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“Hey,” I say quietly.
Nikki and Kaitlyn are both swarming and fawning over Declan, and I swallow hard as they rub their hands over him.
“We’re headed over to hit up 1OAK. You should join us, Declan,” Taylor says flirtatiously.
I glance at Declan and see him looking at me. His eyes hold a question, but I look away. Taylor slides her arm through mine and I force a smile to my lips as she starts to drag me down the sidewalk.
Declan and the bridesmaids follow us as we head into another dark nightclub. I’m hoping that I can lose them and head back to my hotel room when they go out on the dancefloor. I can text them and say I didn’t feel well. They won’t even miss me and then I can text Eloise and read for the rest of the night. Anything to forget that for just a second, I believed that I had a chance with Declan.
Taylor finds a table right away in spite of the crowds out to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and orders a round of drinks and shots. The shots arrive first and I take the one that is set before me, downing it in one go. I look up, my gaze wandering across the table, meeting Declan’s eyes. He’s frowning at me, his worried gaze pinning me to my seat.
I want to say something. I want to crawl into his lap and go back to when it was just him and I, but before I can, Chloe leans into him. Her hand slides up his thigh and I wince, looking away.
Declan is sandwiched between Nikki and Chloe with Kaitlyn practically crawling over her sister to sit in his lap. They’re hanging on his every word and my stomach clenches as I stare at them.
I can’t help but feel stupid. It was stupid of me to think he would ever be interested in the quiet, chubby girl when he could have anyone that he wanted. He was probably just being nice to me earlier, feeling bad for me because I was sitting alone on Valentine’s Day. I mean, my cousin and her friends did just leave me in some nightclub while they went off to hit on other guys.
Another shot is set down in front of me and I drink it in one fast gulp. The alcohol is starting to hit me now and I zone out, ignoring the table as I look around the club.
It’s dark with blue lights shining over the crowd on the dancefloor. I can see a bar on the other side of the club and another one up front, both crowded with people.
“This isn’t right!” Chloe shrieks and my head snaps back to see what the commotion is about.
The waitress is apologizing profusely and trying to explain as she looks between the glass in Chloe’s hands and back to Chloe. It’s obvious that tonight must be one of her first times waitressing and that she’s trying her best. I groan when Chloe starts to rip into the poor girl.
Chloe shoves the drink back into the waitress’s hand with a disgusted look before I can work up the courage to say anything and call her out.
The waitress rushes off and my heart goes out to her. I know how hard it can be to learn something new and working in this packed club can’t be easy.
My cheeks flame, partly in anger, but mostly from embarrassment. I hate being seen with these girls and being associated with their mean, snide comments. I can’t believe I have to be here with them. I can’t believe they still treat people like this.
My hands clench into fists and I straighten up in my seat, glaring at Chloe. They’re all ignoring me, though, and don’t notice.
“Ugh, let’s just get out of here and go somewhere they actually know how to make a decent drink,” Chloe says with an eye roll.
Nikki, Kaitlyn, and Taylor all give mean little cackles and stand, gathering their things. The waitress comes back as they’re leaving and I step over to her.
“I’m really sorry about them. It’s not your fault. They’re always like that. Here,” I say, shoving all of the cash that I have into her hand as a tip. “Thanks for everything,” I tell her and I give her a quick hug when it looks like she’s about to cry.
“Thank you,” she whispers, giving me a grateful smile as I grab my phone and hurry to catch up to them.
I turn, almost running right into Declan.
For a minute I had forgotten he was there, or maybe I was just too afraid to look and see if he had left with the girls.
He’s grinning down at me, his eyes looking almost proud of me and I duck my head, trying to sidestep him and catch up to Taylor and the bridesmaids.
He catches up to me quickly, falling into step beside me and wrapping his arm around my waist as the crowd jostles me.
“That was really nice of you,” Declan says close to my ear and I blush, not liking the attention on me.
“Someone had to do something. She was trying her best,” I huff, wondering why he didn’t say something himself.
“I know. I left her a note with a large tip on the table. Hopefully that makes up for their behavior.”
My heart thumps in my chest, pleased that he considered their behavior rude, too, and also tried to make up for it.
“I’ve been meaning to ask. How come you aren’t a bridesmaid?” he asks me as we loiter inside the front doors.
