Page 76 of Would You Rather
I nod, my heart in my throat, as we walk out of the hotel room.
Chapter 25
Playing cupid
“Dude, just go to her.” James glares at the side of my head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” I lie, taking a sip of my drink.
He scoffs, a little more drunk than everyone else here. When he heard it was an open bar, he took advantage of that, taking it upon himself to ‘taste test’ all of the drinks on the menu. He’s still got five more to go.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” he says, nudging me on the elbow. “You’ve been looking at her all night.”
Yeah, I have. But can you fucking blame me? She’s the most beautiful girl in the room. She’s the most beautiful girl in every room, for that matter. It’s impossible to look away. “I knew I shouldn’t have brought you.”
He laughs at that, knowing I’m talking shit. James has always been my plus-one to these events. Even if Ana had hired a girl to be my date for the night, he was always with me. Even after the accident, I always managed to drag him with me to these things, and this time, it’s no different.
“I’m your best friend,” he says.
“I’m debating that right now.”
A chuckle leaves his lips. “And I know you better than anyone.”
“Again, debatable,” I repeat.
He lets out a scoff. “You’re not slick, Silva. You don’t think I know you by now?” he asks. “You’re head over heels for that girl.”
I take another sip, feeling the burn of the alcohol – and his words – wrack through my body. “And?”
He smirks. I can see it from the corner of my eye. “Didn’t deny it, I see.”
I shrug, letting out a breath. “There’s no point.” He’s right, he knows me better than anyone else, maybe even myself, because James saw that I was falling for Madeline way before I ever even thought about it. And now here she is, as my date, but she’s not technically mine.
“So you do have feelings for her,” he says, a hint of humor in his tone.
I nod, staring right at her. Her long, brown hair flowing behind her back, that tight, silky dress plastered to her body, showing off all of her curves, teasing me, tempting me in an irresistible way. And that damn red lipstick. I swear it’s some sort of sorcery because even when I couldn’t stand her, I was enraptured by that lipstick.
“Yeah,” I admit, watching as she smiles and lets out a little laugh. God, what I wouldn’t do to hear that laugh, preferably when her lips are on mine. Over two hundred people are in this room, but she’s all I see. “I do.”
James is quiet for a second before he smacks me on my arm. “Then what the hell are you doing here watching as some guy flirts with your girl?” he asks.
I rip my eyes off her and turn to my best friend. “Because she’s not my girl,” I tell him. “She’s just some girl Ana hired.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “You know that’s not true. That is not how you feel about her.”
I shrug. “She doesn’t want me, James.”
Twice. Twice, I almost kissed her when I knew she didn’t want that. The party was a close call, but this morning, when she was cuddling me, her leg wrapped around mine? It took everything in me to pull away from her when she told me to go take care of my ‘problem’. She was so pliant and soft against me, tracing my chest with those delicate fingertips, smelling me like she couldn’t get enough of me. And then when I saw her in that dress? I almost dropped to my knees and begged her to give me a chance, to show her I could be what she needed, what she wanted.
“And you’re fine with that?” James asks.
I shake my head, my shoulders slumping. “No,” I admit. “But what can I do?”
He glares at me. “I don’t know. Maybe tell her?”
If only it were that easy. “She thinks this is fake, James. She thinks this is just another business obligation.”
“Then prove to her that it isn’t.”
