“So…” Lib said, pausing until I turned to look at her. “Yellow paint?” She raised her eyebrows and waited for me toexplain.
“Turns out Brody asked Josh to help out at the cottage…so he was there all day looking gorgeous and getting me all hot and bothered.” I sighed and shifted in my seat. “Urghh, I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy hormones or spending the day with Josh and then knowing he was naked in Brody’s room earlier, but I’m turned on all the time!” Iexclaimed.
“Whoa, slow down—why was Josh naked in Brody’s room earlier and what does that have to do with having paint on your ear?” Lib asked,confused.
I filled Libby in on what had happened during the day, as well as Josh storming out the night before when he found out I was pregnant. I watched her smile as I told her about the paint fight and Josh catching me in my room in my underwear. “He’s been acting kind of weird Lib,” I said, fiddling with a beer mat on the table in front ofme.
“What do you mean,weird?”
“I don’t know, he’s just been different—hugging me when I got upset, staring at me, covering me in paint.” I gave her a small smile, turning to face her. “I’m probably reading too much into it. It’s not like he wants to be with me—he’s got a girlfriend anyway.” I sighed loudly, trying not to think of him with someoneelse.
“A girlfriend? Sincewhen?”
“Not sure, but he’s out with some girl named Beth, and it didn’t sound like it was their first date.” I shrugged myshoulders.
“That doesn’t make her his girlfriend. We’ve never met her so she can’t be that important tohim.”
“It doesn’t matter if she’s his girlfriend or not, he’s never going to see me as anything other than Brody’s littlesister.”
“Sav, I’ve seen how he looks at you. There were times when we were out that he couldn’t take his eyes off you. I know you never saw it, but ithappened.”
Her words surprised me. “If that’s true, then why didn’t he do something about it? He knows how I feel about him, and it’s too late now, girlfriend or not,” I said with a sadsmile.
“You’re pregnant, not dying. Plenty of men are happy to be with women who have children. You aren’t going to be on your own forever—you’re beautiful and deserve someone to love you.” She smiled reassuringly at me. “I don’t know why he’s holding back, but I’m sure that heis.”
“Well he’s out on a date right now so he can’t bethatbothered.” I wanted to believe what she was saying, and there had been times—even as recently as earlier that day—when I thought he might be interested, but now that I knew he was seeing someone, I was even more confused by his behavior. I was sure that as soon as the cottage was finished, I would go back to only seeing him when he came to the house to see Brody. I caught sight of Mason and Brody heading back to the table, drinks in their hands. “They’re coming back,” I said to Lib, gesturing with my head into the crowd. “Let’s talklater.”
“Hey baby,” Mason said to Lib as he sat down next to her, pushing her drink towardher.
“Hey, mind if me and Sav go dance?” she asked him, grinning over atme.
He laughed. “No sweetheart, I know how much you love to dance.” She reached over and kissed him before taking my hand and pulling me onto the dancefloor.
“Stay where we can see you,” Brody shouted. I rolled my eyes at him and began moving my body to the music. It had been too long since I’d been out dancing withLib.
After dancing for a while, I was in desperate need of a drink and I motioned to Lib to head back to the boys. We had somehow managed to move into the middle of the dance floor and we had to fight our way through the crowd to get back to the table. Lib dropped into Mason’s lap, and after taking a swig of my drink, I shouted to Lib that I was heading to therestroom.
After using the bathroom, I reapplied my lip gloss in the mirror before heading back out to the bar. It was even busier than before and I instinctively placed my hand on my stomach in an attempt to protect myself from getting knocked around. Stopping at the bar, I ordered another round of drinks, and as two bottles of Bud were put in front of me, I felt a warm body behind me and two hands grip my waist. I began to turn around, ready to give whoever was groping me an earful, when I felt breath on my neck and a voice whisper in my ear, “Do you need a hand with those?” I closed my eyes tightly and took in a deep breath when I recognized the voice. I spun around and the hands dropped from mywaist.
“Josh, what are you doing here? Where’s Beth?” I hated that I was going to have to spend the night watching him with some girl. He reached past me and gestured to the bartender for another two beers. Paying for the whole round, he passed me the bottles as he picked up the rest of thedrinks.
“In the bathroom,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “I didn’t realize you’d be here, I just saw you at the bar. Where’s everyone else? Did Brody and Mason let you come to the bar on yourown?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m 21 Josh—I don’t need anyone’s permission to use the bathroom and get a round of drinks. What exactly do you think is going to happen to me?” I asked incredulously. I watched as he shrugged hisshoulders.
“I wouldn’t let my girl wander around a crowded bar on her own. This place is full ofjerks.”
I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Well luckily for you, I’m not your girl. I don’t like being told what I can and can’t do.” I watched as the corners of his mouth pulled up with asmile.
“Why doesn’t that surpriseme?”
“Aren’t you lettingyourgirl wander around a crowded bar on her own?” I held his gaze inchallenge.
“Beth’s in the bathroom, and I can see the door from here—and Savannah.” He stepped closer toward me, so close that his aftershave invaded my senses and my breathing hitched. “She’s not my girl,” he whispered in my ear. I quickly took a small step back, not wanting him to see how my body was reacting to his voice. I didn’t get a chance to respond, as the prettiest girl I’d ever seen came up behind Josh and snaked her arm around hiswaist.
“Hey babe, is one of those mine?” She gestured with her head to the bottles he washolding.
“I’ll leave you to it,” I said, quickly disappearing into the crowd, praying he didn’t followme.