Page 28 of No One Else

“You’re right,” I cut him off. “That was a terrible idea. I don’t know what I was thinking. Just forget about it.” I gather my stuff in my arms quickly, not bothering to put any of the papers back in the folder and knock my pen onto the floor in the scramble. No time to pick it up, I’ll have to sacrifice it for the cause. “Okay, well I’ve got to get ready. I’ll see you at work or class or... something. Bye.”

I sprint away, cursing myself for such an idiotic move. Hey, let’s return to the scene of the crime where I rejected you and things got super awkward between us. That sounds like a fun night.

I just... didn’t want our time together to end. I forgot how much I enjoy hanging out with him. It used to be so easy between us.

Maybe I’ll meet someone at Empire tonight that will knock all thoughts of him right out of my head. That was Samantha’s goal in going there anyway. Except it was to forget Carter, not Evan. She still thinks I’m hung up on the guy I should reasonably still be getting over. Not the guy I’ve never dated. The guy I said I wasn’t interested in. The guy she watched me abandon in the middle of the dance floor almost two months ago as I begged her to leave the club and drive me home.

What’s wrong with me?

***

“YOU SEE ANYONE YOUlike?” Samantha asks, sitting next to me on a stool at the bar. Neither of us is twenty-one so we can’t actually drink, but I’m sipping on a lovely virgin daiquiri that Audrey, the bartender here and Samantha’s roommate, made for me. The sugary sweetness is sending a rush to my head, leaving me a little giddy. Who says you need alcohol to have a good time?

“Um, not really,” I reply, scanning the room, considerably less crowded than the last time we were here. At least we can hear each other without having to shout.

No one here has caught my eye. No one with strong, broad shoulders. Warm, hazel eyes. A smile that always has me grinning in return.

“Natalie, there has to be someone. You need to forget about that douchebag.”

Excuse me? Evan is not a- Oh. She means Carter.

“He’s forgotten. Trust me,” I mutter.

“Great,” she pats my knee. “Oh, and I didnotinvite Evan this time. If I had known he was going to say all that, I would never have extended the invitation.”

I take a long sip of my daiquiri, another sugar rush going straight to my head. “Actually, I invited him tonight. But he probably has plans withSarah.” I pronounce her name nastily. With spite. Even though I’ve never met this poor girl. I’m sure she’s really nice. Beautiful. Smart. Reads to sick children in the hospital in her spare time and knits scarves for the blind.

“Who’s Sarah?”

“Evan’s girlfriend.”

She raises her brows. “Girlfriend? But I thought he-”

“Yeah. I thought so too. And just when I started to-” I clamp my mouth shut, sensing her growing excitement. Oh God, I do not need an excited Samantha right now.

She bounces up and down in her seat, grabbing my hands. “Are you telling me you like him? I always thought you two would make such a cute couple.”

I look at her sadly. “Did you not hear the part about the girlfriend? It doesn’t even matter how I feel. I’m too late.”

She regards me steadily, squeezing my fingers. “Natalie, he said helovedyou. That doesn’t go away overnight. Trust me, I bet he still has feelings for you.”

“So you tell me I need to get over my boyfriend of three years ASAP, and yet there’s no way Evan’s over me in the same amount of time?” I smirk.

“Ugh. I hate it when you’re logical.”

“It’s just a little crush,” I tell her, catching Audrey’s attention for another daiquiri as I slurp up the last bit. “It’ll probably go away.”

“Well if he breaks up with her, you should go for it.”

“I- I might.” Nerves course through me at the thought of saying anything to him about it. I haven’t had a crush on someone in... forever. “Just keep it between us for now. I don’t want anyone else to know.”

She mimes zipping her lips shut as Audrey approaches with my drink. “Are you actually keeping quiet about something?” Audrey asks with a sly smile.

Samantha grins back. “I’m an excellent secret keeper, I’ll have you know. I bet there’s stuff I know about Levi that even you don’t.”

“I have no doubt about that. And I bet it’s stuff I don’t want to know either. I heard you two animals last night.”

Samantha throws her head back and laughs, not a trace of self-consciousness in her demeanor.

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