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“I don’t care about being seen with you anymore,” she admits, and as proud as I am of her taking a step in the right direction, I think she’s forgetting something.
“Oh, that’s… great. However, it’s sort ofmewho can’t be seen withyou.”
She winces, but still looks as beautiful as ever.
After having such an amazing Christmas with her, and a fun few days afterward, I have finally admitted to myself that I have feelings for her. I’ve had them for a while, even.
“Well, I will be on my best behavior,” Selena says to me. Then she gives me an excited little shimmy and dashes out of the rental house to my Subaru.
I had invited Eliza to come with us, too, but she told me she preferred to meet some of her old friends and do something quieter. I don’t know which old friends she could possibly have in Quincy, but I figure they’re people that Dad introduced her to.
* * *
About an hourand a half into The Warehouse party, Steve has me drunk. Shot after shot of tequila, he won’t stop them coming. And landing Giselle Cosgrove as his girlfriend has turned him into an entirely different person. He no longer wants to talk about himself, and instead, he keeps asking me aboutmylife while Giselle is wandering through The Warehouse, mingling with her old high school friends.
I’ve just spent the last ten minutes going over how stressed out I am about getting a story on Derek.
Steve slaps my shoulder. “You know, I could probably get you a job anywhere. Who cares if you lose this one?”
I groan and put my elbows on the bar top. “Yeah, but I am practicallylivingwith the woman who could give me the best exclusive out there. And she won’t let me!” I run my hands through my hair and mess it up, too drunk to care.
“Do you really need her permission?” Steve asks.
“Yeah,” I sulk. Then I let out an outrageous sigh and turn to face him. “Because I have feelings for her now,somehow. So, I can’t do anything to hurt her.”
Steve raises his eyebrows at me. “Holy shit.”
I’m not usually one to fall for chicks. It’s not that I don’t want to settle; it’s just that none of them have been worth it. None of them have been Selena.
“I need another,” I hear myself saying. Then I wave over one of the bartenders, and Steve gets us two more shots.
“You are in love with Derek Heed’s wife?” he continues.
I nod my head miserably. “No—I don’tloveher. I just… I havefeelingsfor her. I have feelings for her, and she won’t leavehim. Why the hell won’t she leave him?”
The bartender hands us our shots, and when I throw mine back this time, I don’t even taste it anymore.
I’m going to regret this.
“Well, heads up,” Steve says, “she’s coming behind you.”
I turn around and shoot the beautiful Selena a grin. We had come into the party at separate times, so anyone watching us talk to each other now will think it’s just a friendlyhello.
Selena takes one look at the eight shot glasses sitting in between Steve and me, and she widens her eyes. “Whoa, have you two been here all night?”
Steve steps toward Selena and places a hand on her shoulder. “Kenneth has a lot of built-up stress, you know? He needs to let it out more often.”
I roll my eyes and push him away from her. She doesn’t like to be touched by strangers. Even drunk, I can remember that.
Steve laughs as Selena shoots me an appreciative look.
“What has you so stressed out?” she asks me.
“Well, his boss is going to fire him, for one,” Steve answers for me.
I whirl my head to him angrily. That was not something I wanted her to know.
Selena tries to get my attention. “Wait.Fired?” She grabs my shoulder and turns me back to her. “What is he talking about, Kenny?”
