“Obviously,” she said.
I cast a suspicious glance her way as she drank her seltzer. I didn’t buy her excuse about following me because I looked upset.
Ayana and I were friendly, but we weren’t close enough for her to seek me out like this. Either she was really bored, or she had an ulterior motive.
I never got a chance to figure out what it was because the door opened again, and six feet, five inches of scarred, brooding Serb walked in.
Ayana’s face lit up.
“Markovic.” I raised my glass as he approached us. My time here was now limited, but that wasn’t an excuse to chug prime liquor like a Neanderthal. “Good to see you.”
Pale, nearly colorless eyes narrowed. Vuk didn’t appear thrilledto see me with his girlfriend, but his face softened a smidge when she stood and kissed him on the cheek.
“Hi, my love,” she said. “Did you get what you needed done?”
He nodded, his arm curling protectively around her waist.
He was selectively nonverbal, and he rarely spoke out loud to anyone except Ayana. However, I picked up his get-the-fuck-out-and-leave-us-alone vibes, loud and clear.
“Sebastian and I were just chatting,” Ayana said.
Vuk signed something in American Sign Language.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she assured him. “He’s way too focused on Maya to think about anyone else.”
I stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. You just talk about her a lot.”
“I don’t. Other people bring her up first.”
“Weren’t you the one who asked what she was busy doing?”
The heat creeping across my face wasn’t a blush. It was the alcohol. Clearly.
Beside Ayana, Vuk’s glower melted into a smirk.
Wonderful. Even the world’s grumpiest man was laughing at my expense.
“As much as I would love to stay and argue, I have something I need to check on.” I took one last sip of whiskey and slid off the stool. “Vuk, Ayana, always a pleasure. I’ll see you both again soon, I’m sure.”
I left, abandoning my drink and ignoring the voice in my head that told me to stop running every time I was uncomfortable.
Maybe one day, I would.
But today wasn’t it.
I should’ve gone straight home, but I took a lap around the club first.
I had to find Xavier and say goodbye. That was the politething to do.
What Iwasn’tgoing to do was ask who he’d set Maya up with. I didn’t care, and everyone who said I did was wrong.
Besides, Maya and Killian? I couldn’t fathom a worse pairing, and I said that as someone who’d watched every season of every trashy dating reality show out there.
Still, something pinched in my chest as I wove through the crowd—nothing dramatic, just that annoying pinch I got when I couldn’t stop overthinking.
I scanned the room, trying to pick out Xavier in the sea of people. He wasn’t in the VIP lounge, but maybe—
