Page 74 of Fire & Ice

The two fingers of whiskey hit his bloodstream in a rush, mellowing him out more and more the closer he gets to the door. The alcohol also serves to relax his limbs and smooth his rough, antsy edges, which ismaybewhy he misses the covert glances being exchanged between Ro and Avery, right over Leander’s shoulder.

Minutes later, when Lee and Avery are up to bat and the DJ is calling their names, Tripp’s feeling pretty damn good again. He’s dancing in place, swaying his hips to the music and bopping his head along to the beat. Ro is hanging casually on his arm, more or less doing the same by his side, until very suddenly, she’snot.

As Tripp stands there and gapes, she friggin’bolts,rushing forward to hip-check Lee aside and take Avery by the arm. Evenmoresurprisingly, Avery laughs openly and lets herself be swept out onto the floor, where she and Ro break it down like the two scheming assholes they are.

To his credit, the DJ pivots easily, announcing the correction with humor and grace, and the girls wave their bouquets and lean into each other affectionately as they skip happily off to the right of the dance floor. Tripp’s so busy being confused and then watching the show they put on that he doesn’t even realize he’s been set up until it’swaytoo late to do anything about it.

And then there’s Lee, looking twice as surprised as he feels, but still offering up an arm, and—God damn it, and now he’s thegirl, too. Fuckin’ Ro.Tripp’s gonna put a laxative in her martini.

Oh, hell.

With a shake of his head and a resigned sigh, Tripp takes Leander’s arm and allows himself to be led out onto the dance floor, under the sparkling disco ball. He leans into the buzz he has going, biting his lip and shaking his ass to the beat, like the rhythmless white boy he knows he is.

Of course, that isn’t good enough for Lee, who gets a wild hair up his ass and takes Tripp by the hand, sending him whirling and twirling underneath his own fucking arm until suddenly he’s falling—and humiliatingly,screeching—backward. Lee catches him in a dip, grinning down at Tripp’s answering scowl with poorly-concealed smug satisfaction.

“Dick,” Tripp grumbles, but that only makes Leander’s smile widen as he sets him gently back on his feet.

“Kiss!” Someone yells out from the crowd, and the rest of them laugh while Tripp jumps back hastily, abruptly realizing that he’s standingwaytoo close to Leander.

“Whose wedding is this?” Beau calls out from where he and Bri are lingering in the open doorway, just as the Bruno Mars song is coming to an end. It’s clearly good-natured, but as an apology, Tripp darts back across the dance floor to grab his brother’s face and lay a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He waves apologetically to the crowd as he skates away again, finding his way back to where the bridal party is lining the edge of the dance floor and sliding in between Ro and Lee.

“That wassonot cool,” he mutters to Ro as the room explodes around them, everyone cheering and clapping forthe new Mr. and Mrs. Truett!

Ro gestures vaguely to her ear and smirks. “Sorry, can’t hear you!”

While his friends are definitely assholes, Tripp’s seething over their plotting against him lasts only until the end of Beau and Bri's first dance. The adorable sappiness of his brother’s pure, palpable joy succeeds in melting the ice cube Tripp assumes he has in place of a heart, at least enough that he’s once again ready to get his drink and party on.

Several drinks, what feels like a thousand hugs, dinner, and a round of semi-memorable toasts later, the reception is in full swing, and Tripp finally feels like he can relax. While most of the guests are out jumping around and grinding on the dance floor, Tripp’s lurking by the bar, stealing a few quiet moments with his old friend, Mister Macallan. The whiskey is smooth and hot in his throat, and Tripp savors every drop, so much so that he doesn’t notice the figure sidling up beside him until it’s too late to escape.

“Fancy meeting you here, Acid Tripp.” Autumn's sultry voice cuts into Tripp’s peaceful reverie, making him grimace. “Oh, relax,” she says, presumably when she notices his eyes start to roll. “I’m not your enemy, you know.”

“Why are you even here?” Tripp doesn’t make eye contact, just signals the bartender for a refill and drinks half of it way faster than a whiskey of that caliber deserves.

“I transferred to Bri's floor at Central earlier this year,” Autumn explains and Tripp nods, already sick of the small talk, but she doesn’t leave. “We’re friends. Seriously, relax, dewdrop. I just came to say hello. Figured Lee would be with you, but I don’t see him.”

“He’s around.”

“Hmm,” Autumn hums noncommittally, sipping from her own drink and leaving a bright red lipstick smear on the rim. It twists Tripp’s stomach a little to see, makes him wonder—however irrationally and against his will—if she ever left marks like that on Lee.Damn,but he’s becoming a possessive son of a bitch, not that he has any right to it.

“Anyway, like I said, no need for the cold shoulder.” Autumn continues talking, oblivious to his inner turmoil. “You know, you and me? We have a lot in common, not the least of which is wanting the best for our boy.”

“Yeah, well,” Tripp replies, dropping his tumbler onto the bar just alittleharder than necessary before scanning the crowd for theboyin question. “Wanna get technical, Lee isn’t my boy or yours. He isn’t anybody’s anything, not like that. Guess that’s another thing you and I have in common—getting bitch-slapped by that reality the hard way.”

Finally, Tripp’s eyes alight on his target. He’s on the dance floor with Marley, being cajoled into learning the robot. Lee is stiff, awkward, and way too serious as he goes through the stilted motions Marley demonstrates and then prompts him to copy. There’s no sign of the dapper dancer who flung Tripp around so easily earlier—thisis a lot closer to the Lee that heknows and loves. Teaching the guy the robot is a little on the nose for Tripp’s taste, but Marley and the other girls gathered nearby are laughing uproariously.

In Tripp’s peripheral vision, Autumn shifts so that her elbow is on the bar and she’s facing him, smirking, waving her hand like she’s reading his aura. “I know you’re all…uptight or whatever with your little feelings, but the pissy anger you’re throwing my way issomisplaced. That’s all I’m saying. Between the two of us, I’m not the danger to Simba. You are.”

That gets Tripp’s attention, and he snaps his gaze back to his uninvited company, incredulous and touching a finger to his ear. “Gonna have to run that one by me again, because Iknowyou did not just imply I would ever intentionally hurt Lee.”

Autumn wiggles a little against the bar, her smile never faltering as she scrutinizes Tripp’s face. “You’re right, I didn’t. Iimpliedthat youcouldhurt him. Never said anything about intention. And if you’re really as oblivious as you’re playing right now, then I was right to say so. Honestly, you two dumbasses can’t see what’s right in front of your adorable little noses.” As if to make a point, she reaches out and boops Tripp on his, making him reflexively scrunch his face in response.

“Hey,” he protests.

With a shrug, Autumn grabs her drink and saunters off. “If you geniuses ever manage to pull your heads out of your asses and stick with each other for the long haul, feel free to call me up when things get boring. I think the three of us would have a magical time together.”

Normally, Tripp would respond with something snarky, but evenhisrepertoire is empty for a snappy comeback to the man he’s in love with’sexpropositioning them for a threesome.Probably for the best—some things are better just left alone. Shaking himself off, Tripp returns to his drink and finishes it up.

Having been at the bar for the better part of an hour, Tripp is once again pleasantly drunk, but his interaction with Autumn has him on edge. Well, that, and the way the stool he’s been occupying shifts the plug in his ass every time he moves, but mostly the first thing. It’s not as if Autumnimpliedanything Tripp wasn’t already beginning to suspect regarding Lee, but still. It’s definitely more unsettling hearing the speculation from a third party.

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