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“Oh, I love you! I better get back to my table.” He grabs the second Martini, and begins to walk off, then turns around with a grin. “And, Lex, don’t worry, I’ll make sure she comes alone.”
I scan the room, hoping to find her alone. Amongst the other dancers, she’s there with him. My blood begins to boil watching his hands all over her. With a slight growl, my teeth begin to clench as I take long steps toward her, zigzagging through the crowd, excusing myself as I bump into couples holding each other tightly while they dance to Frank Sinatra.
“Mind if I cut in?” I interrupt, flashing a friendly smile. “For old time’s sake?”
Charlotte’s tanned skin turns almost pale. Julian, on the other hand, is annoyed. He whispers something in her ear making her smile, then he walks away like a good little boy should. I place a hand over hers, and the other on her waist. I ache to hold her closer, the familiarity is just too much. I have to get through this.
She questions what I want. Accusing me of calling us friends, and I’m quick to tell her that, according to her, our relationship meant nothing. Just a high school fling.
And there, I pointed out the one thing she said to me which hurt me more than anything.
That we were nothing.
That everything I said meant nothing to her.
She’s quick to change the subject, avoiding the topic completely. Then comes the thousand questions. Her curiosity is piquing as to why I changed careers. There’s so much she doesn’t know about me, but I don’t want to have this conversation on the dance floor. I ask her to meet me afterward for a drink, and knowing she heard me but chose to ignore me, I decide to do what I do best—I rile a reaction from her.
“How long have you and Julian been together?”
“Why, Lex? Does it matter? What about you? I’m guessing you’re no longer with Samantha since you hooked up with another blonde,” she snaps.
I calmly explain the scenario, a small part of me hoping it makes her jealous which can only mean she still cares. Her face scrunches up when she gets angry, and I smirk, hoping she will lighten up, but boy, am I wrong.
The crowd stops dancing to applaud the band, and she takes the opportunity to end the dance, thanking me before walking away.
Defeated, and unsure of my next move, I walk back toward my table, forgetting about my date, Brooke. She glances at me with a blank expression on her face.
“Who is she, Lex?” Her tone is flat, she’s not at all jealous.
This is strange. I’m not used to calm women around me.
“Who? The brunette?” I look over and see Julian with his arms around her. Fuck! One minute away from me, and she’s running into his arms.
Exerting my anger, I crack my knuckles, penetrating Charlotte with a cold stare. Each time his lips touch her, my pulse quickens, causing my body to tense followed by an outbreak of sweat.
“Just someone from high school. No one special.”
The words hurt even to say them.
“Listen, Lex, there’s something you should know.” Brooke twists her napkin, nervously looking around. “I only agreed to this date to please my parents.”
I laugh at the irony of it all, welcoming the distraction. “Your parents? Brooke, I don’t think your dad likes me one bit.”
“See, the thing is that, um…” she downs the rest of her champagne, placing the empty glass on the table, “… I’m not interested in you. Sorry, I mean, not just you… in men.”
Rubbing my chin, I watch her with confusion, trying to understand before it clicks. “You prefer your own kind?”
She laughs, immediately relaxing her shoulders and letting out a sigh. “Yes, I do, Lex. I’m sorry, I haven’t gone public, and my father’s in the middle of an important campaign.”
“Secret’s safe with me.” I grin. “But only if you do one thing… pretend you’re at least interested in me for the night. It might come in handy later.”
Yes, I have a plan. It just needs to be executed.
Charlotte can control herself as much as she wants, but little does she know that I know of her weakness. Jealousy runs deep within her veins, and somehow, I need to ignite the flame beneath that jealousy and make it burn wild.
“Deal. I’m sure I can play a straight lady for one night.”
We both laugh this time, knowing how fucked-up this all is. I’m glad there’s no longer this awkward tension between us.
