Chapter Eleven #2
I find an empty table and wait for Will to return, feeling nervous and out of place here by myself.
Miranda and I used to go dancing at SixtyForty every weekend.
We used to be here nearly every Friday and Saturday, dancing with each other, with random guys.
It's actually where Carter and I first met.
I already knew of him because of him being on the hockey team with Will, but we had never actually talked.
The night he approached me, he was so charming and sexy.
He told me how I was the hottest girl in the entire bar, how he couldn't keep his eyes off me.
He charmed me with his easy flirting and casual compliments and we were making out in the back of his car before the night was over.
I compulsively search the bar and the dancefloor for Carter, hoping to God he’s not here tonight. This is a popular hockey player hang out, and I’m already feeling out of sorts as it is. Thankfully, I don’t see him, easing the tension in my shoulders just a little.
“What’s your name?”
I whip my head to the side to find an extremely hot guy standing a few feet away from me. “What’s your name?”
I whip my head to the side to find an extremely hot guy standing a few feet away from me. I look him up and down before answering. “Kennedy. Yours?”
“Tyler.” He looks like a Tyler. Black hair and blue eyes, tall, handsome, perfectly straight teeth. He must take my asking his name as an invitation, because he pulls out the chair next to me and sits down. “What’s a beautiful girl like you doing here by herself tonight, Kennedy?”
“I’m not by myself, Tyler, I’m here with my friend.”
He leans in a little closer, smiling, “And where is this friend?”
I lift my chin toward the bar, “Getting us drinks.”
“Well that’s too bad, because I was going to buy you a drink.”
He really is handsome. I glance at the bar, at the back of Will’s head feeling even worse now.
We kissed. I don’t owe Will anything, but at the same time I feel like I do.
The guy in front of me is hot, but he’s not Will.
And the way he’s making eyes at me has me paranoid that he might recognize me from my leaked pictures.
He’s hot, but he’s not making my heart pound and my stomach clench with arousal.
If anything, he’s making my chest tight with anxiety.
I’ve never been good at rejecting men. I don’t really know how to do it in a way that doesn’t make me feel guilty. So I placate him. “Maybe you can buy me the next one.”
“How about I take you out instead?”
My cheeks heat up at his direct question.
I haven’t been asked out in such a forward manner.
Ever. The guy next to me places his phone on the table, face up, open to a new contact page and smiles at me.
All handsome and cocky. For one fraction of a second I think about how if Will wasn’t at the bar right now buying me a drink and if we didn’t just make out at my apartment, maybe, maybe, we would go on a date and click.
But Will is at the bar and we did kiss and my stomach is still all fluttery when I think about it.
The truth of the matter is I don’t really want this guy to have my number.
If Miranda were here she’d know how to flip it so that he was the one giving me his number and then I could walk away and never call him again.
But it’s just me, and I'm inputting my number when Will returns, a drink in each of his hands.
Will looks downright mean as he sets his beer down a little too hard on the table next to the guy I’m giving my number to as he holds my vodka cranberry in front of me. “Your drink.”
I whisper out my thanks as I take the cup from him, feeling like my dad just caught me talking to a cute boy after school. I look at Will and flash him a wide eyed look that he seems to completely miss. Miranda would know what I’m trying to communicate.
Instead, the two of them seem to be caught in some weird macho pissing contest. Tyler looks at Will, then back to me. “I thought you said you were here with a friend.”
“I am.”
He looks at Will, then stands up from the table to his full height. Will is just a little bit taller. I know it shouldn’t make me blush, and that realistically Will and Tyler are not sizing each other up over me, but nonetheless, a wild thrill shoots through all my limbs. “So she’s not your girl?”
A vein is popping out on the side of Will’s neck as he answers with a brusque, “No. She’s not.”
A cocky smirk flashes over the other guy’s face as he backs away. “Then I’ll call you. Bye gorgeous,” he says with a wink before retreating back to wherever he came from.
Will takes a seat at the table across from me, instead of next to me, and lifts his beer bottle to his lips. I feel really awkward.
“You like that guy?” He says, lip curled in irritation, eyes narrowed.
My stomach clenches and a tiny knot of defensiveness in my chest starts to form. “I don’t know, maybe. Why do you care?”
“I don’t. He just seems like a tool. I didn’t realize you were into guys like that is all.”
Hot defensiveness bubbles in my gut. “What are you even talking about? You met him for three seconds.”
He shoves a hand through his hair. “Okay fine.” He takes another long pull of his beer and then stands up. “Let’s go.”
