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“Then wear sneakers with a dress. Come on. Do it as a favor to me. It’ll make things feel more normal.”
More normal. He wants things to feel normal.I suppressed the butterflies in my stomach and told him I had something I could wear.
I spent a little extra time preparing for our date. I was surprised at how much of a big deal it felt like to me. And based on the way Luke had acted all day, it was special to him, too. I thought about that while washing and blow-drying my hair. Then I agonized over my makeup in the mirror. Normally, I didn’t wear any makeup. I was afraid of swinging too far to the opposite end of the spectrum, so I conservatively touched myself up with a little concealer, a splash of blush to give my cheeks some color, and then a few swipes with my mascara brush to make my eyes really pop.
When I emerged from my room, I found Luke waiting in the kitchen, one hand resting in his pocket. I did a double-take. Luke looked sharp in gray dress slacks and a baby blue button-down shirt, with matching brown shoes and belt. The whole outfit accentuated his muscular frame perfectly.
Then he saw me, and it was his turn to gawk. His eyes ran over my black maxi dress; the high slit that showed off one long leg, and the neckline which revealed more of my breasts than he had ever seen. He didn’t stare for an inappropriate amount of time, but it was the proper eye-fucking that I thought I deserved.
“The dress isn’t too formal, is it?” I asked, giving a little spin. “It’s actually the only dress I brought with me. I think I packed it by accident.”
“It’s perfect,” he breathed, breaking out in a huge grin. “You look…” He struggled for the words. “You should wear your hair down more often. I mean, you look fine with it in a ponytail. Not fine,betterthan fine. But it’s even better like this. I’m trying to say that you look great, Caz.”
I gave my hair a little pat. “Why, thank you.”
He opened the door and held it for me, further intensifying the sense that this was definitely a date. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach again, and this time I didn’t try to suppress them. I hadn’t realized how much I had wanted to do something like this with Luke until we were actually doing it.Tonight is going to be a lot of fun. And I have no idea what will happen at the end of the night.But deep down, I had an idea of what I hoped would happen.
But as we began moving down the hallway, Luke immediately stopped at the first door we passed and knocked. I stopped and frowned. “What are…”
The door opened and Lexi stepped out into the hall. “You’re two minutes late for our date, mister!”
Their date.My stomach sank.Oh, no. I’ve misinterpreted the entire situation.
“Sorry,” he said, kissing her on the cheek and taking in the sight of her. “Wow, Lexi. You lookincredible.” She was wearing a black cocktail dress that was slimmer through the legs, accentuating her round hips and narrow waist. Her hair was down and flowing as if she’d spent three hours at the salon.
“Lexi, you’ve met Caz, right?” Luke gestured at me. “She’s coming along, if that doesn’t weird you out.”
“It’s totally fine! You lookso pretty,” she said to me. Then she pretended like I wasn’t there, took Luke’s arm, and allowed herself to be guided down the hall. “I’ve never had a bodyguard before!”
I’m not your bodyguard,I wanted to growl at her.I’m his.
A ball of anxiety and humiliation formed in my stomach as we Ubered to the restaurant, and it remained there throughout dinner. The worst part was that I had to ignore it and do my job. Luke and Lexi had a private table together while I was seated at the sushi bar ten feet away. I was close enough that I could hear every word of their conversation. Luke talked about his background as a football player. Lexi asked the server to take their photo, and then posted it on Instagram while Luke patiently pretended not to care. She treated him like a celebrity, laughing at all the dumb jokes he made and twice commenting that she couldn’t believe she was on a date with a real NFL player.
The jealousy I had felt last night while watching them chat on the balcony returned tenfold. It was heightened by my own humiliation at believing Luke would takemeout on a date instead of someone like Lexi. How could I have been so stupid?
After dinner, we walked three blocks to a nightclub. Luke politely asked me how my sushi was, and if it held up to LA standards. I gave a generic response without remembering exactly what I said. Lexi ignored my presence entirely.
The nightclub was dark and had loud music blasting. They ordered cocktails at the bar, then Lexi dragged him out onto the dance floor. The strobe lights of the club and the ebb and flow of the other dancers gave me a partial view of the two of them. To my surprise, Luke was a pretty good dancer. His moves made him yet another degree sexier than before. But the majority of my attention was on Lexi. She was stunningly beautiful in a way that I couldn’t possibly compete with. Better curves, bigger tits, bigger eyes, fuller lips. The sight of her with Luke, grinding up against him, flooded me with insecurities.
After nursing my tonic water for half an hour, I made my way out onto the dance floor. Luke smiled warmly when he saw me. “There’s our bodyguard!”
I ignored the wordourand put my lips close to his ear so he could hear me. “I just wanted you to know that it’s not safe on the dance floor. I’m too far away from you, and I can’t reach you quickly if something happens.”
He put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in to speak. His breath was warm on my ear and neck. “Then you’d better dance out here with us!”
I gave him a pained smile. “I’d rather watch you get stabbed.”
He laughed as if it were a genuine joke, then resumed dancing with Lexi. After a few seconds, I saw a blond guy standing by himself next to a standing table, watching the crowd of dancers. He was attractive enough for my purposes. I stubbornly walked over, took his hand, and dragged him out onto the dance floor.
I didn’t know the guy’s name, and I never introduced myself to him. It wasn’t important. All that mattered was that for the next ten minutes, I grinded against Blondie with as much gusto and abandon as Lexi was with Luke. I straddled his knee and let him put his arm around me. I purred when he spun me in a circle. I turned around and pressed my ass against his crotch, and felt him instantly go hard.
And all the while, Luke watched. He tried to hide it, but every few seconds his eyes cut over to the two of us. He didn’t smile. He didn’t show much of any emotion. But he wasn’t paying as much attention to Lexi, and his slick dance moves faltered.
“You want to get out of here?” he asked Lexi when the song changed.
“Yeah!” she replied.
Luke looked at me and jerked his head toward the door. I flashed my dance partner a smile, waved goodbye, and followed Luke and Lexi out of the club. In my imagination, there was a giantMission Accomplishedbanner flying over the door as we left.
