Page 44 of The Last Time

“Not a big deal. I hated to see you like that.”

She casts her eyes downward before meeting mine again. My gaze drops from her eyes to her shoulders, then to her breasts. I can’t help but take in all of her beauty, and her breasts look fantastic in her tight red tank top. A tiny glow crosses her face. She must know that her body makes me hot.

“Hey, big brother,” Layla appears in front of me. “I thought you hated this place.”

What is with everyone calling me out tonight?

“I never said that.” I glare at her.

“Yes, you did. You said you hate dancing, and that’s all everybody does here.”

“You hate dancing?” Charlotte asks.

“I don’t hate it. I just don’t… like it,” I say, loathing myself for sounding so insecure all of a sudden.

“He didn’t always hate dancing. He used to be fun, but now he hates everything,” Layla says to Charlotte.

I roll my eyes, officially annoyed with her presence. “Why are you still here?”

She winks at me. “Because you love me.”

Josh returns with our beers. I take mine and we all sit around the table talking for a while. Paul and David, who were in the corner with some girls, have joined us and are seated on the other side of the table.

Avery and Kyle are chatting with Charlotte when a familiar song begins to play. The group starts to cheer with excitement. Avery and Kyle disappear on the dance floor, Layla grabs David, and Josh finds some random girl, like usual, leaving Charlotte, Paul, and myself.

Just as I’m about to say something to Charlotte about her renovations, Paul cuts in.

“You wanna dance, beautiful?” he says to Charlotte.

She smiles innocently at him. “Sure. I love this song.”

I watch them walk away together, his hand resting on her lower back as he leads her to the floor. He whispers something in her ear that makes her head fall back with laughter. My hands ball up in fists as I watch him wrap his arm around my girl’s waist.

It’s just a dance. Calm down.

I take a swig of my beer, which now tastes stale and bitter in my mouth. My eyes never leave the dance floor, never leave Charlotte.

They begin to move together, smiling and laughing as the music plays around them. His hand, which was on her hip, has now taken up residence on her lower back.

Then I notice him pull her body toward him, molding themselves together.

He smiles seductively at her.

That. Mother. Fucker.

I can’t take it. I can’t watch him do this. He has some nerve after everything I’ve been through. Clearly, everybody else around us can see that I feel something for Charlotte. How can he be so blind to what’s around him?

Maybe he isn’t blind. Maybe he just doesn’t care.

When I see his hand slide down further, practically groping her ass, I jump out of my seat.

I need to get out of here before I do something stupid. What Charlotte does is none of my business. I don’t own her.

As soon as I’m outside on one of the patios, I lean against the barn. My head falls back as I close my eyes and try to take deep breaths.

It all feels like it’s happening again, right in front of my eyes this time. The pain from Lauren’s mistakes feels like I’m finding out for the first time.

My fingernails almost pierce my skin my from clenched hands—my attempt at deep breaths does nothing to calm down the fire inside of me.

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