“You just what?” she asked.
He sighed, a defeated look crossing his face. “Nothing. I’m just being a dick. I’m sorry.” He looked to Jasper. “I’m sorry to you, too. I was just surprised by all this. Kill the lights. Rolling stone. I’m naturally suspicious.”
Jasper relaxed next to her and set down his beer, his attention on Cal. “Seriously. We’re cool, man. I get it. Hollyn told me what happened when she was a kid. I’m glad she has someone who watches her back.” He tipped his head in Cal’s direction. “You have my blessing to kick my ass if I’m here for any other reason than the fact that she’s smart and beautiful and I like being with her.”
Hollyn’s chest squeezed at the words, and she looked over at Jasper, trying to determine if he was telling the truth. This wasn’t a real relationship. This was an agreement. But somehow he seemed sincere. And really, despite their unconventional situation, would he really have agreed to come out with her best friend/ex-boyfriend if he didn’t at least enjoy her company a little bit?
Hope pushed through the tender space in her heart, but she tamped it down, refusing to let it root. She’d promised. No getting The Feels. Jasper would end this. That was the only promise he’d given her. She decided to forgo the straw and gulped her drink.
Cal reached across the table and put his hand out to Jasper. “Deal.”
Jasper shook on it.
The techno song playing in the background switched to a new one, and Hollyn could take the awkward no more. “I love this song. Let’s dance.”
Jasper glanced her way, surprise on his face. “Yeah?”
“You game, Deares?” she asked.
“Always.” Jasper grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
“Have fun,” Cal said before taking another swig of his daiquiri.
She tossed a balled-up cocktail napkin at him. “No. You’re coming, too. It’s a dance song, not a prom song. Everybody up and on the dance floor.”
Cal gave her a wary look, but she didn’t know what his deal was. The boy loved to dance. And she never got to dance at any of the fun places she went. With rum running through her veins, her best friend in town, and her whatever-Jasper-was by her side, she’d finally get the chance to let loose a little. She really, really needed that.
“I think someone’s hurricane is hella good kicking in,” Cal said wryly. “You don’t dance in public.”
“You wanted me to work my way out of my shell. Observe. Stepping out of the shell for a little while.” She slid out of the booth with Jasper and then put her hand out to Cal. “Come on. The night is young. You’re only in town for a few days. Let’s actually act like people in our twenties and have fun.”
Jasper laughed. “Totally the rum. But I’m here for it.”
Cal shook his head in amusement but put his hand in hers and let her yank him to his feet. The thought that she was going to dance in public with the two of them seemed a little out there, but the buzz from the alcohol had given her some courage. Why shouldn’t she be able to have a good time tonight? For the first time in the longest time, she felt safe to just be herself. She wouldn’t have to hide her tics. She didn’t have to impress anyone. Neither guy was going to take advantage of her—well, Jasper might, but only with her full and enthusiastic endorsement.
So, as she led the two guys onto the dance floor, and pulled them into the pulsing crowd, she let go of normal Hollyn. Normal Hollyn would be worried who was looking. But tonight, tonight she didn’t care.
The three of them made a pocket of space on the dance floor and started to move to the music, the beat pulsing through the soles of her shoes and into her bloodstream. They danced near each other, three little islands unto themselves, but after one song, the guys seemed to loosen up and call a temporary truce.
Each took turns dancing with her, spinning her, passing her back and forth. Jasper holding her closer. Cal keeping it friendly. Her blood was fizzy with alcohol and adrenaline and affection for these two guys. Finding anyone she could be herself around was a challenge—finding two was a miracle.
They took brief breaks to drink a little more but were back on the dance floor before they could register that their feet were hurting or that it was getting late. One of her favorite songs came on, and she tipped her head back to sing along. She felt light, filled with helium. Drunk on more than the potent alcohol.
“You look ready for a swim,” Cal yelled next to her ear. “Hope you wore your good underwear.”
She shoved him in the shoulder and laughed. “No stripping tonight. I promise.”
His eyelids lowered a fraction, and he gave her a smile she didn’t recognize. Ha. She wasn’t the only tipsy one. “Is it bad that I’m disappointed?”
His words didn’t quite register with her. “What?”
But before he answered, she was spun away from Cal and ended up in Jasper’s arms. His dark hair was damp against his forehead, his eyes bright behind his glasses, and his T-shirt was clinging to every muscle in his chest. Something deep in her belly coiled tight. She had the urge to literally sink her teeth into him.
He squeezed her hips and rocked against her. “You look beautiful right now.”
“I’m a sweaty mess,” she said on a laugh. “And possibly super drunk.”
He pressed his lips against her ear. “You’re fucking sexy is what you are. It’s taking everything I have to keep my hands off you. I wish I could take you home right this second and get you out of this dress. But I don’t think your company would appreciate that.”
“God, you’re hot,” she blurted out, her head spinning.
He grinned that confident grin of his. “Back at you, sunshine. You’re a fun drunk.”
She wet her lips, a hunger for exactly what Jasper was suggesting stirring in her. “Maybe I can offer Cal some earplugs.”
Jasper glanced over her shoulder to where Cal had to be a few steps behind her. “He would absolutely hate that. Knowing I was in bed with you.”
She stumbled and then looped her arms around his neck to keep steady. “He’s a big boy.”
Jasper’s gaze went serious and he leaned close. “It’s not that. Don’t you see it?”
The words were running into each other in her head. She saw him. She saw blurring lights. “See what?”
“How he’s looking at you.”
She frowned, the words not making sense, and looked in his eyes, but Jasper’s face went a little hazy and her knees wobbled. “I—”
“Whoa there,” Jasper said, wrapping an arm around her waist.