Alex and Annie: A Bad Jokes Spinoff

Chapter 9 (Annie): The Dance Floor

One minute, I was dancing with Creighton, trying to get more distance between us and the next, Alex's hands were around my waist and he was picking me up and moving me away from Creighton.

"What is your problem?" I screeched at Alex. "I'm dancing!"

"You're not dancing! You're having sex with clothes on!" Alex was yelling to be heard over the music. Not a few eyes swung our way and I cringed. I didn't like being the center of attention, especially in a situation like this.

Glancing up at Alex's face, he looked enraged, and I didn't understand why. Who cared if I was dancing with Creighton and how? I mean, I had already been in the process of putting space between us, but I couldn't believe how upset Alex was, so I decided to tweak him a bit because...a girl LIKE you.

"Would it make you feel better if Creighton and I were naked?"

"I'm in," Creighton said immediately from behind Alex's shoulder, and I swear Alex was about to commit murder based on the expression on his face. His jaw jutted forward, his nostrils flared, his eyes got squinty, and his lips practically disappeared. It sounded strange, possibly unappealing, when described that way, but all those elements added together were oddly hot. Too bad I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.

"You're not getting naked with him!" Still yelling so I could hear him. And everyone else in a twenty-foot radius.

"I will if I want!" Geez, was I three? Then I kept going I was so mad at Alex's audacity. "I'll sleep with every man here tonight if I want to!"

A cheer went up from the men in the surrounding area.

"Yeah, Annie, but me first!" Creighton shouted. "I call dibs!"

"You aren't sleeping with anyone but me!" Alex absolutely bellowed, and the people around us had stopped dancing and were making a circle around us, enjoying the free show. Then Alex turned to Creighton. "You're gonna want to back off, asshole."

"I'll back off after she sleeps with me! Lady's choice, after all. You have no right to tell her who she can or can't sleep with!"

Did Creighton have a death wish? Because Alex looked ready to do some permanent harm to him. I heard the crowd of people gathered around suck in a collective breath, hoping for a fight. Nothing better to top off a nice evening out at an exclusive club than a fight on the dance floor! Who could ask for anything more? I mean, you should get something extra for the steep cover charge.

Alex took a step toward Creighton, who, I have to admit, didn't back up a step even though Alex was bigger than he was. "You want to say that to me again, asshole?"

Then, proving he was an absolute moron, Creighton did repeat himself, with an added, "Want me to let you know how she is after I bang her?"

OK, now I was ready to wipe the floor with Creighton after that remark. And in my current mood, I was pretty sure I could take him. I knew he was just egging on Alex, but still. Have some respect.

Looks like Alex had the same thought about teaching Creighton some manners. Alex lunged for Creighton, ready to take him down, but Rory's husband, Xane, was suddenly there and he grabbed Alex at the last second, putting him in a bear hug from behind.

"Stop," Xane was saying. "You don't want to do this in front of witnesses."

"The hell I don't!" Alex was still bellowing, and the crowd around us was split fifty-fifty on Team Creighton or Team Alex. I was feeling a bit humiliated, a bit angry and a bit homicidal, so I stormed away from the testosterone party and headed back up to the VIP table to get my purse. Alex's cousins swooped in when I approached the table.

"Saw that coming a mile away," Rory said. "So we sent Xane down there to keep the Judge from having to get involved."

The Judge was Alex's uncle, a State Supreme Court judge. I knew that much.

"He gets really cranky when he's woken up," Justice explained to me seriously.

"I can vouch for that," Gracie said. "I was in a low-speed police chase once and he was not happy to get that call, even though it was only eleven at night."

"Ah...a low-speed police chase?"

"It all worked out," Rory said. "She never went above twenty miles an hour. It was nothing like the laboratory frogs incident."

"OK," I said, trying to sound like I understood even though my head was spinning -- and not from the drinks.

"We don't have records," Gracie assured me. "Not even Alex."

Of course Alex didn't have a record. I knew that without being told because he could have never been employed at the agency if he had one.

"So, it looks like things are under control on the dance floor," Justice said.

We all looked down and now Xane was standing between Alex and Creighton with a hand on each of their chests. I think Justice and I had a completely different definition of under control since it looked like the two men were seconds away from leaping around Xane and battling it out on the dance floor. There was an even bigger crowd gathered around them now, and you could see them shouting encouragement to the two men.

"I don't get it," I said. "I'm dancing with Creighton, and all of a sudden, Alex is down there telling me I can't dance with Creighton or sleep with him. As if I was actually going to! So I told him I could sleep with whoever I want."

"Oh, boy," Rory said.

"Bet that went over well," Gracie added.

"We shouldn't have sent Xane down," Justice said. "This would have been fun as hell to watch it play out."

'No, it wouldn't have been. Alex is lethal! Creighton wouldn't stand a chance against him."

"Well, there is that," Rory admitted.

"But I think you can count on Alex exhibiting more of this behavior for a while, until he calms down," Gracie said to me.

"He has no right to act like this!" I protested. "He's acting like a jealous, possessive asshole."

"Yeah, he is," Justice said. "Seems oddly out of character, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes," I said. Because it really was out of character for him.

Or at least it used to be until he decided he wanted to find a girl to have a relationship with who was just LIKE me.

But not me.

"I think I'm going to call it a night," I said to them. "It was really nice to meet all of you."

"Likewise," Gracie said. "Take the limo; we'll just call for another one. I'll walk you down."

"Oh, boy, the bouncers are on the dance floor now!" Justice was hoping for some action, you could tell from her voice.

I didn't stay to see what happened, but an hour later, Alex was pounding on my door.