“Hey Joanna, how’s Waterloo?” Krista asked, forcing a polite smile.
“More entertaining than this town, that’s for sure,” Joanna replied haughtily. “The art scene is so advanced. Honestly, you’d love it—but you never take me up on my offers to come out for a visit,” she added, tilting her head with a sickly sweet smile on her face.
“I’ve been really busy with university,” Krista said apologetically. “I’m graduating next spring, so maybe after that I’ll have time.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Joanna shrugged. She looked back to Tessa. “I heard congratulations are in order. Guess there’s a reason why I didn’t get an invitation?”
“We’re keeping it small, basically family andclosefriends only,” Tessa answered, her eyes never wavering from Joanna’s face.
“I see,” Joanna clearly didn’t like Tessa’s answer. “Well, if you need a date Braden…” she added, trailing off and giving me a wink.
“Nah, I’m good,” I replied. All I could think about was how badly Elle would hurt if I even considered taking Joanna to Tessa’s wedding as my date. That gutted me more than the possibility of offending or hurting Joanna’s feelings.
Joanna’s eyes narrowed into slits, and she tried to shrug her shoulder nonchalantly. “Your loss,” she said. “I’m going to go grab a drink. Come with me, Peter.”
I watched her and Peter go with a scowl on my face. The scowl faded when my eyes landed on Elle as she walked into the barn.
I was captivated as I watched her walk across the dance floor. She paused to speak to Travis, getting swept up into his arms and wearing a huge grin as she introduced herboyfriendto him. The guy looked like a star struck teenager at a Taylor Swift concert. I was almost expecting him to start fanning his face before he fainted.
What a douche.
My displeasure at his presence evaporated as Travis hugged her once more before they said their goodbyes. I watched her walk up the loft stairs. It was like everything around us ceased to exist, and it was just me and her. It didn’t even matter that she was holding another guy’s hand; all I saw washer.
Her brown eyes were locked on mine, and I could barely breathe. I couldn’t break my gaze on her until Tessa flew past me and jumped into her arms.
My throat itched as I forced myself to turn and engage someone in conversation. I needed a distraction. My eyes immediately landed on Krista. I took two steps closer to her and nodded at her, grasping her attention as if I’d called out. “Krista, how’s it going?”
“What?” she seemed confused, and rightfully so. I’d never really spoken more than four words to her directly. She’d been a part of our circle of friends for so long, and I didn’t know a bloody thing about her.
I didn’t need to tell her that the only reason why I was talking to her was to make Elle jealous. I smiled at Krista, trying to mimic the ways I’d smiled for Elle. It seemed to work because Krista’s shoulders dropped as she relaxed, a small smile gracing the corners of her lips as she twirled her hair around her finger.
“Oh, it’s going good,” she answered, leaning back against the large log pole that was directly behind her. She gazed up at me with heavy lids, her lashes brushing against the top of her cheeks as she blinked slowly.
I leaned into her a little, putting my right hand beside her shoulder on the pole. I gave her an arrogant smile. “Are you single?”
“Yes,” she breathed, blinking more rapidly. I could feel Elle’s gaze hot upon my back, and I chanced a look over my shoulder. Her jaw was tense and her eyes were hard and dark. Elle’s eyes always appeared darker when she was pissed off. Somehow, it made her look even more irresistible to me. I smirked and looked back at Krista, catching her looking over my shoulder at Elle. “Oh my God, Braden, you’re such a dick,” she said, shoving at my chest. I held my ground, moving in closer again and narrowing my gaze in on hers. She stilled, her breaths coming out in shallow puffs.
“I need a distraction right now,” I said lowly, my eyes pleading with hers.
She said nothing. After a moment she nodded slowly, as if understanding all the things I hadn’t said.
I smiled and brought my lips closer to her ear. “Thank you,” I murmured loud enough for her to hear over the music.
“You know, this is just going to cause unjust tension,” Krista sighed. “Elle is going to be a super bitch to me again, and I’m supposed to be spending a lot of time with her over the next few weeks. The bachelorette party is next weekend!”
“She won’t be mad at you,” I assured her, grinning my promise. “I plan on telling her exactly what this is. I just want her to be jealous for a while.”
“This is not going to end well,” Krista cautioned me, her eyes leveled with mine.
I ignored her, because I begged to differ. Elle was confident and secure, but she had always aired on the jealous side when it came to me talking to other women. I was a player before her, and she knew it.
I chanced another look over my shoulder. Elle was hanging off Alex’s arm, focusing all of her attention on Tessa and Brock. His phone started to ring, and he grabbed it after excusing himself. He made his way back down the stairs and across the dance floor to the doors, disappearing into the night while Elle watched after him with a frown on her lips.
Tessa drew her back into the conversation, and a few minutes later Alex was rushing back up the stairs. He said something to Elle and they walked closer to the railing, away from everyone. I couldn’t exactly hear what they were saying over the music blasting from the speakers, but Elle didn’t look happy about it. His hands came up to hold her shoulders as he gazed down at her, his lips moving as he spoke to her. He kissed her softly on the forehead and pulled her into his chest for a hug. A moment later, he was weaving his way back down across the dance floor and out the door while Elle rejoined Tessa.
WhenKeeper of the Starsby Tracy Byrd came on, Brock grabbed Tessa’s hand and started tugging her towards the dance floor. Becky had disappeared during my little display with Krista, which meant that Elle was left hanging around by herself. I could tell by the lines beside her lips that she was contemplating leaving.
“Why don’t you go get yourself a drink, Krista?” I urged her, passing her some cash for the bar.
