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Hayden:I’m on my way.
“Guess I fucked up asking you to join us then,” the pretty brunette across the table says to me with a laugh. She was the one singing when I first arrived to meet with Amiri. It feels like that was weeks ago, not mere hours.
“Evidently,” I keep my tone neutral, bored almost, but I am anything but. I’m somewhere between slinking away to lick my wounds and hauling the bane of my existence over my shoulder and taking her somewhere to show her how fucking mad she’s driving me.
“Go on then,” she continues, taking a sip of an almost fluorescent blue cocktail that the bartender had bought over for Elle and her friends once the champagne had dwindled. “Tell me what you did to mess up with Elle.”
“What makes you think I’m the one to blame?” I narrow my eyes at her, but she doesn’t seem put off.
She shrugs, “Elle is the sweetest, kindest, most loyal, and most forgiving friend I have. So, if she’d rather be sticking hot pokers in her eyes than dance with you, you must have done something pretty bad.”
“Needles.”
“Excuse me?”
“She said she’d rather stick needles in her eyes. Maybe I’d beat the hot pokers.”
She laughs, holding her glass up to me in a ‘nice one’ gesture. Taking another sip and nearly sloshing sickly sweet liquor all over the table, she pouts at me. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“I’m sure Elle will tell you what she deems necessary for you to know,” I sigh.
“Are you always so formal?”
“Yes.” But I wasn’t when I was withher. I watch Elle now, dancing with the guy who’s supposedly engaged to my new friend. Her chest and cheeks are flushed deep pink, the tell-tale sign that she is buzzed from her five glasses of champagne and half a blue cocktail. She’s buzzed. Old habits die hard I guess, as I cannot stop watching her to make sure she’s okay. I always watched her on nights out when we were friends. Always made sure she was sober enough for the decisions she was making or made sure she got home and tucked up in bed alone, when she was too drunk to know better. She moves with fluidity against one of the twins she’s dancing with. One hand is clasped in his while the other arm rests on his shoulder, his other hand is on her waist; it’s a respectful touch but still, it makes my nostrils flare.
“I’m Gaby, by the way.” The woman opposite me pulls my attention back to her.
“You’re okay with them dancing like that?” I jerk my chin toward the dancefloor, ignoring her introduction.
She doesn’t look back, just arches a dark eyebrow and smirks at me. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” When I don’t answer, she continues, “Like I said, Elle is the most loyal friend I have, she would never cross a line with Tony, even if she wanted to. And Tony? He loves me, I have utter confidence in that, he’s a good man and he would never cheat. They are good friends, they talk and laugh, flirt even. They dance and hug and I have no issue with it because I am completely secure in both relationships.”
I humph at that and grind my teeth, finishing the dregs of my drink.
“Question is, why would it bother you?”
“Who says I’m bothered?” I snap at her.
She just laughs.
I swear I feel Hayden’s presence before I catch sight of him by the entrance. He looks fucking good. All black suit, black shirt, black waistcoat, and black tie broken only by a silver tie clip and the silver glint of his belt buckle. Nearly every finger is adorned with silver rings and his nails are painted black, along with the dark smudges of black along the lower rim of his eyes, he looks like some kind of vampire pirate. His jet-black hair is different from the last time Elle saw him, where it had previously fallen to his shoulders. He’s had it shaved at the sides but longer on top and styled back into a quiff that Elvis would be proud of, complete with the wayward strand that curls back onto his forehead. The first time he came home with that haircut, I’d pushed him to his knees and fucked his pretty mouth.
Hayden sees me and offers me a sexy half smile that seems to tell me he knows what I’m thinking. He makes his way over and stops just in front of me as I stand. I see the moment Elle clocks him, a split second before he sees her, I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. The look he gives her is burning, his chest moving with hard breaths. She stares at him for a while, mouth open and eyes wide. I don’t know what she’s thinking and it’s disconcerting, Hayden must be feeling the same as he swallows once more, a sudden look of nerves crossing over his face.
Something similar to jealousy twangs in my chest when Elle’s beautiful rosy face splits in two with a wide and ecstatic smile. Just for him. She lets out drunken squeal of delight and does a running shuffle in her skyscraper heels. Getting to just a few feet away, she takes a running leap, landing in his outstretched arms, her legs wrap around his hips, pushing her already short skirt up so her arse cheeks make a slight appearance.
Hayden holds Elle close, spinning them both around as they laugh. “Fuck, baby.” He stops their movement and looks at her.
“Hayden,” she says with so much adoration in her voice. She cups his face in her hands and looks at him as though committing his face to her memory.
“Any of those burly blokes your boyfriend?” He looks over her shoulder to the group at the table who have all completely stopped what they are doing to watch the happy reunion.
“No,” she chuckles.
“Thank fuck for that,” managing to hold her weight with one hand on her bottom, he moves the other to cup the back of her head and attacks her lips with his. He kisses her as though there is no one else in the room, but we are all watching. Watching Hayden kiss anyone else usually sets my teeth on edge. I can’t offer Hayden commitment or a relationship, we aren’t together. So, I keep my mouth shut when he finds someone else to warm his bed at night. He does when I do the same.
But watching Hayden kiss Elle doesn’t make me jealous of her. It makes my chest ache; it takes me back to a time where a happy future looked possible.
They finally break apart, gasping and smiling at each other. Elle seems to remember herself and pushes away until her feet find ground again.
