“Well, I’m assuming you guys are taking a break, but since I just got here, I have too much energy, so I’m going to go dance.”
“We’ll join you in a little bit,” Janice said.
“Well, I don’t know about me,” Lillian said.“My feet feel like they’re on fire.”
“Maybe if you didn’t stomp around so much it wouldn’t have been bad,” Hazel teased.
Micah snorted.“Can you really judge her when you nearly took my eye out?”
“Hey!”Hazel nudged his side with her elbow.Micah pretended it hurt until she gave him a kiss.
“No regrets.”Lillian grabbed her soda and took another drink, letting out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair.
As they talked, I searched the crowd until I spotted Toby.He was grinning, eyes closed as he danced to the music.I really hoped he was getting the distraction he needed.
“Do you think it’s about his brother?”I mumbled.
“What?”Seth asked, the only person close enough to me to realize I had said anything.
“Nothing.”I flashed him a smile and went back to watching Toby, tempted to go join him.
But by the time I found him, he already had a dance partner.My whole body stiffened as tingles of awareness skittered across my skin.I put my hand in my lap as I stared at the two of them.
The girl had curly black hair cascading down her back.She wore tight jeans and a low-cut shirt.She was really cute, energetic, confident.
Jealousy hit me hard.It was dark and murky and made me sick to my stomach.But it kept boiling the longer I watched the two of them move together, too close for my liking.
I tried to look away, to focus on anything else, but my gaze kept snapping back to them.The girl twirled under Toby’s arm, and while she laughed, I could imagine the sound of it, light and carefree.The thumping of the bass from the music made it impossible to hear them.I knew that.But still.I felt like I could.
Toby smiled in response to the girl’s carefree attitude—a genuine, relaxed smile that made my chest ache.
I clenched my teeth together, trying to rationalize what I was seeing.Toby wasn’t doing anything wrong.I knew that.I was a rational person.A smart person.Or so I’d like to think.
But I was definitely feeling rather stupid as he had fun with another girl, even as I knew he would never cross the line.He didn’t touch her inappropriately or lean in too close.He was just...having fun.Still, the knot in my stomach refused to unravel.
I took a sip of water, hoping it’d help calm me down.
It didn’t.
Janice noticed first since she was sitting across from me.Her smile slipped away and that only added to the dark clouds brewing inside me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, maybe a little too fast.But it was impossible not to look over at Toby.
Janice followed my line of sight, finally spotting what had stolen all of my attention.Her lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes narrowing.If she was reacting like that, then maybe there was more to what I was seeing.I didn’t want to overthink it though.I didn’t want to be that sticky girlfriend, especially because I was dating all five of them.It didn’t seem fair.
“You don’t look like you’re okay,” Janice said in a lower voice.“I’m going to interrupt them.”
“No.”I grabbed her hand, finally gaining the others’ attention.“He’s just dancing.Not a big deal.”I tried to sound as dismissive as possible, but it fell flat even to my ears.
It felt like a big deal.A really big deal.Every time he placed his hand on her back to guide her or laughed together at their silliness, it felt like a dagger twisting in my chest.
“What is that idiot doing?”Micah asked.
I grimaced.
“He isn’t an idiot,” I said.“He’s here to distract himself and have some fun.”
