Page 17 of Deceiving Grier

“Brody.” I nodded to the man behind the bar. “He owns The Dunes and is the object of Jett’s unrequited love.”

Sawyer laughed, and Jett scowled.

“Fuck off,” he said.

I laughed too. I was in a fantastic mood. Maybe it was the relief of having won the game and getting all my outstanding assignments in on time while also managing to get all the stuff my sister had sent done and sent back to her—I’d even gotten a ‘good job’ out of my father—that I felt as though a weight had been lifted. Tomorrow, when I woke up, I would have nothing hanging over me for the first time in weeks, and that felt damn good.

I took a swig from my beer. It was only my second, but combined with the two rounds of shots we’d already done and the fact I hadn’t eaten much today, I already had a fairly substantial buzz happening.

“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but after three years, if he hasn’t noticed you yet, I don’t think he’s going to,” I told Jett, doing my best not to sound too harsh, but Jett had been trying to get man’s attention since our first year, and to say Brody wasn’t interested was being kind.

“Henoticed you,” Sawyer said, and both Jett and I jerk our attention to him.

“What do you mean?” Jett asked, uncharacteristically serious.

“Don’t encourage him,” I groaned.

“I’m serious. I’ve caught him looking over here a few times tonight already,” Sawyer said. “He’s trying to be sneaky about it, but I noticed.”

Jett grabbed Sawyer’s shirt, forcing the other man to face him. “If you’re fucking with me, I willneverforgive you.”

Sawyer shot Jett’s hand a pointed look. “I’m not. Are you going to let go of my shirt?”

“Oh, sure,” Jett said, then turned his attention to me. “Why would he be checking me out tonight when he hasn’t before now?”

“Maybe Sawyer just misread his actions,” I said kindly.

“This isn’t my first time in a gay bar,” Sawyer said, turning his attention to Jett. “He’s interested, believe me.”

“Maybe it’s you,” Jett said, his running his gaze up and down Sawyer. “He doesn’t know you. Maybe he thinks we’re together, and he’s jealous.”

Jett pressed himself against Sawyer, tucking himself against the larger man’s chest, and I had to fight the almost overwhelming urge to drag my friend off him.

I wasn’t jealous. I couldn’t be. I didn’t even particularly like Sawyer. Okay, that wasn’t true. Over the past week, he’d been fairly decent. Though I had admittedly been avoiding him all week since suffering through the humiliation of getting a hard-on while I with the man, as though I was back in high school with no control over my body.

“Brody’s seen you with other guys before. I’m not sure Sawyer being here makes a difference,” I told him.

“You’re right.” Jett backed away from Sawyer, and I pretended not to notice the relief loosening the tension gripping me. “I’m getting the next round.”

He pushed through the crowd to get to the bar, and I turned to Sawyer. “You really shouldn’t encourage Jett where Brody’s concerned. He’snotinto him.”

“You’re wrong,” Sawyer said, leaning closer to me and grinning. “He wants Jett. He may notwantto want him, but he does.”

Sawyer’s gaze bored into me. Warmth gathered low in the pit of my gut, and his words shivered up my spine.

“Here,” Jett said, shoving the shot glasses at us.

“How’d it go?” Sawyer asked.

“Same as always.” Jett sounded defeated but brightened almost immediately. “Drink, then let’s dance.”

We each threw back the vodka shots, set the glasses on a nearby table, then squeezed onto the crowded dance floor. Normally, I didn’t dance much when we were out—too self-conscious—unless I had a good buzz going, as I did then, and didn’t care what I looked like.

I lost track of how long we were up there, but by the time Sawyer motioned for a drink, a thin sheen of sweat slicked my skin. I nodded and turned to Jett, but he was making out with some guy. Smirking to myself, I followed Sawyer to the bar.

He ordered us each a beer. While we waited for our drinks, I noticed Brody’s gaze flitting to the dance floor. I frowned and glanced over in the direction Brody was looking. He could have been looking at anyone, but from this angle, I could see Jett and the guy he was grinding up against.

My gaze bounced between Jett and Brody, and I could feel my eyes widening. Holy shit, had Sawyer been right all along? As if reading my mind, Sawyer leaned closer and whispered, “Told you so.”

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