He even had the gall to give two claps for my arrival, as if he was really just one of the guys here. Like everyone else.
What in the actual hell are you doing?
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I willed him to feel my question. Meanwhile to my left, Caleb lifted both his eyebrows and his hands in surrender.
“Alright, alright. No Hollie Bear. Damn. Already off on the wrong foot,” he laughed before I went to hug Adam then A.J, quietly praying for them to give me a distraction, more material to fake normal with.
And thankfully, it came right as A.J greeted me with a big smile, telling me how pretty I looked and giving me a hug, her arms still wrapped around me as she said, “Your brother threw my phone in the pool
I pulled back. “What?” I said as I looked at Adam.
“What?” he said with that deceivi
ngly boyish grin he didn’t deserve. “It’s waterproof.”
“Adam. Why did you do that?” I asked. And though I was genuinely curious, I was mostly using this conversation as a front. A way to look normal despite the fact that I felt burning hot all over my face right now, because from my peripherals, I could see the brunette leaning into Iain, murmuring something in his ear.
While he still looked at me.
Good. Keep looking, I simmered while doing a stellar job of reacting accordingly to Adam’s attempt at justifying his actions, citing an alleged “no phones” rule and the fact that A.J had been on hers every second of the night.
“Texting my fiance,” she argued.
“Even worse.”
“He has the flu, Adam.”
Adam grinned at me. “Yeah, he came down with it right when he heard that we were going to The Terrace tonight. Is the flu also why he got mad that you were wearing heels tonight?” He flicked his eyes down A.J’s front and I tried to ignore the palpable sexual tension as I winced at her.
“Did he really?”
She groaned. “Okay, I promise that Caspar and I are working on his very stupid, fragile ego, but his shortcomings are irrelevant to the current argument, which is that Adam should get my phone from the pool. Not me.”
“I agree. Go get her phone, Adam,” I said.
He gestured at his probably-expensive shirt. “Can’t,” he said, making a shucks face, like it was just out of his hands.
But then he volunteered one of his friends who was wearing a T-shirt, and suddenly, everyone was raucously debating, throwing each other under the bus for fun and roasting each other’s style while trying to figure out who was wearing the least expensive outfit.
Which was the perfect time for me to turn my attention to Iain.
And when I did, my pulse jumped and started beating in my clenching teeth, because for God’s sake, he was in the middle of checking me out.
But it was like it wasn’t even him anymore.
Stoic and unsmiling, he sat partially reclined in his seat, looking infuriatingly calm, relaxed for a man who was openly welcoming the advances of another woman while gazing shamelessly at the tits of the one he was supposed to be with.
The one he’d been pleading to be with this morning.
I really don’t give a fuck Holland let’s just go
They’ll survive if I’m gone this weekend
I just want to be with you
I stared, warding off the sudden feelings of heartache and hurt trying to claw their way through my fury.
What the hell happened to you since? I wanted to demand as Iain brought his cold eyes back to me, lingering on my mouth for a second before settling with nonchalance on my burning stare.