Page 145 of Talk Nerdy To Me
My eyes scan the vast room of their own accord as everyone eats, and I absently eat my own food as each course is served.
“What’s the cake going to be like tonight?” I ask.
“Finally, she speaks!” Maverick says, arching an eyebrow at me.
“You have been quiet,” Rain points out, eyes darting in a direction behind me before coming back down.
Ah, so he’s behind me and has probably noticed me looking around for him. It’ll appear as though I’m sending mixed signals.
I worked so hard on losing my virginity that I never considered I’d need preparation for what happened if things ended with emotional attachments I swore not to form.
“And she’s done talking because you pressed,” Salem says as she elbows Maverick.
I glance down and start idly folding my cloth napkin like it’s paper origami.
“Cakes are coming out, Britt,” Bella says from the other table.
Harley and Dale get up to go dance, and I spot the dessert trays that are starting on the opposite end of the room. They’ll be out of the chocolate before they reach us. No one ever orders enough chocolate at these things.
“Oh, shit,” Maverick says under his breath.
I don’t get a chance to look over or ask him what’s wrong, because a small plate of chocolate cake comes down on the table in front of me as Base slides into Harley’s seat with his own slice.
Sitting straighter in my chair, I cast a worried look at Base as he smirks and hands me my unused fork.
“I remember you saying they never order enough, so you always get it early,” he tells me as I take the fork from his hand.
“Thank you,” I state on autopilot.
“So you came to your first black-tie affair to stalk Britt?” Kode asks him dryly, as his arm goes around Tria’s chair.
Tria rolls her eyes and elbows him in the side. He doesn’t flinch. In fact, he looks positively lethal.
They all stare at Base, which forces my eyes to drop to the cake, because I can feel the conflict brewing and I don’t want to be part of it.
“The cake is actually the best part,” I remind everyone.
“Nah. That’d just be creepy,” Base says like he’s answering Kode. “Tag asked me to come, since I was in town, so I did.”
“How convenient,” Maverick drawls.
I bristle in my chair. They don’t usually do this with me so close.
“I decided on a more reasonably sized phallus. One that needed surprisingly large batteries,” I tell Corbin and Maverick.
Bella chokes on her drink, and Ethan buries his face in her neck as his body shakes.
“Dance with me,” Corbin tells Ruby as he glares at me a little.
Ruby nods, working to keep a straight face as she stands and goes with him.
Dane walks off like he just can’t sit here any longer.
Maverick and Kode act like they’re about to say something else, when I say, “I think we should dance. Watch my cake.”
I stand abruptly, and Base just grins as he waggles his eyebrows at Maverick and slowly stands.
His fingers lace through mine without warning, and he leans over. “Fair warning, I’m really bad at this,” he tells me. “It’s outside my comfort zone.”
