Page 303 of A Matter of Time

There was a snort of laughter from him. “Yeah.”

I looked up at his face. “What’d they say?”

He shook his head. “They told you no, like, five times. You never listen when you’re fucked up.”

“Don’t swear.” I yawned. “Say wasted instead.”

“Fine. You never listen when you’re wasted.”

I grinned wide. “Chloe liked me.”

“Yeah, she did.”

“Her boyfriend’s nice.”

“Her boyfriend barely looked at her. He paid more attention to you.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Sam, he just⁠—”

“You move nice, by the way,” he said in his smoky voice, and I felt the shudder pass through me just from the sound. “Cold?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“I wouldn’t get too attached to Jason if I were you.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“I’m thinkin’ he’s done.”

“Like how? You think he’s cheating on Chloe?”

“Maybe not cheating, but you can tell just from watching them that he’s not that into her. I mean, I’m not saying he has to throw her down and screw her on the floor of the bar, but I don’t think he touched her once all night.”

As we walked to the car, I thought about what he had said. Could I roll back the night in my head and see disinterest from Jason? I made the argument that some people just weren’t that demonstrative.

He grunted.

“Okay,” I said, grinning at him, “but for example, obviously, because we were in a straight club, you⁠—”

“Even if we were in a gay club, J—which for the record I might never go in—I’m not usually into the whole public-display thing.”

“This is what I’m saying.” I yawned quickly. “Maybe Jason isn’t either.”

“Yeah, but I never take my eyes off you when we’re out.”

I snorted a laugh. “We’ve been out all of once at this point.”

He shook his head. “No, even from before… I never take my eyes off you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, for one,” he said as we reached the car, “I like looking at you, and for two, if someone other than me tries to get close to you without my permission, then we’ve got a problem.”

“Ridiculous,” I teased him.