“Here.” She hands one shot to Emily, who avoids my eyes as she downs it. I see her wince a bit, and I laugh because she was never a big drinker. I’m not ready for her to take the second shot, but she’s wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, and all I can think about is leaning down and kissing her lips. Turning around, I’m walking away when I hear Jenna call my name. “Ethan?” I turn back. “Can you get us six more?”
“Not a chance in hell,” I say, and she folds her hands over her chest. “Ask your man if it’s okay with him.” I turn and walk away when I see Brett glare at her. I also don’t make it back to the bar before Brett is there ordering four more shots.
“This is a bad idea,” I say. “Does she drink often?” I hate having to ask him a question I should know the answer to.
“Not really, but I’m here, and the guys will watch out for her,” he tells me, and we share a look. “Plus, she has you here.”
After I prepare the shots for him, he takes them to her, and Jenna and Emily both laugh at him when he tells them something. Jenna looks over at me and holds up the shot of tequila in one hand while flipping me the bird with the other hand. Scott smiles from beside me, and all I can do is shake my head. The whole night I watch her from afar—every single time she lifts her arms, you see a little bit of her tanned stomach, and I have to stand behind the bar to hide my hard-on. She dances most of the night, and when she isn’t dancing, she’s laughing with the guys, and I have to wonder if Drew makes her laugh like this. Does she laugh until she can’t breathe with him? Does she tease him like she used to tease me? I shake my head when the songs turn slow, and I look over and see it’s almost two thirty. The bar is finally clearing out. Only the couples and the guys hoping to get lucky remain. I see Brett pulling Jenna to the dance floor when “You Make It Easy” comes on.
I grab a water bottle as I watch her sway side to side, and when Scott calls my name, I look over at him. “I’ve got this. You can go hang out with the boys,” he says. “Thanks for tonight. I’ll tell your mom I approve.”
I laugh at him. “Thanks for that.” I turn back and see that she isn’t there anymore. I scan the whole bar, looking for her. I walk around and go to the back where the pool tables are and still don’t see her. When I walk toward the front and still don’t see her, my heart starts to panic. She isn’t on the dance floor. I turn to walk toward the office, and when I turn the corner, I crash right into her. She almost bounces off me, and I wrap one hand around her to stop her.
She laughs, but I’m not sure she realizes it’s me. “I’m sorry,” she says, and then her brain must catch up when she sees it’s me. Her hands are on my chest, and her heat goes through me. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She stares up at me, her guard down for once. Her eyes hazy from the tequila, her cheeks pink from dancing. “I’ll watch better next time,” she says with a smile on her face so big that her eyes crinkle at the corners. Her tongue comes out and licks her lips. “You look good,” she says. Her thumb moves on my chest, and she looks down at her hands on me. My arms around her don’t loosen. In fact, they get tighter. “You always looked good,” she says softly.
“Emily,” I say her name in a plea, moving my head down slowly as we stand in the dark hallway. The sound of her phone ringing makes her jump out of my arms.
“Oh my god,” she says, putting her hands to her forehead. “I’m sorry,” she says, taking the phone out of her back pocket. We both look down to see who is calling, and at that moment, everything changes.
“It’s Drew,” she says, turning and walking out the back door.
Chapter Seventeen
Emily
I can still feel his hands on me when I open the back door and the cool air hits me. The phone ringing in my hand was like an ice-cold bucket of water being thrown on me. “Hello.” I say into the phone.
I look over and see that he followed me outside. Everything around me is spinning while I listen on the phone.
The rustling makes it hard to hear and I look down and see that the call is still going on. I see his name, so I didn’t imagine it with all the drinks that I’ve had. I’ve been drinking all night to take the edge off seeing Ethan there. “Hello?” I say again, only to hear moaning followed by voices.