“But I—”
The bartender comes around with my drinks. Itching to get away from Will, I throw him a twenty and tell him to keep the change.
“I should go find the girls.” I swipe the two glasses off the bar and turn on my heels. I’ve barely moved an inch when he speaks.
“I miss you.”
I can’t take another step.
“That’s right, I… I miss you, Kass. I’m sorry about what I said when we…” He doesn’t dare finish. “It was dumb as fuck, and you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”
I’m rooted in place, my back all he can see.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is…” He pauses. “I got used to us talking, and I’d like it if things could go back to normal.”
Normal.
As in back to me having an unrequited crush on him.
“You mean you want us to go back to being friends?” I surprise him by turning around.
He nods, exhaling in relief as though I just took the words out of his mouth. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
The answer is easy for me.
“No.”
His face is priceless.
“What?”
“I said no. I can’t be your friend.” I resume walking.
He holds me back. “Why not?”
“Because I caught feelings for you!”
His composure crumbles.
He tumbles a step back, his mouth falling open, but I don’t buy it. I don’t buy any of it. He must’ve known, if only a tiny part of him, that somewhere along the way, he’d make me laugh one time too many. That there’d be one inevitable moment where it’d become more for me.
He must’ve known.
I think even I always knew.
“I know you don’t feel the same, and that’s fine. It really is, Will. But I’m trying to get past it, so… I think it’s better if we stay away from each other from now on.”
Pain rips across his gaze like a shooting star. He chases it away, reducing it to a glimmer—God forbid he ever shows real emotions—and I’m left with the same, redundant question: Did I imagine it all?
“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I swallow the pit in my throat, threading to Zoey and Morgan on the dance floor. I can feel the weight of Will’s gaze on my shoulders, his eyes stalking my every move.
Zoey shrieks at the sight of me, banding her arms around my neck for a swaying hug. She’s completely gone, one drop away from blackout. I deny Zoey the drink I ordered for her, and to my great surprise, she agrees, admitting to her excessive state. Fifteen minutes later, Morgan says she has to take a call from her mom and walks off. Sean pops up behind Zoey at around the same time, kissing her neck until she’s putty in his hands. I peel my eyes away, wincing. Maybe I’m just jealous. Maybe I wish it was me and a certain blond guy.
Or maybe Sean’s just a douche.
Will’s been watching me since I ended things between us—ironic considering there was nothing to end. Morgan must’ve told me he was staring at us five times in the past thirty minutes. I jump along to the music, hoping the deafening bass will numb my pain. Mute my broken heart.
Just until the song ends.
Then I realize Sean and Zoey are gone.
Probably off to bang in a bathroom stall.
“Excuse me?” Someone taps me on the shoulder.
I spin to see the guy who delivered our Chinese earlier.
“Aren’t you the cute girl I delivered to?” he asks.
I analyze him. He sure looks different dry. Cuter. I glance over his shoulder at Will. I doubt he can see the guy’s face from where he is, but that doesn’t stop him from staring holes into the back of his head.
“That would be me.” I nod. “What are you doing here?"
“Same thing you are.”
“Celebrating your best friend’s birthday?” I raise an eyebrow.
He laughs. “Fine. Different reason, then. My boys and I rented a house downtown. We’re going to keep the party going there after the bars close. Just looking for people to invite.”
“Any luck?”
“Nah. No luck so far, but I think maybe I’m getting there. So… interested?”
“I don’t know. You want to keep the party going when the party hasn’t even started here,” I point out.
He grins. “Shit. I guess you’re right. Want to dance?”
I juggle with the idea and decide one dance can’t hurt. Chinese food guy—what? I don’t know his name—offers me his hand and draws me flush to his chest. He’s charming, but something about his mannerisms reminds me of Will. The way he moves, expresses himself. Either they’re long-lost brothers or I’m going mad.
“Got any brothers?” I ask Chinese food, and he laughs at my rather unusual question.
“Nope.”
Going mad it is.
His hands drop to my waist, and I swing my hips along to the rhythm. It’s fine at first. Until he sneaks behind me, getting a tad too provocative for my taste. He rubs himself against me, the arousal in his pants growing impossible to ignore.
“I-I don’t feel so well. I’m going to bail.”
“What? Why?” he asks, holding me firmly in place.
“I don’t need a reason. Let me go. Now!”
“Relax. We’re just having fun.” He presses his boner to my ass again, and I squirm in disgust.
“Get your fucking hands off me or I’ll scream,” I say as confidently as I can.
That’s when his true colors come out.
“Now, now, Kass. You can’t dangle food in front of a guy’s eyes and get mad when he wants a bite.”
I freeze.
Not because he’s a disgusting pervert.
Because I never told him my name.
Zoey ordered the food earlier. There’s no way he could’ve known.
“How do you know my name?”
“Shit, did I forget to mention?” He inches forward to whisper in my ear. “Simon says hi.”
Every hair on my body stands on end.
“Smile for the camera, baby.” He points at a red booth containing five guys across the room.
My heart drops.
In the booth glaring at me is Simon, my awful rapist date who got beaten up by Will. Bearing a black eye and holding his phone up in the air, Simon offers me a cruel smile and waves. That’s why Chinese food came on to me. He probably bragged to his friends that he’d delivered to me earlier, and Simon recognized me as the girl who earned him the beating of his life.
Why the camera? I’m not sure. Maybe he was hoping my dancing would prove his point: that I’m a tease who deserved to be assaulted. Or maybe he wanted to catch my reaction when I put it together. Either way, he must’ve gotten what he wanted because he puts his phone down, cheered on by his friends.
“Get the fuck away from me!” I yell so loud Chinese food jumps, startled. I manage to put distance between us, but he’s not having it, gripping my wrist so tight I cry out in pain.
Then I see him from the corner of my eye.
Will.
Jaw clenched, fist tights, chest puffing, he tears through the crowd in record time. Chinese food doesn’t see him coming, completely clueless as to what awaits him. Will stops a step behind the guy cutting off the blood circulation in my arm, his eyes so dark you’d barely believe they were ever blue to begin with.