Trace’s mind spun and her body burned with at the image, at the very idea of everything he was saying, she pasted on her cheeriest party smile and stood from the table. “I’ll be right back,” she said, sauntering around the table and pushing through the crowd toward the bathroom. She glanced back, checking that her friends weren’t looking, and slipped outside instead.
Coleoughttobeused to fucking up with Trace by now. One minute everything seemed so right, smooth and sexy and irresistible. Watching over the rim of his glass as she walked away, he drained the last of his beer. That happy face always worked, everyone seeming to think she was fine. But at the last second, she changed trajectory from the bathroom toward the exit.
“Excuse me,” he said to no one in particular as he stood from the table.
Haley grabbed his arm on the way by. She motioned him close and whispered, “Everything okay with Trace? She seemed upset.”
Surprised that Haley had caught on, as so few did, he swallowed the lump that swelled in his throat and nodded. “Just me shoving my foot in my mouth again.”
Finn turned around and fired him a murderous glare, one he’d never seen from his friend. Voice low, he growled, “Trace is about the most even-tempered person I know. And you pissed her offtwicein one night?”
“I know,” he hissed, chewing his cheek and keeping an eye on the door. “Which is why I need to go apologize.”
Finn grabbed him before he could keep moving.
Cole resisted the urge to rip his arm away, but he could feel his calm persona dissolving and gritted his teeth so hard he heard a crunch. “Let. Go.”
Finn seemed to see his control slipping and eased his grip to a request. “Just, hang on. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, and it’s none of my damn business, but—“
“But what? Make sure I calm her down enough that she’ll make that phony smile again and pretend that everything’s okay as usual?” Cole heard his voice growing louder, the others at the table pretending they weren’t paying attention.
“What?” Finn asked, his brow lowering.
Haley’s eyes were swimming with worry as she looked up at Cole, as he backed away another step.
He lowered his voice again and backed out of reach. “Nothing. Just, nothing.” Cole turned on his heel and stalked through the crowd and out the front door.
The asphalt of the parking lot was dark and reflective with a fresh sheen of rain, the air filled with a fine mist like a wave had crashed moments ago, and micro droplets were still suspended in the air. He scanned the sidewalk, glowing under the hazy amber lights, and found her leaned against the wall, hands stuffed into the kangaroo pocket of her sweatshirt.
Relief washed over him, that she hadn’t taken off completely.
Slowly, cautiously, he strolled over, hands jammed in his pockets, and said a soft, “Hey,” as he neared.
As she turned to face him, he saw that her eyes were red, but she hadn’t shed a tear. She twitched a sweet as hell smile and said, “Hi. I just needed some air.”
He leaned against the wall at her side, giving a few inches between their shoulders, and said, “Which had nothing to do with the fact that I was being a complete asshole? Again?”
“No,” she said, scoffing like he was a complete moron. Which, well, he felt like one at the moment.
“I’m doing my damnedest to keep my imaginings to myself. To stay in the moment, but I keep fucking it up—“
“Don’t,” she said, shaking her head and studying his expression, her gaze drifting to his mouth and back to his eyes. “You weren’t being an asshole. I…” Her tone softened, a dreaminess clouded by uncertainty. “I told you that I was boring.”
“You’re not boring.”
“Introverted or shy or imposter syndrome or anxiety or I don’t fucking know. It doesn’t matter. I realized that I didn’t have anything clever to say, and that I was awkwardly, desperately wishing I had something to offer. I know you’re overwhelmed being here, but you seem so natural and—“
“I’m not. I can put on a happy face, just like you can.” He kept his hands in his pockets, but he watched her, doing whatever the hell he could to bring back that genuine smile, knowing he’d caused the phony one. “I wanted to come out tonight, with you. To try to feel normal. And I’ll get there.”
“Fake it ’til you make it?”
“Something like that.”
There it was, that smile that was one hundred percent amused. She snorted a laugh and looked up at the mist-coated sky. “I can fake an orgasm better than I can fake a smile.”
Relief washing over him that she was dishing as good as she got, and he laughed under his breath. “Should I be hearing this?”
She scooted closer, so their shoulders met, and turned and gave him a wicked grin that burned hot under his skin. “No, no one has ever given me so intense of an orgasm that I forgot my own name, but there are several who think they have.”
