Page 38 of Playful Kris

I’m staring down at her when she takes a drink, and out of the corner of my eye I see Davidson wave her over. She hesitates, but only for a moment before she looks up at me, winks and fucking smirks before she moves her fine ass across the bar to where he’s sitting.

“You’ve got it bad,” my brother’s fiancee says, sliding into the spot Kameron just occupied, although she isn’t as close as Kam was. “So damn bad.”

“Do not,” I whine, sneaking a glance in their direction.

Kameron has her head thrown back, laughing at something the tool just said, and I grit my teeth. I don’t fucking like this one damn bit.

“I like her, I don’t know what you did to fuck that up in the past.”

My eyes snap to Ruby’s.

“Your brother told me all about you two.” She smiles, softly. “You should go for it, not someone like Samantha.”

She looks across the bar to where Samantha, the bridesmaid that wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone on the bus, is sitting, staring at the two of us talking. The song changes to a slow one, which I’m sure my brother requested sincePerfectby Ed Sheeran istheirsong. And don’t ask me how I know.

“Find your happiness, Kris.”

She briefly touches my arm before meeting my brother in the center of the dance floor.

I twist around, resting my elbows on the bar as I stare at the two of them. I’m happy for my brother, he deserves this. I, however, know what comes next.

The fights. The hatred. The cheating. The heartbreak.

The waste of fucking time this all is.

16

KAMERON

I have no clue what Davidson is talking about, I haven’t been listening to him since I walked back over here.

My eyes are instead focused on Kris, leaning against the bar as he watches his brother and Ruby dance toPerfectby Ed Sheeran. The two are wrapped up in each other, singing the words with smiles on their faces, but Kris… he looks like he’s in pain.

“Kameron.”

Hearing my name pulls my attention back to Davidson. He looks down at me with a smile.

“I’m sorry, what?” I laugh. “It’s hard to hear over the music.” I point to my ear, lying right through my teeth. Hearing wasn’t the issue at all, it was me being focused on Kris that made me deaf.

Davidson’s smile grows larger as he leans in, I freeze for a second, worried he’s going to try to kiss me, but he puts his lips against my ear. “I asked if you wanted to dance.”

He slowly pulls back, looking me in the eyes and tilts his head toward the dance floor. My eyes follow the path before moving to Kris again. This time his back is to all of us, but I can still see the muscles through his thin shirt, and they’re tense.

Everything in me is telling me to go to him, to comfort him and ask what’s wrong, and demand that he tell me what’s going on. But then, I remember our past, and how he refuses to open up. How I’m the one that always gets burnt in the end by trying to pry into his life.

So instead, I pull my eyes from Kris and force them back on Davidson.

“Sure.” I nod, and let him lead me to the floor.

Once we reach the center next to Ruby and Kaleb, he spins me before pulling me in close to him. He’s been drinking a lot longer than I have tonight, and the way he sways against me, putting a little too much of his weight on me tells me just how far behind I am tonight.

He croons the lyrics, singing extremely off key but not giving a damn that everyone around us is practically holding their ears. Finally, the song changes and he steps away from me asTake On Meby A-Ha starts blaring through the speakers.

I haven’t heard this song since the early days of college, whenever I used to go to the baseball house and… I freeze.

Standing on the dance floor I freeze when my memory takes me right back to those days with Kris, in the baseball house at the parties they used to throw.

They were notorious for their music playlist. Everything from the golden oldies to the newest pop was played.

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