AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Go enjoy yourself, Mik.” He nods to my friends. “Max, Alex. Please, have fun.”
Thepartyhasbeenin full swing for a couple of hours and most of the guests have had their fair share of complimentary champagne. Now people crowd the dance floor, laughing and swaying to the heavy beat of some song I don’t recognise, and I push away from Alex and Max.
“Where are you going?” Max shouts over the drone as Alex drapes an arm over his shoulder and grins.
“Is she off to find Baby Blue?”
I shoot him a look of exasperation and he holds his hands up in surrender.
“Mikaela,” Alex laughs. “It took me nought point two seconds to realise Baby Blue was the one in black staring very intensely at you for the whole introductory chat. Plus, his eyes have hardly left you since.” He nods to the corner Ben is lounging in, a glass of clear liquid in his hands as he watches us talking.
A shiver runs the length of my spine as his eyes lock with mine and I try to focus on keeping calm. I turn back to face Alex with a roll of my eyes.
Ben and I have successfully avoided each other all night and it wouldn’t take much to figure out why. From the outside our distance is typical: people will assume we pissed each other off in one of the planning meetings again. But something in my bones screams that we are very much in tune when it comes to the real reason. Something shifted between us when we stood face to face in the entrance tonight. Rule number one is hanging on by the very last threads and this probably isn’t the place to test how strong those threads are.
“I’m getting a drink, smart ass.” I grin as Max turns back to Alex and pulls him in for a sloppy kiss, before I make my way off of the dance floor and over to the bar.
Out of the crowd I’m grateful for some space. I perch my clutch on the bar and push my hair over one shoulder, scooping it off of my neck to give my skin a second to breathe. It’s hot in here.
And then there’s a hand on my waist.
My eyes snap to the left and I groan in a very impolite way, right in the face of the guy with his fingers spread over my hip.
Asher Jones is looking for a kick in the groin.
“Asher.” I twist to face him, not concealing the scowl on my face as he puts on his most charming smile.
Objectively, Asher is handsome. He’s tall - a little less so than Ben, but tall all the same - and his shoulders are broad and strong from years of competitive swimming. His eyes are a delightful silver tone with flecks of dark blue and his skin is permanently sun kissed. His dirty blonde hair has been cropped short for as long as I’ve known him, a habit picked up from his dad who spent the best part of his youth in the military, and he has the straightest teeth I’ve ever seen. Objectively, he is handsome, but he does nothing for me. Which only makes him work harder for it.
Asher is sweet too. A bit of a pervert? Probably. Too forward to the point of borderline inappropriateness? Almost always. But he’s also the first to put his hand in his pocket for charity, he adores my brother and he always knows to back off when I tell him I’ve had enough of his attention. Apparently tonight I’ll be reminding him that I’m always tired of his attention.
“Can I buy you a drink, Mik?” His eyes dance with flirtation and I roll mine.
“That depends, Asher. Is it just a drink?” I raise my eyebrows and he tries to feign innocence.
“Not sure what you mean, sweetheart.”
“No?” I glance at his hand, still holding gently to my hip. “Because your hand on me kind of says otherwise.”
He laughs as he shakes his head and pulls his hand back.
“Let me guess,” he jokes. “You’re flattered, as you always are, but would like to remind me of the last six times you have shot me down?”
I grin as the bartender approaches us.“It’s like you read my mind, Asher. I knew there was a brain hidden in there somewhere.”
“You know, Mik.” He shrugs as he grins. “You teasing me like that only makes me want you more. I love it when you’re mean.”
I shake my head with a laugh. Pervert, but loveable too. The little shit.
“I’ll have whatever cocktail tastes the best for the most money.” I smile at the woman waiting for our order. “He’s buying.”
He gawks at me as I flutter my lashes and smile innocently. Watching him flounder is kind of fun, but also kind of mean.
“I’m kidding. Water please. And put whatever this idiot has on my brothers tab?”
The woman nods with a smile and grabs a bottle from below the bar, untwisting the cap and pouring it out over ice.
I turn to Asher before picking up my glass and give him a quick hug. “It’s good to see you too, Ash.”
Slippingthroughthecrowd,I crane my neck to find him. He was in the back corner the whole time I was with Asher, I’m sure of it. But now Ben is nowhere to be found. I had hoped we’d be able to stand in a busy little corner, pretend to be blissfully unhappy in each other’s presence for a little while, just so I could feel that little bit of comfort that being with him brings, but my hopes are slowly being dashed as I drain my water and place the empty glass on a table.
Maybe I’ll go back to Max and Alex.
A small squeak escapes my lips as I feel a warm hand wrap gently around my wrist and tug me through the open doors behind me. The rough pull is partnered with a tender stroke of his thumb over my pulse point, telling me not to panic.
