Page 74 of Puck and Prejudice

Fucker.

“I’ll call Chad and ask him to come out,” Jane pipes up, already holding her phone against her ear.

No sooner has she said that than the crowd cheers. I look up and see the Kaminski twins standing on the balcony, holding the Cup and pouring beer from it into the crowd below. Then Chad and Jackson come into view.

“Chad! Over here!” Jane shouts and waves, trying to get his attention.

Mercifully, both Chad and Jackson look in our direction.

“Jane! Come up!” Chad yellows back.

“He won’t let me!” She points at the grumpy bouncer.

“Oh, all right. You two can come in,” the guy relents.

I fight the urge to stick out my tongue at him and sayI told you so.

Inside the bar, it’s another fight to maneuver through the throng of people and get to the stairs. Not surprisingly, access to the second floor is off-limits, but we bump into Grayson Knight, the Miami Mavericks QB and Jackson’s friend.

“Hello, ladies.” He smiles from ear to ear. His eyes are bloodshot and unfocused.

“Hi Grayson,” Jane replies.

“Glad you decided to join us.”

“Oh, this is more of a search-and-rescue mission,” I chime in.

“No way! You must have one beer with me. I insist.” He gets between us, throwing his arms around our shoulders.

Now that we have an escort, the bouncer blocking the stairs moves out of the way. I wonder what criteria they’re using to allow patrons upstairs if you’re not a famous athlete.

I get my answer when we reach the top of the stairs. Only beautiful women with big breasts and barely any clothes covering their assets have been allowed in the VIP area, and one of them is all over Jackson’s space. My vision tints red in the blink of an eye.

“I don’t see Chad,” Jane mutters.

“He must still be out on the balcony,” Grayson replies.

Jane steps away and walks ahead of us. I’m too distracted by my jealousy to create any distance between me and Jackson’s friend. Or maybe I just want to make him jealous too. It’s so stupid and juvenile.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Grayson asks me.

“Uh… no, that’s okay.”

Jackson finally looks in our direction, and his eyes narrow.

“Uh-oh. I don’t think Darcy is happy that I’m with you.” Grayson chuckles.

God. Does everyone know I hooked up with Jackson last night? Maybe he told his friend.

“Why would he care?” I ask.

“’cause I know Jacks.” Grayson steps away from me, and suddenly, Jackson is there.

“You need to go away, Knight,” he tells his friend.

Grayson looks at me and smirks. “What did I tell you? Later, Izzie.”

The butterflies in my stomach are as giddy as ever, but I can’t let them dictate my mood. I cross my arms and ask, “Why did you scare Grayson away?”

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