Vince shrugged. “Not at all. Doug’s a nice guy. I just figured you’d want a break from him, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean. Why don’t you spell it out for me?” My temper was going to get the better of me if I didn’t watch it. I hated jerks like this. Despite the guy’s receding hairline and growing jowls, I could tell he was once handsome, probably back in high school when that meant something to people like him.
His jaw worked as he started and retreated from several attempts to answer me, an embarrassed smile slipping. I kept my eyebrows raised, as if anticipating something highly enlightening. Thankfully, Vince was smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself.
The song ended and I pulled away, remembering to thank him for the dance I didn’t want. Doug was nowhere in sight, so I grabbed Doug’s weird little friend, Nelson, and we did the YMCA. He had the worst rhythm I’d ever seen, and yet I couldn’t help having a good time. Nelson was a genuine dork, which in my book, is ten times better than a phony anything.
After coaching Nelson on the right way to thank someone for a dance, which is not to grab their hand and kiss it, I walked around until I finally spotted Doug chatting with an older woman at our table.
Vince, the receding hairline guy, glared at me as I passed him. He’d watched me dance with Nelson, looking completely bewildered, like I was part of some prankster show and any second I’d yell, ‘gotcha,’ and acknowledge that dancing with nerds was totally lame.
I headed straight to Doug, wrapping one arm around his waist and leaning my head against his shoulder.
He introduced me as his friend, one eyebrow raised slightly at my closeness, but at the moment, I didn’t care about what Alan Alders would think, or what we’d decided on. When the time was right, I was going to sell this relationship as the most amazing romantic discovery of the twenty-first century. No one had better doubt what a catch this guy was.
