“Where are you going?”
“I have guests arriving, including local media. Have to be seen for a bit. I’ll be over soon.”
I nodded and turned around, making my way over to Ellie and Adam who looked like they were having a pretty heated conversation. I was about to spin around to be elsewhere when Adam looked up and slid purposefully away from Ellie, his eyes telling me to sit my ass down. I threw him a ‘you’re an idiot’ look and sat down on Ellie’s other side. “Braden’s having drinks sent over. I didn’t realize he’d invited other people. I thought it was just us.”
“No.” Ellie pursed her lips, clearly in a bad mood now. “Some of his ex’s as well as his previous ‘friends with benefits’ girls love clubbing. He invited them and a few of his guy friends.”
She might as well have just punched me. I stiffened, stunned that Braden had invited ex-girlfriends tonight. And he had previous friends with benefiters? He’d told me he’d never done that before.
“Ellie.” Adam shot her a reproachful look. “What are you playing at?”
Confused, she shook her head at him and he nodded towards me. Ellie turned to look at me and whatever she saw there made her pale. “Oh, crap, Joss, I didn’t mean anything. I mean, those girls don’t mean anything…”
“Let’s get drunk,” I announced.
Adam eyed me carefully. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Let’s just wait for Braden.”
But waiting for Braden turned into a longer plan than we could stand. For a while I watched through the dim light of the club as it filled to the brim, and witnessed girl after girl standing flirting with him as he grinned back at them like an idiot, piling on their drinks.
Unused to the sharp spike of jealousy I was feeling, I shrugged on super cool pre-Dublin Street Jocelyn, and headed out onto the dance floor. Ellie was with me for a while and Braden stopped by to see how we were. I waved him off with a brittle smile and before he could question it, he was pulled away by another ‘guest’. Then Ellie was gone and I searched the crowds for her only to spy her at the bar, eyeballing Adam who was flirting with some girl I didn’t recognize. Men. I shook my head angrily. Assholes.
Maybe I was a little drunk.
I was just about to go to the bar and ask for water when I felt a cool hand on my bare back. I turned, surprised to find Gavin, the personal trainer, smiling down at me.
“Joss.” He grinned, still touching me. “It’s nice to see you again.”
I’ll admit that the huge smile I gave him was more about being pissed off at Braden for getting me to take the night off work and then ignoring me for most of it. “Gavin, hey.”
He whistled as he drew his gaze down my body and I noted the slight sway of his own. He was definitely drunk. “You look stunning.”
I smiled again. “Thank you.”
“What are you doing here tonight?”
“Uh… I know the owner.”
His eyes narrowed and he nodded slowly. “I see.”
“What about you?”
“Well, I’m here to dance. With you.”
I laughed out right. “Oh, smooth.”
“I do try. Why do-”
SMACK!
Gavin’s hand was ripped away from my body and I watched in horror as he crumpled to the floor, blood trickling down his nose. I glanced up at Braden who was shaking out his already swelling fist, his chest heaving with fury as he glared down at Gavin. The crowd had parted around us, watching, and I felt Adam and Ellie sidle up to us. “What the hell was that?” I choked out, loud enough to be heard over the music that had incidentally been turned down a notch when the crowed ooohed at Braden’s punch.
Braden shot me a dirty look. “That is Gavin. The friend who f**ked Analise. Why the hell were you talking to him like you know him?”
My mouth fell open as I turned to look at the personal trainer, watching as he got back on his feet. Shock and disgust warred within me. “He’s a trainer at my gym. He helped me once.” I glanced back up at Braden. “I swear I didn’t know.”
Gavin snorted and we looked back at him. He was swiping the blood from his nose and grinning at Braden. “Looks like you moved onto better things, Bray.” His eyes scanned me now, sleazy and probing. “Here’s hoping history repeats itself, because I’ve wanted between her legs for f**king weeks. How about it, Joss? You fancy shagging a real man?”
Braden was like lightning. One minute he was at my side and the next he had Gavin on the floor, his fist pounding into him again and again. Adam darted past me and started to pull him off, the security appearing through the crowds to pick up a bloodied Gavin and hold him back.
Adam held tight to Braden as the two faced off. Braden pointed threateningly at Gavin. “You stay the f**k away from her,” he snarled.
Gavin wiped at his face again, wincing. “Christ, you never hit me when I banged your old lady, Bray. Tease you about your latest skank and I’m down in seconds. Is her pu**y made of gold or something?”
Braden growled and lunged for him again, and one of the bartenders helped Adam to hold him back. “Get him out of here,” Adam ordered the security and then his eyes narrowed on Gavin. “I see you out on the street, I’ll knock your teeth through the back of your skull.”
At Adam’s threat Gavin made a face and let the security manhandle him out of the club.
I stared wide-eyed at Braden, not really even registering Gavin’s horrible words. Braden had hit someone. Over me? After just telling me he’d never hit anyone since he was nineteen, he’d hit someone. Over me. Or was it about his ex-wife?