Chapter Fifteen Eliott #2
If Sasha wasn’t my very best friend in the world, I think I might throttle her. I still might. ‘I mean it, Sash. You’re making it weird.’
‘Sorry,’ Sasha says with what looks like genuine remorse. ‘It’s just. Well. You guys are cute together.’
‘But we’re not together. We’re just friends,’ I manage to grit out.
Just. Friends.
‘Only because you’re stubborn as hell,’ Sasha mumbles, quiet enough that I can pretend like I didn’t hear. She nods at something over my shoulder and gives me an exasperated look. ‘Anyone can see that he’s all about you.’
I glance behind me just in time to see Dane and Wes pushing through the crowd again, each holding two drinks in their hands. Wes makes an automatic beeline for Sasha, but Dane gets caught up in the crowd.
A tall, pretty girl with long passion twists stops him halfway across the room.
I can’t hear what she says over the music, but her body language is unmistakable.
She leans in, her chest brushing against his, and whispers something into his ear.
Dane’s face breaks out into a pleased grin, but instead of nodding enthusiastically and quickly disappearing into a dark corner of the club with her like I expect, he just shakes his head.
The girl pouts, says something else that makes him laugh, and then disappears back into the crowd with her friends. As soon as she’s gone, Dane looks up and catches my eye.
‘That’s right,’ Sasha murmurs, looking incredibly pleased with herself. ‘Like I said, he’s all about you .’
Wes gives me a look that suggests he’s in full agreement with Sasha.
‘Traitor,’ I mouth in his direction. My phone vibrates in the pocket of my jeans, but I ignore it.
Sasha and Wes quickly dance their way into the crowd, Sasha’s hips swaying in time with the uptempo beat blaring from the speakers.
‘What was that about?’ Dane asks as he appears in front of me again and hands me my drink. ‘How come they left you?’
‘No idea,’ I lie, before taking a sip from my drink.
It’s a sickeningly sweet cocktail and the bubbly warmth sliding down my throat gives me a little boost. ‘And you?’ I nod my head in the direction of the girl who had approached him in the crowd.
She’s trying not to make it obvious, but every so often her gaze scans the room and I know she’s on the lookout for Dane. ‘What happened there?’
Dane gives me a mischievous grin over the rim of his glass. ‘Nothing happened. She just had a question for me.’
The crowd shifts us further into the throng on the dance floor, and we both start moving to the beat. I take another swig of my drink.
‘What was the question?’
Dane two steps over to me and slides his free arm around my waist without hesitation. My heart thuds almost painfully against my ribcage as he pulls me flush against him, shifting slightly so my leg can slot gently between his. ‘How’s my dancing?’ he asks, deliberately ignoring my question.
‘A lot better,’ I admit. Two years ago he struggled to catch the beat, but he’s effortlessly keeping up with me now, even taking the lead at some points. ‘Someone’s been practising.’
He beams down at me. ‘For the wedding.’
The song changes to one I’m more familiar with and I join in with the cheer that erupts from the crowd.
Out of the corner of my eye I spot Sasha and Wes, so interlinked you can barely tell where one ends and the other begins.
Dane pulls me in even closer and, as I instinctively wrap my arms around his neck, I feel a sense of déjà vu.
This whole scene is remarkably similar to that night two years ago.
And we both know how that ended.
Another angry vibration from my phone. I move to reach for it, but then Dane discards his drink and both his hands settle on my waist. I try not to think too hard about how nice the touch feels.
How right it feels. Like we’re just picking up where we left off and there’s not two years of lost time between us.
‘She wanted to know if I had plans to leave here with anyone tonight,’ Dane says suddenly. His warm brown eyes are fixed on mine, and I can see the beginning flashes of heat sparking in them.
My heart thuds. ‘What’d you say?’
‘No plans just yet.’
Just yet.
He leans in, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear.
‘For the record,’ he murmurs, hands still on my waist, gently guiding me to the beat.
A shiver wracks through me, but I’m not cold.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so hot. ‘There’s only one person in here I’d be interested in going home with. ’
I swallow.
Remember your rule. Remember your rule.
I don’t break eye contact. ‘Point her out,’ I say, my voice no louder than a breathy whisper. It’s a miracle he can even hear me over the blaring music.
The song switches again and Dane lets his hands drop. I fight the urge to pick them back up and put them right back on me.
‘Unfortunately, she’s not down for it.’ He pulls away, putting a fair bit of distance between us.
