Page 210 of Something Rad
“I…” I trail off, desperately looking in Alice’s direction again, still not finding any luck.
“You know, I’d love to. But I shouldn’t leave Alice here. Could you maybe just go get it and bring it back to me while I wait for her?” I attempt, fully intending for neither Alice or me to still be in this spot when Paul returns.
“Really?” Paul laughs.
I’m not looking at him, still focused on Alice.
“C’mon, Cooper.”
My eyes snap back to Paul. “Sara,” I tell him. “Please just call me Sara.”
Paul’s eyes squint at me, and he lets out a sigh. “You really sure don’t want to come with me to get you another one?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I really need to stay here with Alice–”
I cut off, my words getting caught in my throat as my eyes snag on a dark blur just behind Alice.
It’s him.
Walking into the backyard with Brad and Billy, arms around their shoulders, a huge smile on his face, and every hair just perfectly out of place.
Robbie.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll be right back–”
“No,” I blurt, reaching out and grabbing Paul by the arm and stopping him in place. His brows raise, his gaze lowering to where my hand rests on the crook of his elbow. I clear my throat, my eyes flicking between Paul’s face and where Robbie is. He hasn’t seen me yet, and I’d love to keep it that way. I don’t know if it’s possible to keep it up all night, but it’s definitely impossible if I stay here right now. He’ll walk directly into me at the rate he’s going. I try my best to seem casual, slowly sliding my hand forward enough so that I can hook arms with Paul. “Actually, I’d love to go with you. I’m sure Alice won’t even miss me.”
Paul gives me a confused look. “But I thought you just said–”
“Please, Paul. Can I go with you? I really want to.” I give my best attempt at batting my eyelashes, my teeth grinding together as I smile at him, just needing him to buy my act and for his feet to move.
Paul lets out a whistle. “Shit, I’d take you anywhere you’d let me, Cooper.”
My jaw aches as I grit my teeth together harder at the name I just told him not to call me. The one that only ever sounded right coming from the one person who I’m currently trying to get as far away as possible from.
Luckily, Paul starts walking. We make our way off the back deck and begin weaving through the people crowded around the pool. I can’t help it. Once I feel like I am sufficiently camouflaged by the crowd, I have to glance over my shoulder. Robbie is still completely unaware of me and now has a can of beer in his hands, taking a sip and laughing at something Jesse is telling him.
Wait.
I do a double take, confirming that I’m not crazy.
Jesse?
I shake my head, confused. I guess the two of them are cool again. I guess it’s also not any of my business. They’re teammates.Why wouldn’t they be cool?
I blink a few times, taking one more look. Jesse is clapping Robbie’s shoulder, acting like the two of them are the best of friends again. I force my eyes back forward, staring at the back of Paul’s head as he comes to a stop in front of a cooler hiding behind a pool chair. I wonder for a moment if Jesse knew that Robbie would be here when he invited me tonight. I wonder if Paul knew too.
Maybe I’m overthinking this.
I didn’t notice Paul initially bending over until now as he stands back up, wine cooler in one hand and a bottle of beer in his other hand. He opens my drink for me then hands it to me, holding his bottle out for me to cheers with. I clink my bottle with his, running through excuses in my head that I can give to get away from Paul in the next thirty seconds.
Sure, maybe I just used him. I got away from Robbie, I got another drink to calm my nerves, but I don’t have any desire to stick around him. That’s not why I came here tonight. Paul’s always been nice enough to me, but after the wholeSpin the Bottledebacle at Denise’s party…it just makes me uncomfortable to be with him. Especially when it’s only the two of us. We aren’t friends. We never have been. We have absolutely nothing in common. Just because I had an anger-induced momentary lapse in judgment that may have resulted in my tongue ending up in his mouth doesn’t mean that Paul and I need to pretend this is anything that it isn’t. I’ll be kind to him in the way that he is kind to me, but it’s not going further than that. I don’t have any interest. But I also don’t want to be rude.
Two minutes. I’ll give him two minutes of casual conversation and then I’ll say I need to get back to Alice. By then, I’m sure Robbie will have made his way into the party anyway and will be too distracted to even notice me before I convince Alice to leave.
“Cheers,” I say brightly, forcing a smile on my face.
I start to pull my bottle away, but Paul’s hand grabs my wrist, stopping me. “Here’s to…” he says, trailing off with a grin on his face. Then, he puts his other hand on my shoulder, pulling me close enough so that he can whisper in my ear. “Here’s to finding each other again. Here’s to tonight. Let’s make it a good one. What do you say, Cooper?”
