“Savannah.” I heard him shout behind me, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to see him with Beth. I wanted to get as far away from him as I could, as quickly as I could, and I planned on getting to Lib and spending the rest of the night on the dancefloor.
“Libby, can we dance? Now?” I asked as I reached them, dropping the drinks down heavily on the table. The conversation stopped, and Libby looked at me with wideeyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, standing up and making her way tome.
“Can we just go out on the dance floor?” I asked, quickly looking around in the hope that Josh wasn’t going to show up behindme.
“Okay.” I watched as she glanced at Mason and Brody and shrugged her shoulders. She took my arm and guided me into the center of the dance floor. “What’s going on?” she shouted over themusic.
“Josh is here withBeth.”
“Oh, do you want to go home?” she asked, giving me a sympatheticsmile.
“No!” I exclaimed. “I want to enjoy my night out. I can’t believe he’s here withher!”
“Did he know we were cominghere?”
“Well…no, but we always come here.” I pouted, knowing I was being ridiculous but not able to stopmyself.
“Let’s just forget about him for now. Maybe he’ll go somewhere else if he knows you’re upset.” She paused and stopped dancing. “But if he doesn’t Sav, you’re going to have to face him. You can’t avoid him forever.” I nodded; I knew she was right, but I really didn’t want to spend the night watching him with a girl, and a gorgeous girl at that. He’d said at the bar that she wasn’t his girl, but I wondered if she was aware ofthat.
We danced for the next 30 minutes or so, by which time I was exhausted and needed to sit down. “Libby, I need a drink and a seat,” I shouted over the music. She nodded and followed me off the dance floor, and I felt her reach for my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. My heart was pounding as we reached the table and nerves swirled in my stomach. Josh sat next to Mason and his eyes found mine as I reached for my drink. He moved out of the booth so Libby could sit next to Mason then gestured for me to follow her in. Glancing around, I saw that Beth seemed to be deep in conversation with Brody, and she suddenly burst out laughing at something he said. I slid into the booth, surprised that Beth seemed more interested in Brody thanJosh.
“Scoot over Sav,” Josh said as he sat down next to me. There wasn’t a whole lot of room with three guys the size of Josh, Mason, and Brody all sitting together in a round booth. I moved up as much as I could but his jean-clad thigh still brushed up against my bare one. I self-consciously tugged my short dress down my legs before picking my drink back up and taking a gulp. I sneaked a sideways look at Josh and found him looking at me; I swallowed my Diet Coke and gave him a smallsmile.
Leaning closer to me, he whispered, “You look beautiful.” His breath tickled my ear and I shivered. “You’ve got some paint on your ear,” he said, a smile tugging on hislips.
“I wonder how that could have gotten there,” I replied sarcastically. “I was covered from head to toe.” I pushed him away, both loving and hating how close he was tome.
“Yeah I remember,” he saidquietly.
I looked round the table, catching Libby and Mason staring at us, wide grins on their faces. Rolling my eyes and ignoring them, I turned to Josh. “So how come you ended up coming here?” I askedhim.
He sighed. “Beth likes it here, and it’s the best bar in town. I didn’t know you’d be here, or I wouldn’t have…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt you againSav.”
“It’s fine,” I lied. “Why is she talking to Brody instead of you?” I asked, looking up at him. I watched as he glanced over to Beth and Brody before his eyes metmine.
“I guess she likes talking to Brody more than me,” he said, shrugging hisshoulders.
“And that doesn’t bother you? I’d be pissed if my date spent the whole night talking to someoneelse.”
“I don’t care, it’s not serious betweenus.”
“Just sex then?” I blurted out. His head whipped around, his eyes finding mine. I held his gaze while he said nothing, his silence speaking volumes. “I think I might dance some more,” I said with a sigh. I turned to my right and caught Libby’s attention. “You wanna dance Lib?” I gestured with my head to the dance floor. I was exhausted but needed to get away fromJosh.
“Sure,” she replied, and I watched as she kissed Mason before turning back to me. “Let’s go!” She scooted along the seat toward me. Josh must have been listening to our conversation because when I turned around, he was alreadystanding.
I moved to the edge of the booth and stood up. “Thanks,” I whispered as I passed him. Libby took my hand and pulled me to the dance floor. We could still see the table from where we were and I turned to see Josh and Mason watchingus.
“What’s going on with Josh’s date? Mason said she hasn’t stopped talking to Brody since they got here,” Libby shouted in my ear so she could be heard over the music. “Surely they aren’t in a relationship if she’s behaving likethat?”
I shook my head. “It’s not serious according to Josh. Apparently it’s just sex,” I shouted back, rolling my eyes at her. She stopped dancing and stared at me before glancing back toward thetable.
“Well if you ask me, he’s more interested in you than he is in her. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since he got here, and look how close he was sitting toyou.”
“He had no choice, it’s a small table!” I exclaimed. I saw her roll her eyes at me. “Libby, I would love nothing more than for you to be right, but he’s had plenty of chances to make his move and…nothing.”
“You’re spending more time together now,maybe—”