My fingers jerk back.
“You always this careful?” he asks quietly.
“Only when it matters.”
“That implies I matter.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
A soft laugh leaves him. “You don’t make this easy.”
“Good.”
The crowd surges. Someone bumps into me. Derek’s handcomes up instinctively, hovering near my waist—stopping just short of touching me.
The restraint is louder than contact would be.
“This is where I walk away,” I say calmly.
“Because you want to.”
Because I have to.
“Because I’m not making questionable decisions tonight.”
Jamie makes enough for all of us.
Back at the table, laughter resumes. Music swells. The night rolls on.
I came here to observe.
To prove he was just a man.
Instead, I’m realizing something worse.
He might be the kind of man who makes me forget the rules I wrote for myself.
Chapter Five
AUDRA
“I’m getting a drink,”I announce to no one in particular.
Shannon smirks. “I’m continuing to flirt with Mr. Sexy.”
Levi’s already scanning for his own distraction.
And mine?
I don’t even look.
At the bar, the bartender raises a brow. “What’ll it be?”
“An ice water and a Captain and Diet Coke.”
While I wait, I catch a man a few stools down watching me.
He’s attractive enough—dark hair slicked back in a way that reminds me unpleasantly of Ross from Friends. Not unattractive. Just… aggressively normal. The kind of guy you’d pass in an airport bar without a second glance.
