Page 3 of On the Breakaway

“Always so quick to inflate my ego.” He shakes his head, completely unfazed.

“It’s a thankless job, but someone has to do it.”

“Poor thing, I know how exhausting it must be to try not to like me.”

“Oh no.” I take a sip of my drink, finishing it. “That part is the easiest thing in the world.”

His eyes glint, and I’m furious to find not even the slightest bit of annoyance in them. He jokes about me inflating his ego, but it must already be massive if he’s this unbothered all the time. Maybe everyone else is falling for it, but no one is actually that nice. I know that first-hand.

“Alright, you two,” Liam cuts in, motioning between us. “Go to your separate corners.”

“Better yet, separate ends of the earth.” I flash a tight-lipped smile.

“Seriously, I want to talk about them.” Liam points over to Wesley and Nathan while I fight the urge to groan.

“What about them?” Grayson asks.

“How are we going to get them to admit they actually like each other?”

“Oh no.” I set my cup down hard against the table. “No. No. No. I’ve already told Nathan to quit being an idiot. Tonight, in fact. I will not be doing anything else. It’s their life to fuck up. I’m plenty busy fucking up my own.”

Both Liam and Grayson look at me like I’m crazy. Probably because I am.

They chat for another minute about the clueless couple while I plot my escape. If there’s anywhere that I don’t want to be when midnight hits, it’s sandwiched between these two. Honestly, if I were smart, I’d be at home.

But like an idiot, I thought maybe tonight would be the night I finally broke my dry spell. The one that’s lingered since the breakup.

Sure, I’ve resumed most of my pre-relationship habits. I flirt and dance, embrace an occasional steamy make-out session, and have even gone on a couple of awful dates. Despite all of that, I haven’t been able to get out of my head long enough to close the deal since everything happened.

Tonight, I came out determined to find a solid one-night stand. In theory, it should be the perfect night for it. As soon as I got here, though, I knew it’d be another bust. So at midnight, I’ll be safely tucked into a bathroom stall, locked away where no desperate man’s lips can find me.

“Who are you looking for?” Grayson asks, noticing me glancing around the bar for an excuse to escape.

“Probably trying to find the man she conned into buying her that drink. Maybe she’ll get a second one out of him.” Liam smirks.

I glare at them both. “Better him than the guy who tried to buy me the one before that.”

“Why’s that?” Grayson takes a pull from his beer.

“Because that guy opened with a magic trick.” I snort, remembering how awful it was.

“A magic trick?” Liam sits up, fully invested.

I nod. “With a coin.”

“What’d he do? Try to pull it out of your shirt?” The fact that Liam is one hundred percent serious with that guess says everything about how his mind works.

“Gross, no, that would be too creepy for anyone.”

Liam smiles widely. “I bet it would work for me.”

For once, Grayson and I agree, both shaking our heads in disappointment.

“He made it disappear,” I say, shrugging, because after Liam’s guess, it sounds pretty boring.

“And?” Grayson asks.

“I told him it was impressive and suggested he try the same thing with himself.”