KADY
It’s NOT my favorite bar, but whatever. I’m in!!! Be safe, @Sabs! Text me when you gethome. I’m staying with the guys tonight, so I won’t be in.
FAYE
Yes, yes, yes! Let’s talk about it tomorrow at Del’s and set a date.
Delilah shares a picture of a kitchen island full of mixing bowls and cooling cakes along with her trusty old mixer with the caption, “Baking has already commenced. See you for breakfast! P.S. I’ll have a hangover smoothie ready just in case, @Sabs!”
ME
I hope there’s gonna be cheesecake!
She immediately responds with a photograph of inside her refrigerator to show her signature cheesecake, already waiting. She’s even drizzled a letter ‘S’ over the top in toffee sauce.
We’re all heading to her new place for breakfast tomorrow. I’m so excited to see her again, her famous toffee cheesecake an added bonus. I don’t know what she puts in it, but I’m addicted. Over summer break, I got her to send me the recipe so I could make it at home. Needless to say, it turned out terribly, and Mom banned me from baking for the foreseeable future. Although I’m an engineering major and can work out the dimensions for bridges, I can’t seem to crack the intricacies of baking. Go figure.
I squeal as my favorite song comes on, abandoning my now-empty glass in the sand as I head over to dance, waving my arms as I get lost in the beat. I’m not drunk, but I’m in that happy, tipsy stage where everything feels extra fun.
I’m lost in the music when I spot a familiar face through the sea of people. It’s pretty hard to miss him, even amongst thehordes of jacked men. He’s around 6′5′′ and covered head to toe in sexy tattoos. A prickle of annoyance stabs my stomach as I notice a group of girls blatantly checking him out. Although I have no reason to get jealous, I march straight over to him before any of them pluck up the courage to talk to the newest arrival.
“Sabs.” Drax’s eyes widen in surprise as he peers down at me. He has ridiculously long black eyelashes that most women would kill for; I’d have to get extensions and apply ten layers of mascara to get the same effect. Unlike most of the other guys, he’s actually dressed—wearing a black T-shirt over jeans. I can’t help being disappointed that there’s not more skin on show. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Oh, it was a last-minute thing,” I reply flippantly. “Why? Are you avoiding me?” I wink playfully as if I’m joking, but there’s an element of curiosity to my question.
Drax hasn’t replied to any of my texts lately. I don’t usually message a guy more than once, but I broke my rule and texted him three times in a row. All of them have been left unread. It’s not like him to go quiet, so I’ve been starting to worry. The only reason I didn’t march around to his dorm room to check on him is because I’ve seen him working at Club Knotty, so I know he’s alive.
The way his eyes dart nervously around, looking anywhere but at me, tells me that avoiding me is exactly what he’s been trying to do.
Shit. A ball of dread settles in the pit of my stomach.
“I didn’t think you liked to dance.” I breeze over the uncomfortable silence, ignoring the obvious elephant in the room. “Remember what happened at homecoming? You stood to the side of the dance floor until I forced you to join me.” Filling awkward pauses is one of my many talents, but Drax’s intense stare makes me falter. “So what brings you here tonight?”
He shrugs. “A friend asked me to come.”
“Maybe you can join me for one dance, then?” I nudge my head. “This is my favorite song.”
He scrubs an inked hand over his face, highlighting his sharp jaw. I swear, his muscles have grown since the last time I saw him.
He buries his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know, Sabs.”
“Pretty please?” I bat my eyelashes and pout. “Since all the Stellas have bonded, I’ve been lonely. At least tonight I can get to hang out with one of my other best friends. I promise it’ll be fun!”
“Dancing isn’t my idea of fun,” he grumbles.
Drax and I have known each other since we were kids. Our parents are friends, so we grew up together. Although he wasn’t a natural surfer like my brothers, he was always hanging out on the beach with them, so we became friends. You wouldn’t know it looking at him now, but he was one of the skinniest guys in school until he hit the gym and grew into this… well, hunky, bulky beast.
“Oh, come on!” I don’t give him a choice, grabbing his arm and dragging him toward where everyone’s dancing. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”
“I’m a terrible dancer,” he grumbles but doesn’t pull away.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you at a party since we came to SVU.” The envious looks from other girls give me an extra pep in my step as I lead Drax into the center of the make-shift dance floor before finally releasing him. “Don’t you normally work security on the weekends?”
“I…” He begins to move awkwardly to the music. He has two left feet, but when you’re hot as hell, it doesn’t matter whether you can dance or not. No one cares about your moves when you have bulging biceps like his. “I have the night off.”
I frown. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “Fine.”
