“He’s just being a brat. Nothing to worry about,” I said, brushing it off.
“Well… he’s walking this way now, so it might be something slightly worth worrying about,” Grant said, continuing to sway with me.
“Just act like you don’t even know he’s here, and he’ll go away,” I suggested, hoping for a miracle.
I couldn’t see Jace, but from the look in Grant’s eyes, I could tell he was directly behind me now. After a few seconds of ignoring the sulking toddler-man, he tapped me on the shoulder, trying to get my attention.
Nope. It’s not gonna work, you big baby.
I kept dancing. Ignorance was bliss, or so they said.
“Excuse me, Grant. Can I have a word here with Cassie for a moment?” Jace asked, with a sternness in his voice that made it sound like more of a demand than a question.
“Sure, she’s all yours,” Grant said, slowly backing away.
Way to hold strong, Grant.
I pulled Jace off the dance floor, ducking behind a massive floral display bursting with flowers in every direction—just big enough to hide both of us so I could tear into Jace for ruining my nice moment with Grant.
But before I could even get started, Jace started in on me first. “Why are you dancing with Grant?” he asked, glaring down at me.
“Because I wanted to? News flash, Jace, I have free will, which means I can dance with whoever I please. That includes men like Grant and men that are specifically not you,” I said, because who the hell did he think he was talking to?
“Well, I don’t like how low Grant’s hand was on your back,” he snapped, his face inching closer to mine.
“You had your hands much lower than he ever did, and you managed to fuck it all up. Maybe Grant would do a better job,” I countered, seething.
Jace grabbed me, pulling my entire body into his and holding me firmly in place. He tilted his head, bringing his lips to my ear.
“Grant will never be able to pleasure you the way that I can. Grant will never know how sweet you taste—like delicious strawberries. The only thing missing was some whip cream on top,” he growled against my ear.
My eyes shot open wide, completely stunned by his words. As he pulled back, I composed my face. Jace may have just said the hottest thing a man has ever said to me, but all he did was win the battle. I was going to win the war.
“Good thing you can find whip cream anywhere, huh?”
That’s all I managed to say before I spun on my heel and walked away with my head held high, making sure my ass bounced as he watched me leave.
Fuck you Jace McKinley and your stupid whip cream jokes.
Chapter 19 – Jace
While I had to sit and suffer through watching Grant put his hands all over Cassie, all I could think about was how that could’ve been me.
We could’ve been seated together at the rehearsal dinner talking about music and football and all the other things Cassie liked.
We could’ve been slow dancing together on the dance floor right now.
We could’ve left here and gone back to my place and done a hell of a lot more than just dancing.
But that wasn’t going to happen because everything I touched, I managed to destroy.
Now I was watching her walk away, arguably more painful than breaking my actual foot.
“Why the long face, honey?” my mom asked, walking up next to me.
“Long story…” I huffed, exhausted from having to tell the same story over and over again about how I had pulled the clip and thrown the live grenade on Cassie and my relationship—situationship—whatever people wanted to call it these days.
“Don’t worry, your dad already spilled the beans to me.”
