Bad Seed

“You’ll be at the dinner tonight, right?”

“I will be.”

“Then I’ll see you tonight. We’ll talk then, okay? I’m sorry, but I’ve really got to find Ana.”

I pulled away from his grasp, and I could feel his eyes on me as I left. I had no intentions of tracking her down. She had probably found someone else to sleep with for the afternoon. I went back to my room and took a shower, settling in on the balcony with a snack until dinner. I wasn’t looking forward to it at all, especially after my encounter with Rhett. I was trying so hard not to get sucked back into him, but I just couldn’t seem to help myself.

Ana came stumbling in as I was getting ready for the dinner. She smelled like sex and was giggling like a schoolgirl. She patted my shoulder as I snickered at her, stifling my chuckles. I was glad she was having fun, even though her definition of fun was very different from mine.

“We going to this dinner?” Ana asked.

“We are. And I expect you to come with me and stay for at least an hour before you mosey off with someone else,” I said.

“Man, what’s with all the rules, Mom?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep your panties on for a bit at least. I fell asleep sun tanning and woke up to you gone. Not a cool move,” I said.

“Well, Tommy came by, and I just couldn’t resist.”

“Tommy came by?” I asked.

“Yep. And before you ask, no, Rhett was not with him.”

“I wasn’t going to ask,” I said.

“You’re a shit liar. Now come on. I’m starving.”

“Worked up an appetite, I see.”

“Stop being a dick and grab your camera. You wouldn’t want to miss any candid drunken pictures of our graduating class.”

“Heaven forbid,” I said, giggling.

The two of us walked into the dining hall and grabbed some more drinks. We made our way to a table that was closer to the middle of the room. I had a better vantage point for snapping pictures this way, but my eyes were scanning the floor. I wanted to see if Tommy and Rhett would show up for dinner.

I needed to know if Rhett was okay.

“Do the two of you know what you would like to eat?”

I jumped at the waiter’s voice as Ana rattled off her order.

“Um, I’ll have the quail. That sounds delicious,” I said.

“It does. I’ll have what this beautiful lady is having.”

I tried to stifle a groan as his voice hit my ears. I whipped my gaze up toward him, taking in Luke’s shining eyes. He pulled out the chair next to me and sat down without even asking permission, and Ana was already giving him the stink eye.

“Ana,” Luke said. “You look wonderful tonight.”

“Lu

ke,” she said. “You look like you could use a refresher course in manners.”

My eyes darted over toward the door, and I saw Rhett come in with Tommy. His eyes were scanning the floor like mine had been only moments before, but now I hoped he didn’t see me. Now, I cursed the fact that we were sitting in the middle of the floor. Everyone saw that Luke Thomas was sitting next to me, leaning a little too close and smiling a little too broadly.

My eyes connected with Rhett’s as I watched his expression fall.

This was not good. Between that note and this circumstance, I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking there was something brewing between Luke and me for the night, and that was not the case. I tried to scoot my chair away from Luke a bit as I pleaded with my eyes for Rhett to come over, but instead, he led Tommy away to a different table.