He’s on a date.
The man I slept with three days ago is on a date with someone else, even though we’re supposed to be exclusive.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, and of course, Jake hears me. I quickly look away, but he manages to follow where I was watching and sighs.
“Emma—”
“Not here,” I say quickly, and smile at my friends, pretending that everything is fine when in reality, I’m fucking pissed. I would’ve expected to feel sad or hurt, and sure, it may be lying underneath this anger, but oh, do I feel pissed.
A drink. I need a drink.
“Jake, can you get us a round of shots, please?” I ask sweetly.
Giving me a knowing look, he nods. “Let Halloween night begin.” He lifts a hand, and a young student comes marching our way. “Ten shots of their best tequila, three beers, one vodka soda—” He grunts as I hit him with my elbow. “Twovodka sodas, one whiskey sour, and a bottle of water.” Jake hands the guy dressed as a pirate a couple of hundred-dollar bills. “Keep the change, kid, and I’ll tell Brian you did a great job tonight.”
“You got it, Mr. Greymoore.” He rushes away, and we all turn to Jake.
“What?” he asks as if we’re the crazy ones.
Kamila scoffs. “Was that somebody from Kappa?”
“Yeah. He’s in, but they’re still making him do the legwork, and he got lucky by being assigned to me tonight.”
“You’re not even part of the frat, dude,” Levi says.
Jake grins. “Brian needed someone to get the freshmen fake IDs, and I was more than happy to help, for a price and a favor.”
Cameron covers his mouth and laughs. Stevie rolls her eyes, and Kamila, Levi, and I sit back, not bothering to ask him any more questions because when it comes to Jake, nothing should surprise us anymore.
A couple of minutes later, I’ve downed my two tequila shots back-to-back.
“Does anyone want mine? I can’t have more than one of these,” Kamila says loudly over the person who’s singing and holds up her remaining shot.
I motion with my hand. “Right over here.”
She raises both eyebrows but doesn’t question me.
“Fucking slow down, Em,” Jake whispers.
Rolling my eyes, I set the shot down. “Relax, I’m not going to have it right now. I don’t want to throw up.”
He looks at me warily, and I give him a fake smile. The alcohol is gradually affecting me, although two shots are not enough for the rest of the night, and instead of calming me down, it’s only made me angrier at Grayson.
Deciding on my next move, I pull out my phone, unlock it, set the brightness to low, then open my text thread with Grayson.
Me: Nice costume.
Me: And nice date.
Yeah, it’s petty, but I don’t care. He needs to know that he’s been caught.
I slowly look back and find the witch deep in conversation with the group.
I can only make out Grayson’s face. He’s smiling, and hemust feel his phone buzz because he looks down, causing his grin to fade immediately. Unlike him, I’m the one smiling now.
His hair bounces from side to side, following the movement of his head, clearly searching for me in the room. I have the advantage of being short, so he can’t see me, but I’m not here to hide. I want him to see me. I shimmy upward and sit straight, then glance over my shoulder and wings.
After fifteen long seconds of Grayson looking for me, his eyes finally meet mine.
