Maybe six.
Maya made her way over to our table after Rorie left and Shelby’s now giggling with her about god-knows-what, and I’ve officially reached the end of my patience,andthe bottom of my glass.
Fuck this.
I slide out of my seat, mumble something half-hearted about needing the restroom, and walk off.
We all know that’s not why I’m leaving. I’m looking for Rorie. And for reasons I haven’t fully unpacked yet, her absence feels like a missing pulse—subtle, but wrong. Like something vital just went quiet, and I can’t make sense of the silence.
Of course she’s nowhere in sight. Probably still in the restroom. I head that way, push the door of the men’s room open and nearly walk straight into Jeremy.
He stumbles back a step, eyes wide. “Oh—hey. Oopsie. Sorry about that text, man.”
One brow arches.
“Yeah, so, Rorie fired off a whole bunch of rage messages to me right after. She’s like super pissed, but hey…” He shrugs, shameless. “Not my fault she left her phone where God and your erection could see it.”
I exhale through my nose. “Jeremy?—”
“I’mgladyou saw it,” he cuts in, holding up a finger. “Now she’ll fucking pounce already. I mean, the girl’s on a full-blown manhunt and I, for one, would like to see her aim that energy inyourdirection.”
My mind turns his words over. I plant my hands on my hips. “Manhunt?”
He winces. “Uh, oh. I’ve said too much again.”
I stare. Apparently silence is a cue for him to keep spilling. Which is fine by me.
“She’s in heat, okay?” He says it like a confession. “Came here specifically to find someone to fill her horny bucket. Her words, not mine.”
“Horny bucket?” I echo, blinking.
“Yeah. Like an emotional bucket, but for orgasms. Hers is apparently bone dry and on fire.” A pause. Then he adds, “She’s probably worn her vibrator out since meeting you. Poor thing’s out here running on fumes and false hope.”
“I—what?”
Jeremy pats my shoulder like I’m the idiot. “Go find her. Think of it as sexual hydration. You’re the Gatorade, babe.” He winks and then slips out the door as though he didn’t just shred every rational thought I had left.
I stand there too long. The image of Rorie, flushed and desperate, whispering about needing someone to fuck the sexual frustration out of her, wrapping around my brain like a noose.
Tight.
Merciless.
So wait, she’s here looking for someone?
Someone whoisn’t me?
My blood turns molten, burning a lethal path through my veins. After the way she kissed me like she’d been starving for it, aching for it, and she’s out here hunting forsomeone?
No.
No fucking way.
The ground shifts under me. Ugly, bitter jealousy takes root.
I move.
Out the men’s room.
