Chapter 22 Jonathan #2
I swear, it takes every ounce of restraint not to deck the guy right here.
Right now. But professionally? I can’t. What kind of audacity does it take to tell me to my face that he’s going after AJ and then turn around and start laying it on thick like I’m not even standing here?
Sure, technically AJ’s not my girl but Marcus doesn’t know that.
I turn to AJ and ask, “What did twat waffle say to you?”
She chuckles, sipping her champagne. “He said he ordered my favorite kind.”
Of course he did. I shake my head. “Dude’s really trying to win you back, huh?”
She takes another sip and glances over at him. “I don’t think so,” she says but it’s not exactly convincing.
Marcus is already staring and then lifts his glass in a toast. To her, I assume. Though I’m sitting right next to her, so maybe it’s for both of us. Either way, I don’t raise shit. I just glare. Fuck that guy.
AJ humors him, lifting her glass with a polite smile. Before she drinks, I reach out and grab her hand.
She looks down at our fingers, then up at me with a nervous but excited gleam in her eyes. There’s something electric in the air, like we’re both waiting for the spark to fully ignite.
She leans into my ear and whispers, “I have to find the bathroom,” then laughs. “Bathroom squad!” she yells, turning toward Tanya. “Come with me?”
Tanya bolts over like a golden retriever offered a treat. “Yes! Let’s go!” she squeals, shooting me a double eye squint like she was invited to a secret girl ritual. Off they go.
Time passes, too much time, and they still haven’t come back from the bathroom.
I start to get actually concerned, so I head down to the dance floor and scan the crowd and there they are.
AJ’s dancing like she owns the place, all wild blonde waves and carefree energy.
Tanya’s beside her, flailing with zero rhythm but full commitment.
AJ spots me and grins, then runs over, laughing.
“Tanya and I did two shots in a row,” she giggles, covering her mouth like she’s just confessed to a crime.
I laugh, too. She’s so fucking adorable. Especially buzzed, which judging by the flush in her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes, she very much is.
Tanya waves me over from the dance floor. “Come dance with us!” she shouts, already mid-spin like she’s starring in her own music video.
AJ turns to me with that cute, intoxicated smile that could melt steel. “Come on,” she says. “Dance with us.”
I chuckle. “Okay, let me grab my drink first,” I say, giving her hand a quick squeeze before I pull away.
Her skin’s warm from dancing, her energy electric.
I can practically feel it pulsing off the dance floor.
The heat, sweat, half-dressed strangers and cologne clouds thick enough to choke a small horse.
I weave through the crowd, heading toward our velvet booth, but Manny stops me mid-stride.
“Hey man!” he yells over the music. “Can I talk to you?”
Now? Seriously?
“I was just about to go dance with AJ,” I say, hoping he catches the hint and lets it go.
But he shakes his head. “That’s what I wanna talk to you about.”
Nothing like a potential romantic ambush to go with my overpriced cocktail. I sit down next to him, already feeling a tightness in my chest. What if he knows? What if he saw something? Maybe it wasn’t just the local wildlife catching our X-rated golf cart moment earlier.
He takes his sweet time, then drops it. “I have a feeling she might be into me.”
I blink so hard it hurts my eyes. “Um. Okay…”
“I’m thinking about making a move,” he adds. “Tonight.”
My brain spins. For a split second, I’m not sure if I want to laugh, puke, or throw myself off the back of this booth.
What is happening? Do I say it? Do I just blurt it out?
Tell him I’m into her, that I kissed her, that I’m already picturing her in my T-shirts making breakfast in my kitchen with me and moving her stuff into my place.
No, I do what I always do. I spin the truth.
I slap a hand on his shoulder and lower my voice. “I don’t know, man… Marcus sat next to me on the ride here and told me he’s planning to fight for her.”
Manny’s brows shoot up.
I shrug, letting that little, not really a lie, simmer. “I just think it’s about to get… complicated.”
Manny looks stunned and pissed. “What the fuck?” he shouts over the music.
I shake my head like, I know, man. I know.
“He told you that, knowing you’re ‘with her’?” he asks, complete with air quotes.
“Yep,” I say, popping the p. “Fucking prick, right?”
Manny shakes his head in disbelief. “Wow, bro. Does AJ know?”
And here’s when I stretch the truth so thin it might snap in half.
“Yeah,” I say casually. “I think so. And I think… she wants it.”
Technically not a lie. I mean, maybe? I haven’t exactly asked her. Haven’t had the time since Marcus hit me with his tyrant, pathetic threat on the bus ride over. For all I know, she could be playing both of us. Or neither.
“Damn,” Manny mumbles, deflating right in front of me. He throws up his hands. “Well, figures she’d want him back.”
I slap his shoulder again and give it a friendly shake. “It’s okay. There are plenty of women out there. Seriously. Look around.”
I nod toward a group of girls a few feet away who are very much checking us out. Normally I’d be all in, but tonight? I’ve got tunnel vision and her name is AJ.
Manny spots the girls and they all start whispering to each other. He smiles and waves. They wave back.
“Come on,” I say, nudging him toward them. “Go talk to them. Be the strong, sexy man I know you are.”
He laughs, shaking his head as I give him one final push. “Thanks, man,” he says, clapping my hand in his. “You’re my best friend, dude.”
Then he pulls me into a bro hug and now I feel like the biggest traitor on the planet. My chest sinks in and the guilt and bourbon slosh together in my stomach.
“You got it,” I say, patting his back like an idiot. Like a lying, kiss-stealing idiot.
He heads toward the girls. They all light up like Christmas morning. He’ll be fine. Manny always bounces back. I just don’t know if he’ll forgive me when he finds out I’ve been lying this whole damn time.
I shake off the shame. The only thing I’m focused on right now is AJ. No matter the destruction I cause. Or… the destruction she might.
I glance toward the dance floor and there she is.
Front and center. Spotlight in human form.
She’s dancing with Tanya and a few other women from the office, but all I see is her.
It’s like someone pressed slow motion. Her hips rock, just enough to be unpredictable, her ass shifting with every beat.
Her arms are in the air, head tipped back, smile wide, lips mouthing the lyrics like she doesn’t have a single worry in the world. Like she’s free, wild and unbothered.
Damn, she’s so luscious it hurts. Her hair brushes forward, over one shoulder and when she dips low to the beat, her halter top shifts just enough to give me a perfect view straight down her cleavage.
Her curves are unreal. The kind of curves that make a man stupid enough to ruin friendships, careers, maybe even his entire life, which is clearly what I’m doing.
Her jeans cling to every inch of her lower body, taunting me.
Daring me. And I know, in my gut, in my bones, in every throbbing cell of my body…
tonight’s the night. I’m going to make love to that woman.
No more pretending. No more fake dating.
Just us. Real and raw and way past the point of no return.