“No problem.”
Ryan holds the door for Mel, and she slides in beside me. The boys get in up front, and we all make idle chit-chat as we make our way to the club.
I feel so out of place. Mel is better at this sort of thing than I am, but she is right: I’m not about to just sit around the house alone and be a piece of Zander’s plan while he does whatever he wants with however many other girls he feels like. I’m going to run my own life and do what I want to do.
By the time we get to the club and park, I’m feeling better, but I’m new to this whole thing, so as I get out of the car and Josh walks up beside me and puts his arm around me, I can’t stop myself from tensing up.
Is this really the right thing to be doing? I can’t help but thinking as we walk toward the club.
“So Mel tells me you’ve never really had a boyfriend before, is that right?” he asks.
“Um, yeah, that’s kinda right…” I look up at Ryan and Mel talking to the door guy who I guess is his friend who will be letting us in. “My dad was always just really strict, ya know? Never let me out to date until after I graduated.”
“Ah, yeah, I see.” Josh nods.
Why did I just say that? Of all the stupid reasons I could come up with, I make up a lie about a dad who left when I was seven stopping me from dating?
Good one, Ali.
Ryan and his buddy wave us over, and we all head inside.
I immediately feel out of place and glance over at Mel. Of course we’re too young to be here, which goes without saying, but on top of that, there’s the clientele, which looks like a bunch of 30-something-year-old entrepreneurs and wannabe business owners. Not at all the kind of crowd Mel would typically drag me out to hang out with or set her sights on.
“What the hell are we doing here?” I shout to her over the blaring roar of the music.
“What do you mean?” she yells back.
“I said what are we doing here?”
“Having fun!” she screams into my ear. “You want a drink?”
I shrug, and she and Ryan go off to the bar, leaving me alone with Josh, who takes me by both hands and starts, to my horror, trying to dance with me.
“I don’t really dance!” I shout to him.
“Oh, come on,” he laughs. “Mel tells me you’re a great dancer!”
“No, really I—” But as I’m starting to protest, I see something over Josh’s shoulder that completely freezes me like I’ve been hit by a paralytic.
The word “shock” doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling that runs through me. I’m so completely unprepared for what I see that it’s like I’ve been transported into a complete alternate dimension. It’s like my brain does a full reset, and I take a few seconds just to remember who and where I actually am at the moment.
Standing at the corner of the bar, wearing a charcoal gray suit with a white T-shirt underneath and casually chatting with another man in a black suit, is Zander.
In his right hand, he’s holding a glass with some kind of brown drink in it. Our eyes meet, and he stops whatever he’s saying mid-sentence. His lips twist into a grin, and he nods ever so slightly, like we’re making some kind of connection.
Oh. My. God.
And now I realize why Mel chose this bar tonight.
This was no accident. Somehow she knew Zander would be here tonight, and she brought me here specifically so I’d run into him.
I glance over at the bar and see her looking over at me, grinning devilishly. Yeah, this was all part of her master plan.
If I could shoot her right now, I would.
“Hey there, little lady.” I turn back and see Zander a foot away, hands in his pockets, grinning like a skull at me, paying absolutely no attention to Josh, who is still holding on to one of my hands.
“Little lady?” I grimace. “What are you, a cowboy?”