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Her eyes blazed with interest as she nodded. She probably took my question as an invitation, but it wasn’t. I just couldn’t stay in this thumping, pounding, sweaty mess of people anymore. I needed space; I needed to sit somewhere and quietly fall apart.
“Should we tell Denny and Kiera goodbye?” she asked above the music.
I shook my head, to answer her and to clear the horrid visual of Kiera kissing Denny from my mind. “They just left.”
“Without saying goodbye to me? Interesting.” Anna gave me a knowing smirk, like she knew exactly why her sister had taken off without even finding her first. Her smile made me even more nauseous.
Needing out of that damn club, I grabbed her hand and pulled her through the throngs of people. I purposely avoided following the same path Denny and Kiera had used. I just couldn’t take it. When we got outside, I inhaled deep breaths. It didn’t help clear my head much. I still felt really sick, and there was an ache in my chest that wouldn’t go away. I felt like I was slowly losing my mind.
From beside me, Anna giggled. I looked over at her, wondering if she could sense the despair emanating from me. She didn’t seem to. Her emerald eyes were fixated on my chest; my shirt was still almost completely unbuttoned. A chill went through me that had nothing to do with the icy wind on my skin. “You get hot in there?” she asked with a playful smile.
Dropping her hand, I hastily redid the buttons. I didn’t want to be reminded of Kiera’s fingers on my body. Or on Denny’s body, which was probably where they were right now. God, I was going to throw up.
“Something like that,” I told her as I hurried toward my car; Anna had to run to catch up to me. I noticed the absence of Denny’s car, and I had to hold my hand against my stomach so I didn’t lose it all over the concrete.
Anna was panting a little when she stepped up to the passenger’s side of my Chevelle. “Where’d you go anyway? When I got back from the bathrooms, you were just…gone.”
I glanced at her over the top of the car and she shrugged. The image of rubbing up against Kiera’s back leaped uninvited into my head, quickly followed by the image of her mouth all over Denny’s. “Needed a drink,” I muttered, opening the car door.
Anna’s brow furrowed as I darted inside the safety of my vehicle. I did not want to think about what happened tonight. I did not want to think about what was happening right now. I did not want to think. Period. Anna got into the car while I debated what to do, where to go. We definitely couldn’t go home. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to go back home. Anna looked at where Denny’s car had been parked earlier. She opened her mouth like she was going to make a comment. Knowing it would be something suggestive about Kiera and Denny, I beat her to the punch.
“Denny and Kiera need…alone time…so how about I take you to a friend’s house…so they can have some privacy?” I was pretty proud of myself for saying it; my voice had only moderately cracked on Kiera’s name.
Anna was one of those girls who were up for absolutely anything and would easily roll with life’s little changes, so she eagerly nodded as she stretched her long legs out in front of her. Devouring me with her eyes, she stated, “Anything you want to do is fine with me.”
I paused with my hands on the wheel and looked over at her. She resembled Kiera so much it was painful. Same thick brown hair, same expressive eyes, same curving smile. She was biting on her plump bottom lip, slightly squirming in her seat as she gave me I want you to fuck me eyes. I could have her if I wanted. I could probably take her right here in this crowded parking lot. I could shove the image of Kiera and Denny from my mind by wrapping myself around another woman. I could forget. I just didn’t want to. And…I’d promised Kiera I wouldn’t. I wasn’t sure if I still owed Kiera anything or not…but, well, I had promised her, and I was going to keep that promise.
Turning my gaze to the windshield, I muttered, “We’ll go to Matt and Griffin’s house. They won’t mind if we just show up.”
Anna let out an excited giggle as I pulled the car away from the club.
Chapter 21
Avoidance
Anna spent the car ride either flirting with me or talking about how great Denny and Kiera were. And because I couldn’t ask her not to talk about them, I had to nod and agree with her. By the time we arrived at Matt’s, I was done with my evening.
I knocked on the front door after seeing both Matt’s and Griffin’s cars in the driveway. I didn’t know what they’d been doing tonight, but hopefully they were coherent enough to help me entertain Anna. She shifted her weight and rubbed her arms while she waited. I wasn’t sure if she was actually cold or if she wanted me to put an arm around her like I had earlier when I’d escorted her into the dance club. I wasn’t in the mood to be gentlemanly though, so I simply stared at the door and left her to her own devices.
