Jed frowned. “Really? I only just got here.”
Jesus. Like he was the life and soul of my party. I think not, I inwardly grumbled.
“I’m tired,” was all I said, then I turned to look at a glaring Clarice. Grimacing at her, I asked, “Are you coming?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be home soon.”
I didn’t give her an outward reaction to that, but it always made me uncomfortable how she was okay with flirting with other guys when she was wearing Steve’s ring on her finger.
They were a disaster waiting to happen.
Mostly because I knew Steve didn’t let his ring on Clarice’s finger be a problem when it came to hooking up with other girls either.
Slinging my bag over my shoulder unsteadied me a little, but though I declared, “Whoa,” I didn’t let it stop me. I barged through the crowd, wanting to escape not only Clarice but Jed too.
I could feel his eyes on me, and I didn’t like that feeling. Clarice reveled in being at the center of a guy’s attention. I didn’t. I’d always hated it.
The rare times Cooper and I had gone out to party, I’d always loved being with him. He’d seemed to understand my discomfort and had never left my side unless it was to go to the restroom. Even then, he made sure I was with someone I knew, and someone he trusted. His hand had always rested at the small of my back, and he’d turned himself into my side so that there was no mistaking we were there together.
It pissed my drunk self off that I needed a chaperone to not feel like I was being sexualized by every guy on the make in the nightclub, but that was life, I guessed.
Wasn’t going to change anytime soon so I was best off avoiding these places like the plague.
Why had I even come here tonight? I asked myself once I was out of the club and into the night once more.
The street was busy, and the queue outside the door was immense. I squinted at the bright lights and knew tomorrow, when the sun rose, my head was going to feel like a watermelon that had been dropped on the floor in the grocery aisle.
The imagery had my stomach churning, but I managed to make it without puking.
I started shuffling down the street toward our apartment, and as I did, I heard a thudding sound behind me. Turning around to see what it was, I frown
ed when I saw it was Jed.
He was running toward me.
“Jed?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d walk you home.”
My nostrils flared—if I’d wanted him to walk me home, I’d have asked. I had a tongue in my goddamn mouth, didn’t I?
I didn’t say any of that though. Just jerked my chin in the air. “That isn’t necessary. You should go back and enjoy the party.”
“I don’t want to. I think we can make a party of our own, Lauren. A party for two.”
My brow puckered at that. Did that line actually work on women? Honest to God females with a pulse and everything?
I blinked at him. “I’ve partied enough for tonight,” I told him, rearing back when he raised a hand and trailed a finger down my cheek.
“That’s because you don’t know the fun you could be having.”
There was an insistence to his tone that I didn’t appreciate, but at the same time, it wasn’t forceful. It didn’t make me feel hunted, just uneasy.
I stared at him a second, taking in his handsome face with those creepy eyes of his with the spiky white lashes. He had a broad forehead, Roman nose, and soft, pouty lips that were quite appealing.
He smiled at me, seeming to realize I was looking at him, properly, and before he could make a move, I stepped forward. My body brushed his as I leaned up on tiptoe and pressed my mouth to his.
I didn’t let him think, didn’t really give him time to react. Simply shoved my tongue in his mouth and kissed him.