AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You want us to, what? To date?” My voice breaks on the last word, going a bit shrill.
“Keep your voice down, please,” Alan mutters. “I just thought… Look, it’s been such a long time. We’ve both grown since college. I’ve changed. You certainly have.”
More than you know, buddy.
“Alan, this is really not a good time to be talking about this,” I say, stalling for time. It’s a party for fuck’s sake; somebody should be wandering around the corner by now. There are people all over the porch and dining hall. Just not here, interrupting this painfully awkward conversation.
“If you need time to think about it, sure,” he says, clearly disappointed. “But I really hope you’ll consider it.” He looks earnest, and... something else. I can’t put my finger on it, but that hint of something is enough to cut short my rising panic.
“Why ask me now?” I say, more suspicion in my voice than anything.
“Huh?”
“Why now? Why ask me here?” I say, gesturing around. “Your parents are having this gorgeous party to celebrate them. I know they don’t get to see all your relatives as often as they’d like.” A light dawns. “Is that what this is about? You want to be able to tell them we’re getting back together.”
Alan shifts on his feet, twin pink spots appearing on his cheeks. “It’s not that—”
“Then what is it?” I interrupt. “Is it Drew? He brought Cooper… it’s because he has a date this time.” The spots in Alan’s cheeks go bright red. “And I’m guessing you don’t.”
“Come on, B,” he says, using his old nickname for me. “You know what my grandfather is like. He’s been on me for ages now about settling down. And now he’s got Mom and Dad starting in on it.”
“Right,” I say, somewhat less than charmed.
“B, come on,” says Alan. He takes both my hands in his, pushing up the cuffs of his jacket to get to them. At this point I’d rather freeze than wear his coat, but we’re standing right in front of beveled glass double doors in full view of the rest of the guests and the last thing I want to do is cause a scene. It’ll only bring more trouble for Drew, not to mention mess up his parents’ celebration. I bite my tongue and let Alan talk.
“We were good together once,” he says.
“We were,” I say. “Ten years ago. Then you dumped me for a sorority sister.” She’d been on her way to med school, but I didn’t exactly give a fuck about being fair right now. “What the hell makes you think it would work this time?”
“So I guess maybe there’s still some hard feelings,” Alan says, trying to joke. “That’s okay. That’s good, actually. It means there must still be something between us.”
The only thing between us right now are my hands, fisted tight to keep from punching my idiot ex. Alan takes my silence for assent, apparently, because he brings his hands up to cup my face.
“What the fuck is going on here?” It’s Drew, and he sure doesn’t seem to care if he draws attention. Which is lucky because everybody in the ballroom on the other side of the glass doors turns to see who’s shouting on the porch.
“Mind your own business, Drew,” says Alan.
“Get your hands off her,” growls Drew. I step back, happy to help Alan comply.
“What the hell is—” Cooper halts next to Drew, a hand on his elbow as he takes in the scene. “Bailey?”
“I’m okay,” I say, stripping off Alan’s coat and tossing it back to him.
“We should head inside,” says Alan, once he registers all the eyes on us through the glass.
“Why were you touching her?” Drew is normally not remotely aggressive. He can be assertive when the situation calls for it, but I’ve never known him to fly off the handle about anything, not the whole time I’ve known him. Yet his hands are fisted, his shoulders tight with restraint, and if he were anybody else on the planet I’d swear he was about to punch his brother.
“That’s between Bailey and me,” says Alan, trying to wrap an arm around me. I take another step to the side, dodging him and putting myself next to Cooper, who wraps me in his arms.
“There is no ‘Bailey and you,’” says Cooper.
“Like you’d know,” sneers Alan. “You barely know her.”
That makes Cooper smile. “Better than you might think.”
“Back off, Alan,” I say. “And in case you were wondering, my answer is no.”
“Bailey,” he says, starting toward me. Drew stops him with a hand on his shoulder.
