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I knew should be flaring right now. It peaked somewhat when it became clea
r that he wasn t going to listen to me.
But he did stop, only it wasn t because of me.
I caught the beverage that suddenly slid across the table in my direction, b
ecause not doing so would have put it right in my lap. I looked up and stopp
ed breathing around the time I could see Luke again, smiling again. I tried
to mirror it, but couldn t even get my mouth to turn up. I probably looked c
reepy for a minute there, but that was hardly a concern as I studied the blo
nd for any sign of tension and found none.
Except for his eyes. Maybe his eyes were a little harder, but it could have
been the lighting. Probably was the lighting. My frown deepened as I reali
zed he was looking at James... James was smiling at him, and I knew the eff
ect of that smile. My ex was suddenly a threat in more ways than one, and b
efore I could stop myself, I swung my foot under the table, aiming for him.
I cussed when all I hit was a cold, hard table leg. They both looked at me.
James smug, Luke questioning. But no one asked for an explanation as their
attention turned back to each other. James made the first move, his hand o
ut as he introduced himself. Luke responded in kind.
Do I know you from somewhere? James asked him when I finally remembe
red to breathe.
Probably not, Luke replied. I m good with faces, and haven t been aroun
d here that long, anyway.
James full out grinned, amusement lacing his voice. That explains why you
re hanging out with Taylor.
I might have been insulted by that if I wasn t so concerned with the way Jam
es was still holding Luke s hand.
Who are you again? Luke asked, his hand sliding away from James . I felt
instantly better, until I looked up and found that Luke s smile had changed
. He looked predatory to me, head cocked every so slightly, as if to feign
interest--very convincingly--in every word out of James mouth. I might hav
e believed it, too, if the glance Luke suddenly gave me hadn t been so cold
it shocked me back to my senses and I stood up.
James is... I started, but froze up again when they both looked at me exp
ectantly--Luke for longer than James, whose eyes moved back appraisingly to
my date, and not in a way that suggested he was checking out the competiti
on. Something about that hurt me more than I cared to think about. But I su
ppose it was to be expected. James always did like pretty things.
We re friends, James finished for me, eyes still on Luke. So when did y
ou two meet?
Luke didn t answer, but suddenly gestured to the chair James had been pull
ing out. Wanna sit down?
Oh, fuck that.
Actually, guys, I said, I ve gotta get going. Early morning tomorrow.
James looked smug as he glanced my way. The same way he d looked the night
we met when he interrupted a conversation with another guy I d just met. It
had been obvious who he d been interested in then, and that guy had given
up easily. I hadn t thought much of it then. I looked at it a whole lot dif
ferently now. I wasn t going to be that guy. Just picturing Luke with James
... James with Luke... it was a miracle that it didn t turn me on, but not
so much of one that it actually made me feel sick.
Can you still give me a ride home? I didn t hesitate to ask Luke.
He looked at me like he found that question particularly baffling, and I fel
t ashamed to be equally surprised by his quick response. Yeah, he said as
he lifted the same bottled drink he d just placed on the table and gave Jame
s a friendly nod. Um... nice meeting you.
Yeah, James replied, not bothering to show the irritation I knew he was feel
ing. I m here a lot. Maybe I ll see you again. In fact....
I winced when I ground my teeth together so hard that it pained my ears like
nails on chalkboard. Sonofabitch. Asshole who I wished a curse upon, or at
the very least, a nice case of genital warts.
I watched Luke carefully as James picked up a napkin, and with the pen he
never left home without, wrote down his phone number. There was no indicat
ion from the blond that he was annoyed as he patiently waited, and the sma
ll smile that crossed his mouth felt unpleasantly devastating as James han
ded it over.
Call me if you ever wanna hang out, James told him, and then whispered,
loud enough for me to hear, and way too close to Luke s ear, I can show y
ou a few things Taylor can t.
Again I looked to Luke for a reaction. Any. But there was none as he turned
his attention away from James to glance at me before he led the way out of
the club.
I followed.
It wasn t like it had been coming in. There were no smiles, glances, whispe
red conversation or touching. I was there alone again. Only this felt worse
than being abandoned, left to my own devices, because all I wanted as we w
alked out into the cool night air was for Luke to turn around and look at m
e. Show me that what had just occurred meant nothing. At the very least, I
wanted him to slow his pace to indicate he wanted me walking with him, but
he didn t bother stopping until we d reached his Jeep.
He went straight to the passenger side, turned then, like he was blocking t
he door. Blocking me out. He didn t seem so unreadable now. The creases in
his forehead, the way his blond brows were drawn down as he chewed at the i
nside of his lip all made it impossible for him to hide his agitation.
I took a step forward, and when his eyes narrowed on me in warning that he w
asn t ready for that, I ignored it and took another step as I slid my hands
into my pockets.
I didn t know we d run in to him, I said. I knew I should be apologizing f
or something. Like the fact that I never should have brought him to this par
ticular club in the first place. If there was nothing for me to feel guilty
about, then I probably wouldn t have been thinking about it before James eve [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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I knew should be flaring right now. It peaked somewhat when it became clea
r that he wasn t going to listen to me.
