Page 94 of Delay of Game
“But we look amazing.” Lily shot me a flirtatious look over her shoulder. “They won’t mind waiting.”
Lily jumped at Ethan’s invitation to the Crown & Copper, claiming she wanted to watch Rob and me “in the wild.” But more accurately, she was desperate to spend more time with Ethan. And judging by the way Ethan had sent me a text confirming that Lily was coming along, he felt the same.
“Ethanwon’t mind waiting.”
My parents would fly in soon, and I could already feel the tenuous connections keeping Rob and me together falling away. I’d thought…no, hoped, that he’d finally meet me in the middle.
I didn’t need much. I didn’t expect him to tell me he loved me madly. Or that he wanted to marry me. I just needed a tiny indicator that whatever spark existed between us might lead to more.
And so far, every step of progress just ended in his retreat.
“He’ll come around.” Lily fished her arm around my waist, pulling me close. “Especially in that dress. Trust me, he’ll be throwing himself at you by the end of the night.”
I frowned but refused to argue as we stopped in front of the entrance. Lily whirled me to face her, pushing back a lock of my hair and pulling a loose string off my dress. “You look amazing. Knock him dead.”
I opened the door.
“And it’s not enough for just you to be miserable, is it?” someone shouted over the music.
The crowd inside watched the commotion. In the center of it stood Ethan, nose-to-nose with Rob.
“You have to make sure everyone around you is miserable, too?” Ethan continued. “So, sure, Gracie gave me this hickey. I’m happy to have you believe it so you don’t make her miserable, too.”
Lily pushed inside after me, watching the argument. “Well, this is….wasn’t what I expected.”
My stomach dropped as Rob clenched his fist. His arm moved back, ready to swing. Panic coursed through me. I hadn’t put together why Rob and Ethan were fighting, only that my name had been thrown into the mix.
“What is going on here?” I projected my voice, using the same tone that stopped unruly kindergarteners dead in their tracks. And apparently slightly intoxicated football players.
Nearly a hundred sets of eyes swung away from the fight and onto me. Rob dropped his fist, face growing pale as his eyes locked with mine. I pushed through the crowd to get to them.
“Gracie,” Ethan breathed, looking past me. “Lily.”
“What’s going on?” I asked again, planting a fist on my hip.
“Astrid, I—” Rob’s voice faltered.
Ethan slipped in. “Rob lost his mind. He saw I had a hickey and…”
“You’re fighting over a hickey?” I asked, confused until I spotted the purple bruise on his neck. “Seriously, Lily?”
She grinned, cheeks turning pink as she threaded her arm into Ethan’s. “We got a little carried away.”
“So, you didn’t kiss Fieste?” Rob deflated, relief flooding his face.
I blinked. My chest tightened. “You thought I kissed Ethan?”
“Gracie.” Ethan took my hand, shifting so he positioned himself between us and Rob. “I’m telling you, as a friend, to stay the hell away from that guy. He’s a mess, and he’s just going to pull you into it.”
“Don’t tell her what to do.” Rob gripped Ethan’s shoulder, and Ethan reared back around.
“Ishouldn’t tell her what to do?Me?” He laughed, locking eyes with me. “You know how I told you Rob wanted us to hang out? Well, that wasn’t all he wanted. He wanted me to date you. Not touch you, of course, but date you.”
I flinched. “What? Why?”
“Because he’s possessive and weird. He doesn’t want you, but he doesn’t want anyone else to have you.” Ethan raked his hand through his hair, making the ends stand up as he continued his rant. “And you’re a nice person, Gracie. He’s an asshole.”
The attention from the rest of the crowd felt oppressive. I opened my mouth to speak and closed it again, my teacher voice gone and replaced with uncertainty.
