Page 65 of Resist Me

I nodded. When I didn’t say anything, he returned to dancing with Willow. I watched them, feeling a strange twinge of jealousy. Keeping my life private was my M.O., but actively hiding wasn’t something I liked. I wanted to dance with that bastard, but he would say no. Aside from us being in public, he might not even want to.

Not sure what else to do, I leaned against the wall by the stairs and watched the crowd on the dance floor. Sen and Kai were still there, as close as ever. It was that time of night where a lot of people were drunk. It was louder than when I’d gone upstairs and part of me just wanted to go back to my room.

West walked right in front of me, but he didn’t look at me. It was impossible that he hadn’t noticed me standing here. My hands fisted at my sides, so I shoved them into my pockets.

He headed directly for the kitchen and struck up a conversation with Tilian, one of the guys I’d met briefly at their housewarming party. I wanted to know what they were talking about, but I stayed where I was. They knocked back four shots, which didn’t make me feel confident that he was okay, no matter what he claimed. Before he went into that bathroom, he’d both melted into my kiss and shuttered himself inside his head, so who knew what the fuck was going on in there?

After he’d finished the drinks, he clapped Tilian on the shoulder and made a beeline for the dance floor. He started dancing with a girl and it pissed me off, even though I didn’t have a right to feel that way.

I noticed Tilian coming closer, so I gave him a quick, polite smile. I didn’t want to take my eyes off of West.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Okay. Not feeling in the party mood?”

My lips thinned. “I am.”

“That was convincing.”

“Sometimes, I hate men. Worse, I hate when I don’t hate one that I should.”

He followed my gaze. There were so many people dancing that there was no way he’d know who I was talking about.

“There’s someone you’re into over there, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’ll be okay. What about you? Find anyone interesting tonight?”

“No, but I also don’t try.”

“Hm. You should.”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I’m incredibly awkward.”

I laughed a little. “Some people like awkward. You came over to talk to me, so clearly, you’re capable.”

“Liquid courage, maybe.”

I turned my head and stared down at him. He really was awkward, but it was adorable. He was friends with Dean, who said he was cool, so I knew he was the type who would open up eventually. Like I said, he came over to talk to me when he’d spent his whole time here smoking in the dining room. I’d seen him switch between heart eyes and staring daggers at someone all night, so I didn’t think he was hitting on me.

“You know, I’m an introvert too,” I noted.

“That’s funny.

“Really. I can play the part really well, but when I’m not on campus or at a game, I’m usually at my apartment alone. I don’t find most people enjoyable enough to give up my time for. And while I don’t get freaked out by talking to people, I understand how hard it is to put myself out there. Especially when dealing with a closed off asshole who keeps giving extremely mixed signals.”

His brow furrowed as he bit his lip. With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall.

“That’s why I don’t really put myself out there.”

“We get one life. If you fuck something up along the way, so what? I’d rather make some mistakes than regret letting something pass by.”

“I guess you’re right. Thanks for the advice, Linc. Do you happen to know where Dean is?”

“Upstairs. Second door on the left is where he sometimes fucks off to during parties.”

He smiled at me before he headed upstairs. As I looked at West again, I tried to put my own words to work.

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