"Hey man, long time no see," I interrupt in a tight voice, trying to resist the urge to yank her away from him.
He turns to me as if just now noticing my presence. Both he and Remy are wide-eyed as they look at me.
When he doesn't immediately remember my name, I add coldly, "It's Tristan. We were freshmen together in Peabody Hall."
A flash of recognition appears in his eyes. He looks me over and then grabs my shoulder in an overly friendly gesture, a fake grin plastered on his face. "Tristan. Hey, man! How you doing?"
I resist the urge to rip his hand off of me. Instead, I force a smile onto my face and return the sentiment. "Great. Life's great. Funny running into you here."
At that he turns back to Remy. "Yeah, small world. Although I'm glad I ended up here tonight." Without taking his eyes off Remy, he leans in closer to me to whisper conspiratorially, "Because between you and me, I had the biggest crush on Remy in college."
A blush flames across her cheeks while rage threatens to silently tear me apart. I have never once felt jealous over a girl. I always thought if a girl wanted to be with someone else, then why would I waste any of my energy being jealous over someone that didn't want me?
But now, with Remy… it feels like I'll maul anyone that dares to touch her.
I swallow roughly in an effort to jam down my archaic feelings. Instead, I force myself to chuckle.
I might as well be invisible to him, though. With his eyes trained on Remy, he steps up to her and grips her elbow, tugging gently to lead her away. "Let's get you a drink. I want to hear about what you've been up to. Someone told me you work for a tech company now. I’m glad you ended on a realistic career instead of trying for that writing thing you talked about for a while…"
I see the flash of pain in her eyes even as she lets Jason tug her along. Rage toward this douchebag once again boils through my veins, this time for invalidating Remy's true passion. I'm just about to go after them and let all my caveman rage fly when a short blonde girl steps into my path. I freeze in surprise.
She's shorter than even Remy, with a huge smile on her face as she stares up at me. I realize then that she's the Temple friend Remy was talking with not long ago.
"Hi," she chirps happily. "I'm Anna. Are you friends with Remy?"
"Yeah," I answer hesitantly. "I'm Tristan. I know Remy from the gym." I can't help glancing to the other end of the yard where Jason is standing by a cooler with Remy, drinks in hand and talking animatedly. She's just nodding at whatever he's saying.
"Oh, that's cool," Anna continues, and I begrudgingly bring my attention back to her. "She mentioned she joined a gym a couple years ago. You definitely look like you work out." She shamelessly steps closer to run her fingers along my bicep.
For some reason my eyes snap over to Remy.
She's frozen, staring at Anna's hand on my arm. Her mouth ticks down into a small frown.
A satisfied warmth blooms in my chest. It doesn't seem like she's reacting with the same blind fury I felt when Jason touched her, but she definitely doesn't look happy. Maybe she really is starting to like me.
A smile tugs at my lips at that thought.
The motion seems to snap Remy's eyes to mine. For a tense moment we just stare at each other, everyone else at the party fading away until it's just her and I and the tension growing between us.
But then she breaks our eye contact. Her eyes jerk, once, to Anna, and then back to Jason. I can tell she's trying really hard not to look back at me.
The idea that Remy might be a little jealous simmers the burning rage that almost overtook me a minute ago. I turn back to Anna, the need to rush over to Remy dimming slightly.Slightly.
"Yeah, I do a couple pushups now and then," I tell her sarcastically.
She laughs, way too loudly. As if I just told the funniest joke she's ever heard. She grips my arm and steps even closer, her head thrown back with the laugh.
I wince, feeling a twinge of regret that I encouraged her flirtation on pure instinct. I take another peek at Remy.
She clearly heard Anna's laugh—everyone at the party heard her laugh—but she's still purposefully looking only at Jason. Even from where I stand, I can see the tense way she's standing and the hard frown on her face.
I sigh and take a step away from Anna.I need to cut this off before it gets worse.
But as I look at her, it suddenly occurs to me that Anna's exactly the kind of girl I would normally go for. She's pretty, feminine, small enough that I could throw her around in the bedroom—everything I usually look for.
But she does nothing for me.
I feel no attraction, no urge to turn on my charm. I don't feel anything that would make me want to spend another second around her. All I can think of is that she's not Remy.