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“You guys been together long?” he asks. When I turn to face him fully, the guy puts up his hands. “I’m not after your girl, dude. Just making conversation.”
“It’s new,” I say, practically growling at the man. What the hell is wrong with me?
The bartender shrugs again. “You’re a braver man than I am.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He looks back out at Bailey and Lawson on the dance floor. “They seem pretty tight. Said they went to college together. If I had a woman like her, that kind of thing might make a man nervous, is all.”
Bailey and Lawson went to school together? Which means Lawson and I went to school together, too. I wonder if he knows that.
“I’ve got nothing to worry about,” I say. If Bailey’s interested in Lawson, there’s not much I can do. Except question her taste in men. Again. I just hope she can keep a lid on it until after the competition.
I watch Bailey laugh at something he says as he spins her around and dips her over his arm with all possible drama, drawing applause from the onlookers nearby. An image of them together, tangled up and slick, all mouths and tongues and hips and heat, flashes in my mind’s eye and I promptly inhale my whiskey.
“You okay, man?” asks the bartender. I wave him off, unable to speak and focus on getting my body under control. Choking to death on my drink is the least of my worries right now. Just what the hell could my dick find so appealing about the idea of my best friend in bed with a man I loathe?
The bartender’s still watching me like he’s afraid I’m going to keel over. I stuff some extra bills in the tip jar at the corner of the bar and wave as I head for the dance floor.
The floor is getting crowded. Like every wedding reception I’ve ever been to, the longer the night wears on, the braver people get. Some couples I recognize and plenty I don’t, but that’s no surprise. Sizzle’s a good-sized company. I should know—I audited the invitation list myself.
Bailey and Lawson have their own audience. I’m not sure if it’s because people know she came here with me or if it’s because he’s such a goddamned showoff. Or if it’s because they move so well together. I have the sudden, strange sense they’ve done this before.
Which makes me wonder what else they’ve done before. It’s that thought that gets me out on the floor and tapping Lawson’s shoulder before I can think it through.
“What?” he says, barely glancing over his shoulder.
“I think I’m supposed to ask if I can cut in,” I say, pitching my voice so nobody else can hear. “But instead, how about you just get lost so I can dance with my girlfriend?”
“Drew!” Bailey looks shocked. Shocked and freaking gorgeous. Dancing with Lawson brought color to her cheeks. Her eyes are bright, though if that’s from dancing with him or the wine, I’m not sure. “Jesus, Drew. There’s no need to be rude.”
“I can think of a couple of reasons,” I say. They stopped moving when I first spoke. If we didn’t have the attention of the room before, we definitely do now.
“I’m not the one poaching another man’s date,” I say to Bailey, my eyes on Lawson.
“Poaching?” Bailey sputters. Lawson has the goddamn gall to laugh, turning to face me.
“Maybe if you hadn’t abandoned your date at the bar, this wouldn’t be happening,” says Lawson, his lip curling.
“I did not abandon—”
“I’m standing right here,” says Bailey.
“Insecurity is really not your best look, Hicks,” says Lawson with a sneer. “Maybe next time you—”
“Enough.”
Ty Wilkes comes barreling through the other dancers, all of whom are standing only a few feet away. I guess the music wasn’t as loud as I thought.
“You’re causing a scene,” mutters Ty. “And there are reporters all over this room, not to mention three hundred guests with social media accounts being updated as we speak. While I am a firm believer in publicity by any means, I don’t think this is the kind of attention you two are after. Personally or professionally. Am I right?” He directs this last question to Lawson and me.
Lawson shakes his head at the same time I do.
“Good,” says Ty. “Now get the fuck out of here. Get a drink, go for a walk, whatever. But you need to chill the hell out before somebody calls security on your asses.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” mutters Bailey. She turns to Lawson. “Thank you for the dance, Cooper. It was nice seeing you again.” She walks off the dance floor, head held high without saying a word to me.
Lawson watches me watch her go.
