After downing the shot, I let my eyes travel across the room and stop on Asher, who is staring at me in return. It’s closer to glaring, really. He doesn’t wave or smile or acknowledge me in any friendly manner. The woman beside him is chattering away, not seeming to notice that he’s hardly paying attention to her. A sick sense of satisfaction rolls across me, promptly followed by guilt.
I raise an eyebrow at him, and he slowly gives his attention back to the woman he’s with.
“You think you can get that guy to buy you a drink?” Derek laughs, drawing me away from any inappropriate thoughts involving my professor.
“Oh, I know I can,” Sam shoots back with a flirty smile.
Sam gives a jerk of his chin at someone across the bar. I follow the gesture and see a cute guy dressed as Buzz Lightyear waving at us.
Derek’s eyes scan the bar before landing on a girl dressed as a devil who, true to her costume, gives him a fiendish smile. “If he buys you a drink before she buys me one, I’ll pick up tonight’s tab,” Derek offers as he points out a girl dressed as a ballerina.
“Done,” Sam snorts with a cocky grin plastered across his face.
They both head off toward their respective conquests, with whom they have no real intention of pursuing, leaving me alone. “Alright,” I murmur. “I’ll just be here then.”
I finish off my apple martini and grumpily pop the slim green apple slice into my mouth as I wonder how long I’ll have to wait here before I can make a polite excuse to go home and free myself from this godawful corset. Hopefully, as soon as they announce the winner of best costume, I can catch an Uber home.
I look over and notice that Ash—Professor Stirling—is still chatting with that beautiful woman. She’s turned even more toward him, and her knee presses against his thigh while his arm drapes over the back ofher chair. He says something close to her ear, and she laughs.
Ugly jealousy pools in my stomach like acid.
Before I can let that feeling fester, someone slips into the seat next to me. I look up and see that Matt has joined me.
“I’ve been waiting for your friend to leave all night so that I could come over here and offer to buy you a drink,” he grins, showing off blindingly white teeth. His dirty-blonde hair is parted to the side, clean-cut, and slicked down with gel. Light blue eyes stare back at me. He’s Maverick fromTop Gun. Not that original, but the costume does show off his strong shoulders.
He’s cute. Not as cute as…
Nope, I am not going there.
A small smile plays across my lips. “You could’ve come over despite Sam being here.” I nod toward the corner where Sam is still flirting with the guy who waved him over. “The guy who got his attention sure didn’t mind my presence.”
He puts a hand to his chest and bows his head in mock shame. “Some men are braver than I.”
I giggle, and out of the corner of my eye, I see that the noise catches Asher’s attention. It may or may not cause me to bat my eyelashes at Matt.
“So.” He smiles and puts his arm around the back of my chair, very similar to how Asher has been sitting with his date. He leans in closer, and I see Asher straighten up, removing his arm from around the woman beside him. “Can I buy you a drink? Or are we strictly class partners?”
I nod. “I’ll allow it.”
“What’s your poison?”
“I’ll take an apple martini.”
“You got it,” he says before he gets up and saunters to the bar to order us a round.
I glance over to see Asher still staring at me. I give him a little wave of my fingers, and he grits his teeth in response. If he wants to get a rise out of me, he’ll be disappointed. If he wants to bring a girl here and flirt with her, then I can certainly flirt with whomever I want. One kiss in an elevator does not a couple make.
Obviously, I need to find a new bar to start frequenting, I think to myself. The thought brings my anger simmering back to the surface. I have just as much right to this bar as he does, though clearly I am more affected by him than he is by me. The idea makes my heart drop like a stone as disappointment settles over me.
Matt returns with my martini and a light beer for himself, and I try to force a smile to my face, hoping that he won’t notice how unconvincing it feels.
Matt and I finishedour drinks a little while ago and are still sitting and chatting, mostly about our upcoming presentation, but the conversation is nice. I enjoy not having to be worried about someone seeing us and disapproving. This is easier, better, I try to convince myself.
Sam and Derek are still chatting up the people they’re trying to swindle free drinks out of when Matt turns to me and says, “Would you like another drink?”
“Okay, but this rounds on me.” I smile and pat his arm before getting to my feet. He thanks me as I turn and make my way through the crowd to the bar. Dave grins at me as I approach. “Apple martini?”
I nod. “And a Coors Light, please.”
