Page 80 of Burn

I can’t look into his eyes, so I shift my gaze over his shoulder. In the corner, not ten feet away, I see the blonde woman who approached Lex earlier leaning into that guy. From here, I can see his hand is swollen, red, and angry. The blonde runs her hand down his chest, blinking up at him. They’re so close and cozy that I have to assume they’re together, and that tracks given they both seem like absolute pieces of trash.

Jordan calls my attention back to him again, and when I look between us, his hand is outstretched. “We cool, man?” he asks.

I take his hand and nod, “Yeah, man. We’re cool.” Jordan takes a shaky breath, as if my response was unexpected, so I add, “I’m sorry, too. I was young and stupid.”

A flash of emerald-green captures my attention, and this time, Jordan follows my line of sight. We watch as Lex stumbles slightly, heading for the restroom. He turns to look at me, and his smile starts small at the corner of his mouth before it spreads into a wide grin. “Young and stupid? Nah. What wouldn’t one do for the right girl?”

This has me chuckling, and I clink my empty glass against his mostly untouched one on the bar and say, “For that one, I’d do anything.”

Jordan laughs and tells me about his life since the party. He tells me that he got married in college, had a couple of kids, and divorced his wife by the time he was twenty-five. He pulls out his phone and shows me a photo of two little girls who look just like him. When I ask about the divorce, he groans, rolls his eyes, and says, “Zero out of ten. Absolutely do not recommend.”

I’m taking the last sip of my second drink, one I drank much slower, when I scan the dance floor, looking for Lex. Blake is pressed into Charlie, slowly swaying to a sappy ballad, but Lex isn’t there. I look back at our table, which is empty. Jordan glances over his shoulder and then comments, “She’s been gone a really long time, eh?”

Unease curls in my stomach, but I shrug it off and try to sound light when I say, “She weighs about a buck-twenty soaking wet and drank half of a vineyard. I should probably make sure she’s feeling okay.”

Jordan laughs, but I can’t force myself to join him.

“Thanks for the chat, man. Really glad we could do this.” I force myself to look at Jordan as he speaks. “I’m really happy we ran into each other. Take care, Adrian.”

“It was good to see you, Jordan.”

Jordan pats my shoulder as he steps past me, heading toward one of the bridesmaids.

I force myself to take slow, measured steps, despite my mind screaming at me to run to find her. As I move through the ballroom, I scan every inch of the room, looking into dark corners, at each table, at each group of guests. She’s not here.

She wouldn’t leave, right?

The restroom is down a short corridor, and I am just about to exit the ballroom into said corridor when blonde hair steps in front of me. A cool breeze rips through the corridor, blowing the blonde’s hair in front of her face. She tucks it back behind her ear without breaking eye contact with me.

Why do women always do this?

She peers up at me with a wide, fake smile plastered on her face. Nothing on her face moves naturally. Her eyes don’t crease as she smiles, her eyebrows don’t lift, and her lips look unnaturally puffy. I narrow my eyes as I take in her appearance.

“Adrian,” she breathes, and I can’t help but make a face at the sound of her voice and the way her breath hits me in the face. She smells like cheap perfume, garlic, and shitty fucking red wine. I move to step around her, but she stops me with a hand on my chest. I watch as her desperate eyes go wide when she feels the fullness of my muscles. Her fingers gently probe, and after a second, I brush her hand off me. “Oh, come on now,” she purrs. “Any friend of Morgan’s is a friend of mine.”

I step into her, putting our bodies nearly flush with one another, and I watch her cheeks turn crimson. “Her name is Lex,” I growl at her.

“Potato, Potatow,” she says as she returns her hand to my chest.

My jaw clenches, my pulse pounds in my temple, and I again swipe blondie’s hand off my chest. “You need a lesson on personal space…?” I pause, forgetting her name.

“Navaeh.”

I smirk, and she mirrors it, until I say, “I’m not sure who gave you the impression I give a shit what your name is, but let me be the one to tell you, I don’t.”

She feigns insult and puts her hand on her chest over her heart. “But you care about Morgan — sorry,Lex?” She says ‘Lex’ like it’s entirely fabricated. “Shows how little you know about her. She’s bad news, and not someone you can trust.”

I silently chant to myself, again and again.

She’s fucking with you.

Don’t let her fuck with you.

Navaeh’s eyes flicker with excitement. “Oh, but looks like you already know this. Guess we’re both more perceptive than we let on.”

I reach out, wrapping my hands around her shoulders and forcibly moving her aside, leaning into her to whisper, “You and I have absolutely fucking nothing in common, cunt.”

I don’t wait for her to reply, stepping into the corridor and heading for therestrooms.

---