I swallow again. ‘How very unfortunate.’
He gives me a half smile. ‘Very.’
My phone buzzes furiously one last time and, to give myself an excuse to look away, I pull it out of my pocket.
MISSED CALLS: Nan (12)
My heart leaps into my throat while my stomach plummets.
‘Shit,’ I mutter, immediately pushing through the crowd. ‘Shit. Shit.’
Nan isn’t the kind of person to keep on calling if she doesn’t get a response. Something’s wrong.
The cool night air slaps me in the face as I break free from the crowd and into the tiny garden people are using as a smoking area. It’s noisy out here, but I can at least hear the dial tone as I wait for Nan to pick up.
She doesn’t.
I try again.
Nothing.
The world starts to spin. I feel like I’m going to faint or throw up or—
‘Eliott.’ Dane’s voice cuts through the haze I’m rapidly sinking into and, for a second, I can breathe easily. But then the reality of it all sinks in and I’m drowning again.
Nan.
Twelve missed calls.
And now she’s not picking up.
Fuck.
My mind swims with worst-case scenarios that I have to furiously shake away before tears start to prick at my eyes.
‘I’ve got to go.’ I start pushing my way back through the crowd, but Dane tugs on my arm and holds me in place. ‘Dane, let go. I have to—’
He whirls me around and cups my face tenderly in his hands. ‘Breathe, baby. Breathe.’
My breath comes out in a dry, choked sob. ‘I can’t , Nan is—’
Nan is what? Crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs? Gasping for breath, unable to crawl out of bed? My mind flickers with images of Nan hurt, injured, and alone in her home.
Breathing gets even harder.
‘Have you tried your mum?’ His voice is calm and soothing, cutting through the alarm bells that are blaring in my mind. ‘Or your sister? Maybe she managed to get ahold of one of them.’
Logic cuts through my panic. He’s right. If Nan couldn’t reach me, she’d definitely try Mum or Leanne.
Mum doesn’t pick up at all, but Leanne answers on the second ring.
‘Oh my god, Elz, I was just thinking about you. You know that dress you have, the purple one? Can I—’
‘Leanne.’ I cut her off abruptly. We don’t have time for this. Not tonight. ‘Has Nan called you tonight?’
‘Nan?’ She hums and I can just picture her tapping her chin thoughtfully. ‘Oh. Yeah. She called me about twenty minutes ago, but I was in the shower and—’
‘Did you call her back?’
‘No?’ She sounds confused. ‘I told you, I was in the shower and I had to do my hair routine and you know how long that takes, so—’
I hang up before I say something I know I’ll regret.
‘What about your brother?’ Dane is tapping away on his phone, but he looks up at me when he hears my groan of frustration. ‘Try him.’
‘Nan wouldn’t bother with Josh unless—’ I hiccup out a panicked breath. ‘Unless it was an emergency.’
I can’t decide whether I want Josh to have heard from her or not, as I wait for him to answer the call. That’s assuming he even does. Mum still hasn’t even texted me to ask why I called.
‘Yo.’
Relief floods through me, but it’s short-lived. ‘Josh, has Nan called you tonight?’
‘Yeah.’
I wait a beat until I realise that’s as much of a response as I’m going to get without any prompting. ‘Did she say what she wanted?’
‘Dunno.’ In the background, I can hear the sounds of explosions and gunfire. He’s playing a video game. I don’t know why that pisses me off more than Leanne and her hair routine taking precedence over Nan, but it does.
‘You didn’t ask?’ I grit out. ‘You know Nan wouldn’t call you unless it was an emergency and you just – You didn’t even think to check in on her?’ I see red as anger erupts inside me. ‘What the fuck is wrong with you, Josh?’
I hear the sound of wood scraping back and Josh shifting in his seat. ‘Listen, yeah—’
I end the call before I have to hear what I assume will be a pathetic attempt at an excuse. ‘I need to go.’
Dane nods and immediately starts carving a path through the crowd for me. ‘I called an Uber. It’s waiting outside.’
Ever since I noticed the missed calls from Nan, I’ve been drowning in a sea of emotions. Guilt. Worry. Anger. They’ve been all-consuming and threatening to swallow me whole.
But, as Dane tucks me into his side, leading me out of the heaving club and into the Uber he has waiting, another emotion starts to emerge.
I don’t fully realise what it is until the Uber is hurtling down the street and Dane is sitting by my side, giving my thigh gentle and reassuring squeezes every few seconds.
It’s gratitude.