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"Yeah?" He angles his head. "To what?"
"To get..." I swallow, grappling for my dignity. "To get a drink."
His eyebrow quirks, noting my Shirley Temple on the table, half full. But before he opens that tempting mouth and convinces me to stay, I'm already on my feet, heels in hand, rushing for the door.
I picked a bad day to wear my hair up.
Sitting on a barstool, sipping a glass of cold ice water, I brush my ponytail in front of my shoulder, hoping to conceal the hickey that's surely forming on my neck. Embarrassingly enough, it's my first time having one, and even though the sun has fully set behind the city skyline, I feel like I'm sporting one big flashing, slutty bull's eye.
What's worse, is I still feel him on my skin. His lips, his hands... even his voice resides in my mind, whispers between my ears. Tantalizing sounds I can't unhear that urge me to go crawling back to him and—
"Damn, girrrl!" a voice I know so well squeals over the music. "You look incredible."
Shit, shit.
I banish the dirty thoughts from my brain, praying Mei won't read them on my face. "You already saw me today," I say, adjusting my hair once more. It's true, she did see me at her apartment all morning, when she slaved away at my makeup and hair, working a curling iron I'd certainly give myself third-degree burns with.
She steps up to the bar right beside me, and as she orders her drink from the bartender, I raise an eyebrow at her tall beachy heels and leopard-print bikini, her backside swallowing up the G-string. Dang, looks like I'm not the only one who got all done-up. Although, to someone like Mei, this might actually pass as a small gathering.
She smirks, giving me an up-down over the rim of her sunglasses. "That's true, but I didn't see all this. You put together such a cute outfit."
"Well, I have Pinterest to thank for that."
She shrugs as the bartender returns with her seltzer. "Thanks."
"Would you like another water, Miss?"
"Oh, no. I'm okay." I thank him before turning back to Mei, but as I do, my hair slips off my shoulder. My eyes widen, just a fraction while I brush it back into place. But when our gazes meet, hers twinkle with mischief.
"Seems like you've been having some fu—"
"So!" I interrupt, the surge of adrenaline amplifying my voice. "Did you just get here?!"
She bites down on a laugh, instead giving me a smile, one that says we'll talk later. "No, I've been here for a while. Just mingling—ran into a few people I know."
"Uh, huh. Uh, huh." I nod, nursing my water.
"I saw you a few times, actually."
Sweat nicks at my brow. She couldn't have seen... what happened, right?
"Only from afar, though—that's why I freaked out when I saw you up close. I hardly recognized you, especially without your glasses, but I assumed it was you earlier..." She lets her sentence fade, like bait on a hook, fishing for information as she takes a long sip, eyeing me over the top of the can.
Where is she going with this?!
When I don't bite, she twirls a strand of her hair between her fingers. "You and Hayden, you two seem a little... touchy."
My stomach drops. I haven't a clue what she did or didn't see, but she saw enough. "Mei..." I put on a poker face. "Everything's fake, remember? It's just part of the agreement."
"Mhmmmm, sure, sure."
"I'm serious. I have zero feelings for him. Zero."
Who are you trying to convince there, baby? I hear Hayden's voice inside my head, who shouldn't even be there in the first place!
"Okaaayyy, whatever you say. Well, do you want to know what I think?"
I roll my eyes. "No, but you're gonna tell me, anyway."
