Page 37 of The Holiday Fail

Jim returned holding three shots in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. He handed us our drinks, and Austin lifted his with cheers, “To finding Levi a sexy hookup!”

I clinked my tiny shot glass to his, not really feeling theenthusiasm, and Andy didn’t hide his reluctance when he joined in. His reaction to this entire thing was heating me up more than the prospect at the bar—heating me up with anger.

Hewas the one who said he’d be my wingman.Hewas the one who’d rejected me, so he didn’t get to have opinions about what was going down tonight.

I tossed back the shot. The vodka burned on the way down, but it lit a fire under my ass about what I needed to do. I would find the sexiest man here and have a night of fun.

“Ten minutes here and I might have already found the perfect man for you,” Jim leaned in and said with a huge grin. “See the guy I was talking to over there?” He pointed to the hunky silver daddy by the bar. “Said he was here looking for a good time.” Jim finished his words with a wink.

Austin slid up to me and hooked his arm through mine. “He’s a cutie. You should totally go for it!”

I groaned. “You guys are making this awkward. Now it feels like my dads are trying to set me up,” I said with a hand over my face.

I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders and looked up to find Jim grinning at me as he pulled me closer to him. Since Austin had his arm hooked through mine, he was pulled along too.

“Since your dads aren’t here, that means we have to take care of you in their place. And I think we make great parents! Isn’t that right, babe?” Jim looked over my head to glance affectionately at his boyfriend.

Austin looked back up at him, starlight in his eyes. “We’d make the greatest dads.”

I shuddered and pushed them both away from me. “Can you twopleasenot use me as an excuse to flirt? And for the love of god, don’t do it right above me.”

They laughed and found each other. Arms slipped aroundthe other’s waist and sides pressed as tightly together as humanly possible. Austin fit perfectly into Jim’s side, like it was exactly where he was supposed to be. They were already lost in their own world, looking at nothing else but each other.

That ache in my heart started again, wishing that I had a beautiful relationship like theirs.

I shook my head and those longings away. I wasn’t supposed to think about it, especially tonight. I had a goal, so I turned my focus back on the sexy man at the bar. He had his back to us now and was chatting with the bartender, making them laugh. He was obviously the charmer, and perfect for what I needed tonight.

Andy caught my gaze. I debated on whether I should just talk to the guy myself, but decided since Andy wanted to be my wingman, he should be up for this job.

“I’m thinking about him tonight,” I said, going to his side and nodding to my target.

Andy’s brows furrowed even more than the default they were usually at. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“Well, he just…looks like a player,” he finished.

I crossed my arms.

“Sounds exactly like what I’m looking for,” I said, adding a low purr to my tone, just to really get the point across.

Andy stiffened, and I wondered if he was uncomfortable with the fact that I was going to hook up with another man? That thought almost had the hurt of his rejection lessening a bit.

“If you don’t want to help me, then I’ll go myself,” I said, then took a step closer to the bar, but a hand grasped my arm to stop me.

“Wait. Maybe we should think about this some more. I’m sure there’s someone better out there for you. Someone like…”

I raised a brow, waiting for him to finish his sentence, but he never did. His mouth shut firmly closed again, and I scoffed.

“That’s exactly what I thought,” I muttered, mainly to myself.

What did it mean when the guy who didn’t want you couldn’t think ofanyoneI could be matched with?

What a blow to my ego.

I shook his hand off with a glare, then turned back to my target only to find the silver fox was already chatting,very intimately, with a twink.

I knew this wasn’t a direct rejection since the man hadn’t even known I was gonna go over to chat him up, but I still couldn’t help but feel like it was another shot to my ego.

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