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I looked to my left, scanning the crowd, but still no Ray. To the right, my father leaned against the wall, a woman standing in front of him, kissing his neck. He winked at me and gave me a thumbs-up.
It was like looking in a fucking time machine.
Angie and Natasha moved in, leaving the other woman in the dust. Their hands reached for me, one of them grabbing my lapel and pulling me forward, but I pushed them off before either of them got the chance to do any real damage. “Leave me the fuck alone,” I spat.
Their dumbfounded silence gave me the chance to escape into the crowd. I ducked under arms, squeezed between people dancing, and managed to reach the other side of the dance floor with only a single drop of someone's martini on my shoulder. A success.
Pinned-up, chestnut brown curls snagged my attention within an instant, an upsettingly familiar face talking to her.
God dammit.
The closer I got, I noticed that it wasn’t just Zane she was chatting with. There was another man, unfamiliar to me, but just as tall, just as attractive. His dark gray suit fit like a glove, leaving little to the imagination, and Ray’s grin was enough to make my stomach knot. Especially when I saw the way he was looking at her.
Zane spotted me first.
He crossed the distance, stopping before me, one hand of spindly fingers pressing against the center of my chest. “Now, now, brother, what’s that look for?”
“Who is that?” I fumed, grabbing him by the wrist and chucking his hand from me. “Why is he talking to Ray?”
“His name is Hunter. He’s a business partner of mine,” Zane explained. He sounded so casual, so nonchalant as he trailed behind me, long legs keeping up with every step. “Bit jealous, brother?”
“Stop calling me that,” I snarled.
“Is your goal to frighten her?” he asked, his smirk only growing. “Surely it’s not in your best interest to act so insecure when you’re not even that into her.”
He stopped me again just a foot away from Ray. She and Hunter turned in my direction, Ray’s eyes lighting up the moment she saw me, sending a jolt of electricity straight through my chest. “Where the fuck did you hear that?” I barked at Zane, blood boiling, anger flaring through every muscle in my body.
Zane laughed and leaned in closer to me. Every inch that separated us felt like a charge, daring to spit out a bolt of energy and fry me to bits. “Careful, brother. I don’t know exactly what is going on between you two,” he whispered, “but I’m going to get to the bottom of it. I’m certain about that.”
“Wade?” Ray asked, taking a step toward me.
“Back the fuck off, Zane,” I growled through gritted teeth. “Stop meddling in business that isn’t yours.”
“What’s going on?” Ray’s hand slipped into mine as I pushed Zane back, gentle enough not to hurt him but hard enough to get my point across.
“It’s a good act,” Zane laughed. “Believable.”
“I’m not fucking pretending to be in love with her,” I snapped. Ray’s hand squeezed mine, her wide gaze looking to me, but I was far too interested in whatever Zane wanted to spit at me. “Get a life and stay out of my goddamn business.”
Zane’s answering grin was enough to make me want to throw a fist at him, but Ray tugged me away, putting a healthy amount of distance between the two of us as he began to chuckle, the cocky bastard.
“Wade,” she said, stopping only when she deemed us a safe enough distance apart. Granted, that was the span of the entire ballroom, but she wasn’t wrong.
I calmed my breathing, forcing myself to stop staring at him. I could feel my nostrils flaring, could feel the heat in my cheeks. But Ray was there, looking up at me with worry and expectation, and I knew I needed to compose myself.
“Sorry,” I sighed. “He’s?—”
“It’s okay.”
“Who was that?” I asked, jutting my chin in the direction of Hunter. “Zane said he was a business partner.”
“Some billionaire. He was nice, though. Said his name was Hunter.”
I nodded and dragged a hand down my face. I’d never been one to be so ensnared in jealousy, not to the point of letting it bubble into anger that I directed at someone else. She’d been smiling while she was talking to him, though, and I’d heard her giggle as I approached. “He’s interested in you,” I said plainly.
Her brows knitted together. “Are you jealous?”
“I don’t know,” I lied.
