I tried to conspicuously tie my cape to keep it closed around me to avoid showing off my chest. I was about to walk away before Matt spoke up as a louder song began to play. “What, no gratitude?” I turned to find he had an eyebrow raised. It was hard to tell if he was joking. He didn’t seem to be, and that really bothered me.
“You did one kind thing after weeks of treating me horribly. Forgive me if I’m not showering you with praise.” My words were a near sneer.
“I believe I also saved you from having a bottle hit your forehead once,” recalled Matt, stepping back before looking at me. An impish grin sat on his face. “So, I’m not a completely horrible person.” He nodded seriously.
Matt was one of the few people in the club not dressed in a Halloween costume. He wore simple dark jeans and a form-fitted long-sleeved shirt. The royal blue color enhanced the powder blue in his eyes. As much as I didn’t like him, I had to admit he was very attractive. “Well, when you put it that way, you’re my hero,” I mocked coolly.
“Definitely.” Matt nodded. He cracked a grin, and it caused me to smile involuntarily. I couldn’t help it. His genuine smiles made him appear as a much kinder and softer person opposed to his mocking ones. “I saved you from a night of cuddling with a greaseball.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” My comment was meant to be snarky, but it came out more playful than I intended. Matt and I smiled at each other once more.
We watched one another for a few, long moments. With anyone else, it would borderline uncomfortableness, but this was strangely pleasant. Matt looked even more handsome under the powerful glare of the strobe lights. He stepped closer, and then so did I. We were now just a few inches from each other. My thoughts turned to how easy it would be to touch him with my silver rings, but the asinine thoughts of Matt being a supernatural creature weren’t filtering through my head. As we watched each other, it very well seemed as though we might kiss. We were close enough for the contact. My eyes flickered toward his lips before back to his eyes while his copied my motion. His lips looked soft and inviting, inspiring me to wonder what would happen if either of us closed the distance between us.
That was when I suddenly looked away. I watched people on the dance floor. I paid specific attention to the details of some of the costumes the men and women wore. Some were obviously run-of-the-mill costumes while others were more intricate and showed a lot of thought and effort. Some costumes had special sewing or bought wigs. A few women bought fake fingernails or pretend swords for their costumes. I didn’t make eye contact with Matt again as I specifically paid attention to everyone else. I couldn’t think my sister’s boyfriend was handsome. I couldn’t want to be closer to him. Even though nothing happened, it already felt like I had betrayed her.
“No one else from our department is here, if you were looking for them,” said Matt quietly. He was still watching me, but I couldn’t look back at him. I suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment at my naïve and childish notions that he could ever be a werewolf. A hot blush crept on my cheeks at my own stupidity. I released a low breath.
“Thanks, but I’m waiting for someone.”
“You’re meeting someone here?”
“Um, yeah.” I wasn’t quite sure whether Darren cared if people knew this was a date. He still hadn’t texted me back the last forty-five minutes. I had sent a text fifteen minutes previously saying I had arrived at the club. Still, Darren didn’t reply.
“I’ll leave you alone before your date arrives,” said Matt as he started to head toward the staircase. He had a strange tone to him, one that I couldn’t read.
“How did you know I’m expecting a date?”
Matt turned and provided a small smile. “You wouldn’t look like that if you weren’t trying to impress someone.”
CHAPTER 10
Did I look bad?
I couldn’t tell if what Matt said was a silent compliment or a hidden diss. I didn’t give too much thought to wondering which it was. Thoughts were proving dangerous for me. They brought me back to thinking about everything having to do with werewolves. They brought me to thinking about nearly kissing Matt. Even if he wasn’t Miranda’s boyfriend, he was still my supervisor, who was off limits.
I tried to mingle myself with partygoers only to realize I didn’t really know anyone. The party was turning out to be boring. It was uneventful watching people who worked at the resort. No one really danced or seemed to care they were inside a nightclub. They merely talked amongst themselves as if this was any other day at the resort and not a party. The rest of the night slowly passed in a blur. It was an uninteresting blur in which nothing notable occurred. I idled near the door of the club waiting for Darren. A half hour passed and then an hour. After the first thirty minutes, I had sent a text asking if he was running late. I didn’t receive a response. After the full hour passed, I took a break from watching people dance to use the bathroom. Using the women’s restroom was a nightmare. There were too many women standing around mirrors either admiring or fixing themselves. They spent their time doing their hair or adjusting their makeup. By the time I was done, I found difficulty in trying to navigate around the women to simply wash my hands. Reality soon began to settle in that Darren was standing me up. He would have been here by now if he planned on showing. If something delayed his coming, he would have at least sent me a text explaining he was running late.
As my phone finally pinged indicating I received a text, I scrambled to pull it out of my purse.
Darren: I’m really sorry but I have to cancel tonight. ☹
Hot tears of embarrassment swam behind my eyes. I thought of a couple responses and began typing only to stop halfway. Getting upset and showing it was only going to make me seem pathetic. Annoyed that I got all dressed up and came to this party only to be stood up, I decided to go to the bar for an actual drink.
It didn’t take long for my five vodka lemonades to make me feel woozy. Although I was overweight, I was a lightweight who only needed two cocktails to feel the effects of alcohol. Five double-shot drinks were overkill. Five was enough to make me realize it was time to go home and go to sleep. Knowing I would need to find Miranda in order to avoid driving home drunk, I begrudgingly headed out the door of the party, thankful to get my hearing back once I was out of the loud club and outside in the chill night air. I walked away from the loud crowd of people, fully intent on waiting in my truck and calling Miranda from there. But wait…wouldn’t Miranda already be inside at the party with Matt? Would she be nearby? I shook away the drunk thought. All night I hadn’t seen Miranda. The last I had seen Matt was when we had spoken. I started aimlessly walking the sidewalk outside the club only to nearly ram into Jamie’s shoulder.
He was bleary-eyed and similar to a few others in the club, not wearing a costume. Which was annoying considering he was the one who told me to wear a costume. Jamie wore a long-sleeved red flannel, jeans, and one of his ball caps on top of his shaggy black head. Jamie watched me for a few moments. “You’re drunk,” he accused with a grin.
“Takes one to know one,” I muttered stupidly. My brain was slow with my reaction time. The comment came two seconds later than it really should have. Jamie offered me a sip from his flask. I swaggered in place and nearly fell over. Alcohol was not my friend.