Page 56 of Tanner

She lifts the glass and drinks. With the shake of her head, she shivers. “That’s good.”

She pushes the empty glass back past me, toward the edge of the bar. Her breasts brush up against me.

I clear my throat and lean back. It’s an attempt to move away from her. All it really does is give me a better angle to look down her shirt.

She grins. “I thought I saw you sitting with a girl before. Was that your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” I seethe at the thought.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

“How about the bottle?”

I’m not the type to drink away my sorrows. That’s Austin’s deal. I don’t work away my anger. That’s Bryce. Me? I like to paint, and that’s the last thing I feel like doing. So, bottoms up!

Laney leans her elbow on the bar and tilts her head. “You don’t seem like you want to be in a crowded room tonight. Let’s take the party somewhere quieter.”

She’s right. Not only is this really not my scene, but it’s also the last place I want to be right now. And I know that, if I leave, I’ll be tempted to follow Harper home to find out … what? Why she doesn’t want to date a twenty-two-year-old?

Good idea, Sexton. I’m sure standing outside her door, buzzing her bell and throwing rocks at her window, will show off your maturity.

“Tell you what,” she whispers in my ear. “I have a bottle of tequila in my freezer. Why don’t we go back to my place and save a few bucks?”

I raise my brows. “What kind of tequila?”

The music is getting louder as the night gets later, so Laney has to speak into my ear. “The cheap kind.” She giggles. “Does it matter?”

Little does she know, the shot she just downed was Don Julio. I have a pretty decent palate when it comes to liquor.

Her body is now fully twisted into the front of mine, so much so that I can see the flecks of glitter on her face from her makeup.

“No, I suppose it doesn’t.” I finish off my beer and tap it on the bar.

“Ryan is making out with someone in the corner, and Chris is macking on some girl in the back.”

Ryan is hooking up with Harper’s friend. At least one of us is getting lucky tonight.

“Good for them.”

“So”—she bites her lip—“what do you say?”

I pull out my phone, hoping for a call or text from Harper. There’s nothing.

Laney is looking at me with a kind smile, and there’s a bottle of tequila waiting for us in her freezer.

“I say, let’s get the hell out of here.”

I wait outside while Laney says good-bye to her friends. Her apartment isn’t far from the bar, just a few blocks. I’ve been there before to study and a few times to pregame back in freshman year. That was when I tried to do the college-partying thing and quickly realized I was more of a gin-and-jive kinda guy.

She comes out with no coat on, and I want to curse her. I hand her mine.

“You’ll freeze,” I say. “What kind of friends let you leave your apartment in a sleeveless top?”

She smiles. “Guess I need someone like you to look after me.”

“It’s called common sense.”

“It’s chivalry, and it’s dead.”