“Okay?” I say, standing up and following him to the dance floor feeling confused and irritated.
Will shoves his way into the crowd, making a path for me to follow.
When he finds a spot he deems good enough he stops abruptly.
With lips pursed and jaw clenched, he lifts his eyebrows and nods his chin once.
He takes another pull of his beer and just stands there. Looking at me. All broody and angry.
A wave of self consciousness washes over me as I look around.
I’m realizing right now for the first time that I’ve never actually been dancing by myself before.
I don’t know how to move or sway if I’m not pressed up against someone else.
Will and I have obviously never danced together and I’m not about to turn around and press my ass against him right now.
I pinch the tiny black straw of my drink between my teeth and gulp down my drink, hoping that some liquid courage might help me to relax. The song changes and I nod my head along to the beat, glancing to my left and right, worried about what I look like and how awkward I feel.
Will catches my eye, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He takes another drink of his beer and then looks away from me, head slightly shaking, jaw again clenched tight.
He scans the bodies around us and somehow manages to look around the entire crowd without making eye contact with me again.
The knot in my chest is getting tighter with every second we’re here.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Why did I think coming here like this was a smart choice?
It’s not like I can dance up on him after I just rejected him at my apartment.
And it's not like I can really dance with anyone else.
“Can we just go back to the table for a few minutes?”
Will nods his head yes, but again doesn’t even make eye contact with me. He’s being a giant ass right now. And for what? Because some guy I have no control over asked me out? Maybe he should’ve asked me out first. Then, I would’ve told him I was here with my boyfriend instead of my friend.
We find our table again, but this time Will does take the seat next to me.
He throws himself down with a grunt and then tosses his arm across the back of my chair.
He leans back, legs spread and chest puffed out.
He’s acting insane right now. Not at all like the Will I know. I had no idea he could be so…jealous.
We sit in silence. I finish my drink and then open my mouth to say something when Tyler appears next to our table again.
This time though, he’s holding a drink. A pinky drink with ice and limes.
Will stiffens next to me and says nothing as Tyler smiles and sets the drink down in front of me. “Thought you might want another.”
Will’s knee is now pressed against my thigh, as if I needed reminding about who I’m here with. I swallow, feeling awkward and stressed and so weird. I don’t know how to navigate this. “Thanks,” I say and reach forward, bringing the drink closer to me.
Tyler, thankfully, doesn’t hang around or make small talk. But I feel like him buying me the drink was more about pissing off Will than it was about me.
Just as I’m about to bring the drink to my lips and take a sip, Will scoffs. I slam the drink down on the table and turn my body toward him, sick and fed up with his childish and possessive mood. “What?” I demand a little louder than I anticipated.
“You’re really gonna drink that?”
“And why shouldn’t I? Hmm?”
“Don’t be cute, Kenny. You’re too smart for that naive shit. You know drinking that is like telling him you’re down to fuck.”
“How could you even say that? It’s a drink, Will. That’s it. You’ve bought me dozens of drinks.”
He once again shakes his head and rolls his eyes.
“That’s different. That guy is an asshole who only wants one thing from you.
” I feel indignant heat rising up my neck and over my cheeks.
Will nods his chin in Tyler’s direction, contempt dripping off his face.
“Just look at him. Look at his fucking shirt. It shouts daddy’s pretty boy from a mile away. ”
I turn my head, following the direction of Will’s gaze. Tyler must’ve already been watching us because he’s looking at me by the time I turn around. He smiles and winks at me from across the bar.
“He’s a fucking tool. I thought you were done with guys like that after Carter.”
That’s it. Will has officially crossed the line and now I’m done. Coming here with him was a mistake. “You’re being a giant asshole right now.” I stand up, patting my pockets to make sure I have my phone and ID. “This was a bad idea. I think we should just call it a night and go home.”
Defensiveness and irritation bubbles into real and righteous anger when he doesn’t try to fight me on it or even apologize for acting like a complete asshole. He just follows me out of the bar, not even bothering to close his tab.
He unlocks his car with a beep and I make sure he knows how I feel about him by scooting as close to the window as I can, arms crossed over my chest, knees facing away from him.
The air is heavy and thick inside the car, so much so that I roll down my window, desperate to get away from him, even metaphorically. Who the hell does he think he is? I’ve never seen Will act like a possessive mean caveman before.
“Thanks,” I say with no feeling as he drops me off at my apartment, throwing open his car door and slamming it shit behind me as I stomp my way up the stairs. He doesn’t drive off, I can hear the car idling behind me but I refuse to look back at him. Not even as I’m unlocking my apartment door.