Page 69 of My Last Dance

Kappy pouted out his bottom lip in mock-innocence, looking exactly like he had in that dance club so many years ago. “Me too, baby.”

“No,” I snapped, wagging a finger at him. “No sexy eyes.” Taking one more look at him, I shook my head. “I can’t.”

Marching back to the kitchen, I heard his deep voice ask, “That didn’t go so bad, did it?”

Plopping on an island stool, I grabbed a sprinkled donut and listened in.

“Could’ve gone worse, I suppose,” Mer answered glumly.

“She’s staying for the party, right?”

Interesting that he’d actually want me to stay.

“Yeah, she might have to leave for Carl at some point, but—”

“Carl?” He sounded alarmed. “Who the fuck is Carl?”

I paused chewing.Was that a little jealousy in his voice?I licked the frosting from my lips. On second thought, maybe today could be kind of fun.

“She doesn’t have any pictures of a guy named Carl, I checked all her socials,” he said.

He checked?I almost cackled to myself.

“He’s her—”

The sound of his footsteps came closer. I smoothed my face into a look of apathy.

He stopped at the threshold of the kitchen and held both sides of the hallway. All the lightness in his face was gone. “Who the fuck is Carl?”

Taking another bite of my donut, I held up a finger while I chewed.

His jaw tightened with impatience, making it hard to keep a straight face.

“He’s my main guy,” I finally said, which totally wasn’t a lie.

Kappy scoffed as he removed his hat and raked his hand over his ‘90s boy band haircut. “What is he? Some kind of boring finance dude?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why do you care?” When I licked a finger coated with frosting, his eyes narrowed to my mouth.

He shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t.”

“Ah…okay.” Nodding, I smoothed off my seat and walked toward him, loving the sound of my high heels clacking on the tile. I stopped right in front of him, trying my best to look unaffected even though his clean laundry scent was overwhelming. While he was always muscular, his body matured in the last decade, and he may have even added a few inches of height.

When I looked up at his face, it seemed like he was holding his breath.

I gave him an amused smirk. “I think you already told on yourself, Dick.”

His eyebrows slammed down.

Before he could say another word, I smoothed away, screaming at myself not to look back with every step.

The rest of the party, it felt like we were playing that old game again. I knew I needed to stop. To stop looking at him, stop listening to him, stop saying things that I knew would mess with him, but I couldn’t.

Just like old times, Kappy somehow consumed all my attention. Because of him, I turned blind to everything else around me, which was how I completely missed an argument between Mer and Colt.

Not wanting to ruin the party, Mer secretly stormed out, and then Colt spent the rest of the party quietly badgering me for her address.

“Fine,” I finally said, pulling out my phone to share the address with him. “But you’re not gonna like it.” Despite begging her to live with me, Mer stubbornly stayed in her apartment with a broken door. “Youbetterwin her back,” I threatened with a glare.

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