It cracked open a heartbeat later and Matt’s face appeared in the opening. He didn’t seem surprised to see me; I often showed up with no warning. He simply said, “Hey,” and opened the door all the way. As Anna and I stepped through, Matt raised his hand in greeting to her. He looked around for Kiera and Denny, but not seeing anyone else, he shut the door.
“You have any beer?” I asked him.
He nodded toward the kitchen in answer. I turned to leave, then looked back at Anna. I supposed I should be cordial. “You want one?”
Anna was busy taking in Matt and Griffin’s home, but she paused to look at me when I asked my question. “I’d love one,” she responded, her eyes trailing down my body. I resisted the urge to sigh. I just did not feel like being checked out right now.
Matt extended his hand to the living room for Anna while I headed into the kitchen. While I was walking, I heard Griffin’s voice floating down the hallway. “Who the hell is here? And when the hell are we going to that party at Rain’s? We shoulda just headed straight there from Pete’s, like Evan did. But, no, pissy boy needed to come home and change. Pansy. It’s not like I knocked that beer into your lap on purpose!”
I smirked, knowing Griffin wouldn’t leave the house again once he realized Anna was here. He probably wouldn’t leave her lap. Opening Matt’s fridge, I found a pack of beer that I liked and grabbed a couple of bottles for Anna and me. Popping open the tops, I headed back out to the living room. As predicted, Griffin was all over Anna. Standing well inside her personal space, he was smiling down at her and playing with a strand of her bright red hair.
Not really wanting to interrupt them, I handed Anna her bottle as casually as I could. She still turned and looked at me though. “Thank you, Kellan.”
She winked at me and Griffin frowned. If he didn’t get into her pants tonight, I’d never hear the end of it. And if he did get into her pants tonight, I’d never hear the end of it. I was fucked either way. And I really didn’t give a shit. Wanting alone time with my bottle, I collapsed on the far end of the couch.
Matt looked at me, then at Griffin. “We were just about to head out. You guys want to come?”
I shook my head—I did not want to go hang out with a bunch of random drunk people. I wanted to stay here, sipping on my beer in solitude. Or as close to solitude as I could currently get.
Before I could vocalize my objection, Griffin piped up. “Nah, let’s bag that shit. Here’s cool.” His eyes returned to Anna’s chest. Anna looked over at me, maybe for guidance, since we were kind of together tonight, but I ignored her and stared at the condensation droplets on my sweaty bottle. Was Kiera sweaty right now? Oh God…why did I have to think that?
When Anna spoke, she didn’t seem bothered in the slightest that I was being an uncommunicative date. “Sounds like fun. I’d love to keep dancing though. Can you turn on some music?”
I watched Matt shrug and grab the remote to his sound system. Thumping bass hit me a minute later and I almost put my hands over my ears. God, I never wanted to listen to club music again.
Matt turned on the TV to some sports recap, minus the sound, and sat back into his chair. His foot on his knee rocking with the music, he alternated between halfheartedly watching the television and watching Anna and Griffin. Anna laughed and giggled, drinking her beer and bumping her hip into Griffin’s. She extended her hand to me a few times, like she wanted me to join them, but I always dropped my eyes. Not tonight.
She stopped trying after a while and fully gave herself over to the D-Bag desperately trying to get her attention. When I was halfway through my second beer, they were halfway down each other’s throats. Still laughing and giggling, Anna scratched and clawed at Griffin in a way that only amplified my pain. That had been Kiera earlier, when she’d been ardently attacking me. Undressing me. Wanting me. God, why did she go home with him?
Inevitably, Griffin pulled Anna toward the hallway, toward his bedroom. She went willingly, with a huge smile on her face. She didn’t even look my way when she took off to be with another man. Wasn’t that fitting? Everybody else in the world was having sex tonight but me. And Matt. But he didn’t seem as pissed about that as I was.
The minute Griffin and Anna were gone, I motioned to the music. “I think they’re done with that now.”
