“And you’re still one of the last to arrive,” Keaton joked. I glanced at him and saw it was good-natured – not a real dig about my lateness.
But if anyone stopped to wonder why Brody and I had been so late to arrive when we weren’t supposed to be doing anything but waiting for dinner…
“Well, I slept for a bit,” I said, smiling to mask the lie. “Brody had to wake me up and then I rushed to get ready.” I moved around the table and sat down in one of the free seats – between Taeho and Cade, with no space for anyone to sit beside me.
There were two seats free on the other side of the table, right next to each other… but I didn’t want to sit with Brody.
I couldn’t.
Everyone would know.
I watched from the corner of my eye as he sat next to Olly, the last spot beside him eventually filled by one of Olly’s friends. Someone he didn’t even know. I felt bad, but only for a moment. I had to look after myself first – and that meant not letting anyone know about what had happened between us.
What was going to happen tonight.
I ducked my head, shuffled my chair even further under the table so there could be no incriminating evidence, and turned to Cade in desperate search of a conversation topic.
“Hey,” I said. By the time that single word was out of my mouth, I remembered what had happened earlier and cursed myself for not preparing anything. “Uh, about before…”
“Yes, I’ve been waiting for you to say something,” Cade said, but his eyes were sparkling like it was all very amusing.
I cleared my throat. “So, sorry for saying all that. And thanks for sending Aiden to apologize.” It was only fair, after all.
“Aiden would have apologized on his own eventually, anyway,” Cade smiled. “I just didn’t want there to be an awkward atmosphere for any part of this trip.”
“Good,” I nodded. “That means you’re not going to be mad at me, either, right?”
Cade chuckled. “It does, although you’re lucky for it.” He scowled and shook his head. “I’m not interested in Brody anymore.”
“I know,” I admitted. “I just… Aiden was rubbing me the wrong way, so I wanted to do the same back. It was childish.”
“Hm. Still,” Cade said, reaching for the pitcher of water in the center of the table to pour himself a glass. “Like I said. I’m not interested in Brody. He’s… fair game.”
“Here, Red, let me,” Aiden said, grabbing the pitcher for him. I was too busy narrowing my eyes to appreciate their cute couple moment.
“Okay, well, maybe that information is useful to someone,” I said, maybe too loud. “Not for me.”
“Okay,” Cade nodded easily.
Why did I have the feeling that he hadn’t actually accepted what I was saying at all?
I glanced up at Brody involuntarily. He was chatting easily with Olly’s friend – one of the football players whose name I had never bothered to learn when he started immediately talking about his girlfriend after we all arrived. We had nothing in common and he wasn’t even someone I could seduce, so what was the point?
Not that I needed someone else to seduce. Not now I had…
I forced my gaze away from Brody and back to the menu in front of me, forcing myself to study it. I needed to concentrate. To focus.
But instead of reading the words on the page, all I could think of was how much I wished I was sitting next to him. Talking to him. Our arms brushing together as we reached for the pitcher of water at the same time.
Fuck.
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter, arriving at the head of the table, asked politely. I swore internally again. I hadn’t read a single word on the menu. He started taking orders from the top of the table down through everyone on either side, alternating. It gave me a little time. I needed to think.
“I’ll have the steak and a beer,” I heard Brody say. “Whatever you have is fine.”
The waiter moved onto the next person. Why was my heart pounding? I tried frantically to read the menu options and actually process them. Pasta – fish – chicken…
“And you, sir?” the waiter asked, staring at me with his pen hovering over his pad.
