Sin City Baby

“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 thi

s 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.”

“Luke,” 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.

Shit. This wasn’t good.

“Isn’t that the douchebag that broke your heart?”

I whipped my head back around to Luke as I watched him follow my line of sight.

“Rhett something, right?” he asked.

“Don’t worry. She’s got plenty of douchebag sitting right next to her,” Ana said.

“Yes, that’s Rhett, the guy I dated in high school,” I said.

“Didn’t he, like, cheat on you or something?” Luke asked.

I darted my eyes over to him as I scooted my chair further away from him.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” I said. “Let’s just have some dinner.”

“Whatever you want. You look beautiful tonight, by the way,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said.

We got our food, and I ate it as fast as I could. Ana was trying to diffuse the tension growing at the table, but Luke was determined to make this a spectacle. Every time Rhett looked over, Luke tried to put a move on me, pulling my chair closer to his and trying to kiss my cheek. I finally had to get up and tell him I wasn’t feeling well to put some distance between us. He offered to escort me back to my room, but Ana interjected and told him she could escort me back and that his services wouldn’t be needed.

Then, she shot him a nasty look.

“What the fuck’s his problem?” Ana asked.