AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I clap my lips shut and force a quick smile. “Hey, Hayes.” I hold back a cringe at the alliteration that sounds so damn dumb.
And that’s my cue to drink up if I’m thinking of grammar in a bar.
“You all right?” he asks as he grabs a napkin from the bar and presses it to my hand, wiping up the liquid.
I take it from him. “Yeah, sure. I’m fine.” There’s that stupid word again. “Just heading to the restroom.”
I wasn’t, but after bumping into the man and feeling flustered, I need a breather. Hayes doesn’t spark anything in me, not like Dalton does, and that difference peeves me. If Dalton can look elsewhere, shouldn’t I, too?
“Maybe when you’re finished…” He tips his head toward the area with dancing customers. “Maybe we can dance?”
“I…” Someone else pushes close to us, and with the interception of another body in the way, I turn tail and practically escape into the bathroom to avoid having to answer. I couldn’t respond after being put on the spot like that. Even though Dalton’s keeping an open mind for a hookup, I’m not. And that’s clearly what Hayes wants. I’m not that stupid. He’s been leering at me from the moment we met.
After I wash my hands and dump out half of my beer—too worried that I might be tipsier than I realized—I go back toward the bar, unsure what to do. If Caleb is still with Lauren, and Dalton is still busy flirting with that tall blonde, I’ll be the odd one out.
Maybe Marian could come pick me up?
I find Hayes speaking with both Caleb and Lauren, though, looking chummy and happy. Beyond them, I spot Dalton chuckling at something the woman’s said.
Yeah, I’m not needed here.
Then Hayes walks away from my friends. It seems like he’s heading toward the spot at the bar to place an order, but seeing me, he winks. Right then, I hear Dalton’s “interest” laugh louder.
That does it.
I approach Hayes and tap his shoulder. “About that dance…”
He grins and takes my hand, not needing me to say anything else. He’s not overly handsy as we move to the music, but I can tell he’s eager to get his hands all over me. I have no desire to give in to anything he could propose past a dance, and I don’t have a chance to worry about it anyway.
But suddenly, Dalton’s there. Out of nowhere, he’s abruptly at my side, rudely slipping his arm around my waist and turning me toward him. “Sorry. Cutting in.”
I spin, landing against his hard chest as the song changes again. Instead of the faster, raunchier hip-hop, it’s a slower, sexier tune. His spicy clean scent hits my nose. I revel in the familiar heat and hardness of his body, and I want to curl closer to him with the security of his muscled arms embracing me. Struck with his presence so quickly, I swallow and scramble to speak.
“You’re not sorry.”
He frowns down at me. “Not one bit.”
A smile threatens on my lips, but I resist it. Knowing he hated the idea of me being with Hayes gives me a silly sense of satisfaction. I hadn’t done it to piss off Dalton. I’d gone with Hayes in the sense of why not? And the fact that I didn’t want to be alone for once. As Dalton hugs me closer, though, still moving to the music so lazily like this, I’m reminded of how mad he was when Hayes was checking me out at the Goldfinch. I told him then that he had to be a professional. Here, though, he could act as possessive as he wanted. And damn, if it doesn’t turn me on.
“Why were you dancing with him?”
I roll my eyes. “Why were you flirting with that woman?”
His lips quirk up, and I get lost in the way he slowly smiles so knowingly at me. He clutches my sides tighter, digging his fingers into me. “I didn’t realize we were exclusive,” he teases right back.
I witness his smile shifting though. He’s more pensive, and as he gazes at me, I can’t miss the real question he has to feel with his words. He was the one to ask me to label this between us. And I’d fumbled there—big time. If only I could’ve found the guts to be honest. Deep down, I like Dalton a lot, but I refuse to acknowledge it. I can’t. Doing so would make me too vulnerable to heartache, and on top of being so lost in life, I wouldn’t survive that kind of a hit.
“Are you going home with Hayes tonight?” he asks in a harder, more taunting tone.
I narrow my eyes at his snark, as though he’s daring me to say I am. He’s clearly trying to rile me up. Or if he isn’t, he’s again putting me on the spot to declare what I’m feeling right now. If I won’t say what I want or don’t want with Hayes, then I should be clear about him.
Honestly, I only want to be with you.
I swallow, trying to find the courage to say it. I’m spared from opening my mouth when Lauren and Caleb find us. Dalton steps back, parting from me, but he lingers with his hand on the small of my back. Is he anxious to keep his hands on me? Does he hate to let me go?
I gaze at him as Lauren and Caleb talk over each other. Lauren ends up giggling too hard, and it’s infectious, making us all crack up.
“Slow down,” I say.
