Love at The Bluebird

“Of course I know you’re not desperate. Honestly, he usually doesn’t act this way.”

“How well do you really know him, Al? Because this is the first time I’ve ever heard you talk about him,” Willow says, sitting down on the edge of her seat with a brow raised.

My girl starts to get flustered under Willow’s scrutiny, and as entertaining as this shit is, my mind starts to focus on the noticeable absence of Sosie. I noticed at the game she had a lot to drink, so when we got to Ripley’s, I told her to move to water so she wouldn’t end up sick. A while ago, I saw her wander up to the bar, but I haven’t seen her since. I scan the bar to where she last was but don’t see her.

“Has anyone seen Sosie?” I ask the girls, who stop arguing to look at me. They both start looking around, and when they don’t see her, they look at each other.

“I don’t see her,” Willow says, sounding worried.

“Willow, you go look in the ladies’ room. Gavin, you search the area up here, and I’ll go downstairs to look for her,” Aly instructs us as we get up from our seats. While I don’t like the idea of being separated from Aly, she’s right in that we’ll have a better chance of finding her if the three of us look in separate places. We all nod in agreement and split up to look for Sosie.

I take my phone out and send Sosie a message, telling her it’s time to go home and meet us by the front door. I scour the second floor with no sign of her. I find Willow coming out of the restroom, and she shakes her head at me. We go downstairs and are able to find Aly leaning against the wall, watching the dance floor. I follow her line of vision to see Sosie embraced tightly in the arms of some guy, slow dancing.

“What the fuck?” I growl as I start to take a step toward them, when Aly grabs my arm to stop me.

“Look at her face, Gavin. She’s having fun. Let her dance with a stranger for once and live a little.”

“Fuck no, that guy could be a serial killer for all we know.”

Aly laughs, wraps her arms around my waist, and squeezes. “We aren’t going to let her go home with him. Let them finish out the song and then we will grab her to go. She’s fine.”

“There you guys are.” We turn around to see Brodie standing next to us. “I’ve been looking for you and thought you ghosted me for a second.”

“I’m surprised you even noticed we were gone,” Willow says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Obviously, I did or I wouldn’t be standing here,” Brodie points out.

“Whatever, don’t do us any favors.” Willow turns her back on him, and his eyes seem to focus on her like he’s seeing her for the first time. Maybe I judged him too quickly back there. I know what it’s like to be in the limelight. Maybe he was just trying to get a drink and got bombarded by people seeking his attention.

“Oh shit,” I hear and turn to see Sosie practically falling out of the stranger’s arms she was dancing with. I don’t hesitate and push my way through the crowd to get her.

“Sosie, are you okay?” I ask as I reach out for her, and she falls into me. Murder blazes out of my eyes, because I’m going to kill someone.

“What the fuck did you do to my cousin?” I bellow in the guy’s face. He holds up his hands and takes a step back, fear briefly flashing through his eyes.

“I didn’t give her shit, man. She was like this when we started talking. Then she grabbed me and brought me out here to dance, so I thought I was helping her by holding her up.”

“Get the fuck out of here,” I tell him in a menacing voice, and he turns around and leaves right away. I throw one of Sosie’s arms around my shoulders and grab her by the waist, making sure to walk slowly off the dance floor as she hisses that she’s going to be sick.

“Oh my gosh! Sosie!” Aly runs up to us and gets on her other side to help hold her up. I look between Brodie and Willow, unsure if I can trust this guy but really needing his help right now.

“Brodie, can you make sure Willow gets to her car safely?” I ask, and Willow starts to frantically shake her head.

“Of course, man, I got her,” he says, and I lift my chin in a silent thank you.

“I don’t need him to help me to my car. I can get there by myself; plus, there’s plenty of people outside!” Willow argues, knowing she’s fighting a losing battle when all three of us shake our heads at her.