my temple.

Shudders run down my spine, forcing it to arch.

What I wouldn't give to have those lips on mine.

I mentally slap myself. No, Mila, this isn't the plan. The plan is to make Brayden jealous and make him want you back, not find someone new.

The song ends, and another one immediately starts; a remix of an old Eighties song that my mum played on our cassette player while she did the housework in our council flat.

My head shakes as I sip my drink up and let loose. Lucas' left hand wraps around my bare waist where this deep blue dress has a cut-out middle, and starts dancing against me.

The dizzying heat is making the air thick with sweat with the sheer amount of bodies plus being underground in this club, plus the lights and lack of fresh air, yet the way there are two sets of eyes on mine makes it seem like there are three of us in this room with nothing and no one else.

I lift my eyes and dare to meet Brayden's across the dancefloor as his date has her arms wrapped around him, a drunk limp coming from her. She's the very opposite of me: she's blonde, massive chest, skinny and very girly. I'm brunette, mid-sized chest and chunky, and so not girly.

But this Lucas guy immediately looked at me when I walked in here and he's doing an amazing job so far of making me feel beautiful enough to be wanted. His hands and kisses weirdly not only seem to be doing the agreed promise of making my ex-boyfriend jealous as fuck across the dancefloor, but he seems to be making me feel better about my form than Brayden ever did.

Maybe it's the alcohol.

The vodka in my plastic cup seems to be gone when I suck on the straw, despite my best efforts to get some out, so I pout at it as Lucas removes it from my hands.

"Come on. I have an idea," he calls across the thrumming bass.

I turn to look at him, arching a carefully made-up eyebrow at him as my curls whip my face. "I'm suspicious."

"Don't be, just come with me," Lucas says. His blonde hair is ruffled a little where he's been running his hand through it, and it makes my heart lurch. His hand slips into mine, and I swear the warmth is new and comforting despite the heat forcing everything else about me to be sticky.

My eyes divert to where Brayden is standing, staring at me with furrowed brows across the dancefloor. His blonde hair is shorter than I remember, yet it suits him.

Lucas leads me out into the corridor and out of the door for the smokers and people to get fresh air without leaving the club.

"What're we doing out here? You smoke?" I ask.

He chuckles and shakes his head. "No. The plan is, Peach—"

"Peach? My name is Mila!"

He grins. "Right, but I like Peach for you. Kinda cute, right?"

"Cute? I'm twenty-one years old!" I joke.

"Peaches are juicy, and they're a fruit. Good for you, sweet, juicy. Just like you, Peach. And hey, twenty-one is a good age, don't ruin this year. You start losing it when you reach my ripe age of twenty-three." He snorts. "Get it? Ripe, peach?"

"Do you start making crap dad jokes too?" I quip.

"Wasted on you!" He grins and then turns serious. "Anyway, my point is that your idiot in there—"

"Hey, he's not an idiot, just... misguided right now."

He rolls his eyes and nods before leaning against the wall. "Right, because a man who would dump a woman like you is clearly sane." His sarcastic tone doesn't go unnoticed. "Anyway, Peach, I plan to lead you out here long enough for him to think about it, then we go back in and dance a bit more. After a song or two, we kiss and walk out as if we were going home together. Bam, a man will be seething. If he does care, that is... judging by his glares so far, he does."

"Okay." I breathe in the cold sea air, letting it fill my lungs as I try to ignore the weight of his dark eyes.

There's something in this air between us, and I'm not sure what it is. He's hot, and dancing against him for the past hour or so has been... hot as well, but talking about going separate ways isn't what I want, yet it's what I suggested to him when he saw me staring at Brayden across the floor. We were ordering drinks and Lucas caught me looking, so questioned me about it. It was his idea, but I said yes.

Is this meant to end with just us going our separate ways, or is that heavy, coffee look he's giving me more than nothing?

Lucas inhales the air as if he's never enjoyed the cold sea air at whatever ungodly hour of the morning this is before pushing off the wall with his foot and standing in front of me.

Yeah, that was hot. This is definitely a sense of attraction.

No, Mila.

He grins before taking my hand and leading me back into the dancefloor.

─── ♔♔♔ ───

"Are you ready to execute the ultimate jealousy move? I'm going to kiss you in a minute. He's looking, so we're executing this. Then I will take your hand and we'll leave," Lucas whispers in my ear.

His words drown everything else out, forcing warm shivers down my spine.

I nod as his hands cups my jaw. The fast, bass-fuelled song drowns out as Lucas' face is level with mine. His eyes stare into mine, and I swear they turn from brown into a fiery red of desire as we execute this plan.

Lucas' kiss isn't the quick peck I thought it would be. His mouth is open on mine, his tongue darting in and exploring already, stealing every doubt I was about to voice. My eyes close as his hands hold my face in place and mine wrap around his neck. The lights, sweat, alcohol stench, laughs, everything around us is forgotten in this moment. I swear the bass turns into awe-inspiring fireworks around us as the kiss deepens.

He tastes like bourbon and sweat, but somehow I don't care. My fingers twist in his hair as I steal that taste for myself with my tongue in his mouth.

