“That’s what I’m talking about, Ford.” She wiped her mouth on her arm as she polished off the bottle of water.
I smiled as I deposited a dollar into the jar. There was only one thing hanging over this night. I tried to ignore it as best as I could, because while I had chosen to be present, it was clear Suzie wasn’t.
I tensed with my next question. “Suzie, who do you keep looking for?”
Her face stayed neutral but her response was too fast. “I’m not looking for anyone.”
“Your head is on a swivel.” She had glanced toward the door for the countless time that night. I used a finger to gently bring her chin back towards me. “Are you worried about that Razor guy showing up?”
She frowned. “No, the MCs know not to come here. Not with Chief James and the Winstons crawling all over.” She gestured to the stage. She gave me a bright and totally insincere smile. “Honestly, I’m not looking for anybody.”
“Winston. That name sounds familiar.”
She shrugged but wouldn’t look at me.
“Suzie?”
She let out an exacerbated sigh. “I used to date one of them. Jethro. A thousand years ago.”
My insides went icy. I actually felt the blood freeze all the way to my fingertips. “Okay.”
The sudden realization that this side trip had been a ruse to get back at her ex made me feel sick. How could I once again be so caught up in a moment, only to find I was totally alone?
“Hoping to make him jealous?”
She glanced at me and frowned. “No. Nothing like that. I don’t care about that man.”
I waited in silence for her to tell the truth, hating how this stung.
“Plus. He’s not even in town, I don’t think. He’s too busy attending movie premiers.”
And there it was.
“Ah.”
“Don’t ‘ah’ me. I was just thinking maybe if his brothers were here they would pass on how…”
She trailed off probably realizing whatever she was about to say was going to piss me off.
“You wanted them to see how hot you are? How you had another man wrapped around your finger?”
Unexpectedly she laughed a loud crack of a laugh. “First of all, you couldn’t look more miserable right now if you tried. I’m pretty sure you’re incapable of being wrapped around anybody.” She kept talking without seeing how deep those words cut me. “If I’d wanted to show them that then I'm failing worse than a turkey trying to fly south for the winter.”
Was I that hard to read? I worried my emotions were written all over my face but she made me sound dead on the inside. Hell, I’d been having fun.
She went on, “No. I just look…better tonight. I look sophisticated.”
“You want him to think that you’ve changed.”
She shrugged and studied a couple dancing. I balled my fists and ground my teeth.
“You want him back?” I growled.
Her head snapped back to me. “It’s complicated.”
“I need some fresh air.” I walked away without another word.
I knew it was a bad habit of mine to leave the room when I couldn’t speak. But better to leave than stay and say the wrong thing. I went out a back door that led to a small back parking lot. Only a few cars remained. I sat on a short stack of cement stairs feeling the cold seep in through the thin material of my tuxedo. I tore off my mask and scrubbed my face. I focused on gulping down the cool air and pushing it out slowly in white puffs. I was angry and humiliated. This was everything I knew I would eventually feel from the first second I laid eyes on Suzie Samuels.