But he did stop, only it wasn t because of me.
I caught the beverage that suddenly slid across the table in my direction, b
ecause not doing so would have put it right in my lap. I looked up and stopp
ed breathing around the time I could see Luke again, smiling again. I tried
to mirror it, but couldn t even get my mouth to turn up. I probably looked c
reepy for a minute there, but that was hardly a concern as I studied the blo
nd for any sign of tension and found none.
Except for his eyes. Maybe his eyes were a little harder, but it could have
been the lighting. Probably was the lighting. My frown deepened as I reali
zed he was looking at James... James was smiling at him, and I knew the eff
ect of that smile. My ex was suddenly a threat in more ways than one, and b
efore I could stop myself, I swung my foot under the table, aiming for him.
I cussed when all I hit was a cold, hard table leg. They both looked at me.
James smug, Luke questioning. But no one asked for an explanation as their
attention turned back to each other. James made the first move, his hand o
ut as he introduced himself. Luke responded in kind.
Do I know you from somewhere? James asked him when I finally remembe
red to breathe.
Probably not, Luke replied. I m good with faces, and haven t been aroun
d here that long, anyway.
James full out grinned, amusement lacing his voice. That explains why you
re hanging out with Taylor.
I might have been insulted by that if I wasn t so concerned with the way Jam
es was still holding Luke s hand.
Who are you again? Luke asked, his hand sliding away from James . I felt
instantly better, until I looked up and found that Luke s smile had changed
. He looked predatory to me, head cocked every so slightly, as if to feign
interest--very convincingly--in every word out of James mouth. I might hav
e believed it, too, if the glance Luke suddenly gave me hadn t been so cold
it shocked me back to my senses and I stood up.
James is... I started, but froze up again when they both looked at me exp
ectantly--Luke for longer than James, whose eyes moved back appraisingly to
my date, and not in a way that suggested he was checking out the competiti
on. Something about that hurt me more than I cared to think about. But I su
ppose it was to be expected. James always did like pretty things.
We re friends, James finished for me, eyes still on Luke. So when did y
ou two meet?
Luke didn t answer, but suddenly gestured to the chair James had been pull
ing out. Wanna sit down?
Oh, fuck that.
Actually, guys, I said, I ve gotta get going. Early morning tomorrow.
James looked smug as he glanced my way. The same way he d looked the night
we met when he interrupted a conversation with another guy I d just met. It
had been obvious who he d been interested in then, and that guy had given
up easily. I hadn t thought much of it then. I looked at it a whole lot dif
ferently now. I wasn t going to be that guy. Just picturing Luke with James
... James with Luke... it was a miracle that it didn t turn me on, but not
so much of one that it actually made me feel sick.
Can you still give me a ride home? I didn t hesitate to ask Luke.
He looked at me like he found that question particularly baffling, and I fel
t ashamed to be equally surprised by his quick response. Yeah, he said as
he lifted the same bottled drink he d just placed on the table and gave Jame
s a friendly nod. Um... nice meeting you.
Yeah, James replied, not bothering to show the irritation I knew he was feel
ing. I m here a lot. Maybe I ll see you again. In fact....
I winced when I ground my teeth together so hard that it pained my ears like
nails on chalkboard. Sonofabitch. Asshole who I wished a curse upon, or at
the very least, a nice case of genital warts.
I watched Luke carefully as James picked up a napkin, and with the pen he
never left home without, wrote down his phone number. There was no indicat
ion from the blond that he was annoyed as he patiently waited, and the sma
ll smile that crossed his mouth felt unpleasantly devastating as James han
ded it over.
Call me if you ever wanna hang out, James told him, and then whispered,
loud enough for me to hear, and way too close to Luke s ear, I can show y
ou a few things Taylor can t.
Again I looked to Luke for a reaction. Any. But there was none as he turned
his attention away from James to glance at me before he led the way out of
the club.
I followed.
It wasn t like it had been coming in. There were no smiles, glances, whispe
red conversation or touching. I was there alone again. Only this felt worse
than being abandoned, left to my own devices, because all I wanted as we w
alked out into the cool night air was for Luke to turn around and look at m
e. Show me that what had just occurred meant nothing. At the very least, I
wanted him to slow his pace to indicate he wanted me walking with him, but
he didn t bother stopping until we d reached his Jeep.
He went straight to the passenger side, turned then, like he was blocking t
he door. Blocking me out. He didn t seem so unreadable now. The creases in
his forehead, the way his blond brows were drawn down as he chewed at the i
nside of his lip all made it impossible for him to hide his agitation.
I took a step forward, and when his eyes narrowed on me in warning that he w
asn t ready for that, I ignored it and took another step as I slid my hands
into my pockets.
I didn t know we d run in to him, I said. I knew I should be apologizing f
or something. Like the fact that I never should have brought him to this par
ticular club in the first place. If there was nothing for me to feel guilty
about, then I probably wouldn t have been thinking about it before James eve [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]