The moment Lucas ends the kiss, it's both abrupt and yet smooth, and gentle, and leaves me longing for more. My lips tingle; swollen and missing his.

"He's glaring daggers. Let's go, Peach!" His hand grabs mine, and before I know what's happening, I'm being whisked off, but not before my eyes drift to Brayden, who is about to turn into the Hulk judging by his facial expression.

Success.

─── ♔♔♔ ───

The moment Lucas agreed to come in for a glass of wine when he walked me back to my flat, I knew where this was going. I wasn't ready for his lips to finish their claim on me in the club, and I need to feel them again as he closes the front door of my flat. I also know there'll be no wine involved right now, despite there being some in the fridge.

Taking my heels off, I leave them in the middle of the laminate lounge floor and wait as he walks in awkwardly, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

"I, uh—we both know where this is—"

"If you're not into this, I do have a bottle of wine in the fridge," I say at the same time as he starts.

We both stop and two awkward chuckles ring out. Lucas strides towards me from the doorway until he's standing in front of me.

"Wine is great. However, we both know you had no intention of inviting me in just for a bottle of wine. I'd like to think you'd know I have no intention of taking advantage of you, either."

His eyes are reading me like a dog-eared novel, and something in my chest thumps harder; the fact he's being so upfront about his intentions is great, but not once did I think he was taking advantage.

"I'm not drunk, and I invited you in, Lucas. If you're into this—"

He doesn't let me finish before his mouth is claiming mine. My breath is stolen and claimed as his with his tongue. I savour his minty breath – I'm unsure how he changed his taste since we walked home, but he has.

Our hands become a mix of desperate and careful, starting unsure but as the kiss gets deeper, they gain more confidence. He feels muscular and well-kept, and his hands begin teasing the edges of my dress as I lift his t-shirt off.

When did you gain this confidence, Mila? You were out for Brayden, but took a rebound instead!

The thought of Brayden's jealous green eyes dissolves away as Lucas breaks the kiss between us and stares at me. He's the only thing I care about right now. The desire pounds away in my ears, through my blood stream and warms my skin.

"Are you sure about this? Because I'm not going to lie to you, Mila. When I remove that dress, I will not stop."

I chuckle. "Oh, won't you?"

He cocks his head to the left. "All right, fair, I won't want to stop. You're beautiful."

Brayden used to say that to me until he told me he was in love with another girl, so left me in the lurch. But as Lucas says it, despite being essentially a stranger, his words fall onto my skin like cool blossom petals in the spring. His dark eyes that take in my skin just make me hyper-aware that a good-looking man does find me attractive. That fact alone fans the desire across my skin even more.

"And you're... hot," I respond. One of my hands whispers across his ripped chest; the soft skin that's got a hardened defined muscle underneath makes me want to speed this up. "My bedroom is through the door over there." I jerk my head to the right.

"Then that dress will meet the floor tonight, Peach," he whispers.

My lips curve into a grin. "Despite this being one of my nicest and most expensive dresses, it'll be a welcome addition to the floor, and I definitely will not want you to stop once you take it off me."

"What about the brainless idiot in the club?" His question is spoken right into the skin on my neck. He seals the last word with a small kiss right on my pulse as it dances beneath his touch.

A moan almost comes out instead of words, and if he doesn't stop, it will escape. He's seductive, and he knows it.

My hands find confidence and loosen the buttons on his jeans until all four are undone. "What about him?"

He chuckles, and the motion brings me to life under his magic. My back arches as the sensations flutter down my spine, and the desire fires until I squirm under his control.

"Take me to bed now," I whisper against his lips.

His hands reach around the back of my dress and, in three motions, unzips it right down. The material loosens and trickles down my body until it pools at my feet.

"Your wish is my command. Except there won't be any sleeping happening," Lucas whispers. He lifts his hand and smacks it against my behind. It brings me to attention, and the need pooling down my body.

He grabs me in his powerful arms, lifting me into a fireman's lift against his left shoulder.

"Lucas!" I squeal and giggle as his hand grips me, totally getting a good feel for what's coming at the same time as rushing me into the bedroom for something that's been building up since the moment we laid eyes on each other.

One thing's for sure as he drops me onto my bed and presses a flutter of kisses across my skin, is that this thing might have started as about stupid Brayden and making him jealous, but what I really needed was a way to get over him and move on with my life.

Lucas is definitely that; they say the best way to get over someone is to get under someone, right?

"You... are... stunning." Lucas presses his words into my skin, where they absorb and travel through my blood to fuel my desire and need. He's erasing any desire for my ex, which is what I think I was subconsciously looking for tonight rather than a reconciliation.

I was looking for freedom.

Freedom from Brayden is controlling what I do now, right? Lucas might have been trying – and succeeding – to make him jealous, but that's controlling him after what he did to me, and controlling Brayden's jealousy makes me feel like the queen right now. I have that control, and after all, control over a situation means to be free. It feels like it as Lucas' hands remove the last layer of my clothing and start sending me into a bliss Brayden never fully sent me into before.

─── ♔♔♔ ───