Page 64 of Best Man
“Great job!” Niko reached behind Jax and Piper’s back to give her a fist bump. “You killed it.”
“Think so?!” She let out a big breath. “I totally choked in the beginning! And I didn’t know how to end it, either.”
“I didn’t notice. You did great. Your speech waswaybetter than mine.”
She smiled. “My heart is stillpounding.”
Niko raised his glass of cider. “The hard part’s over. Now we can sit back and enjoy the party.”
“I’ll drink to that,” she said, and clinked her glass to his.
21
Paulina
After a round of toasts, the night of festivities and merriment played out smoothly—the bride and groom took their first dance to open the dance floor, and then the cake was cut.
(And if you’re wondering, neither Jax nor Piper smeared cake on each other’s faces. They opted to politely serve each other their first bite instead.)
With all the main points of ceremony out of the way, the partyfinallygot started. Booze flowed from the open bar, and the DJ pumped out the jams while everyone cut a rug on the dance floor. It was so much fun to watch Piper on the happiest day of her life—she was such a jubilant bride, especially when she danced in her gorgeous dress. And if Piper felthalfas much relief as Paulina did—that the wedding stress was over and they could kick back and enjoy themselves—then she’d had a serious burden taken off her shoulders, too.
As much as Paulina wanted to party and be with Sasha all night long, she knew it was better if they spent a lot of time apart so they wouldn’t raise any red flags. After all, people were beginning to suspect things—better safe than sorry, right?
Or that’s what she told herself, at least, because Sasha sure spent a lot of time talking and dancing with his friends and family. Yes, he was popular with his teammates—but didn’t he want to see her? Didn’t he want to dance with her? Didn’t he want to use dancing as an excuse to put his hands all over her? Didn’t he want that as badly asshedid?
Paulina had plenty of friends and family to hang out with, too. Still, she found herself constantly peeking over her shoulder, looking for Sasha in the crowd, watching him from afar and wondering why they weren’t together. Embers of jealousy burned in her covetous heart when she saw him dancing with other girls. Whowerethose girls, even? Did Sasha currently have forbidden little affairs going on with those girls, too? How much of a dog was this guy in reality, anyway?
She hated to be so jealous—especially over someone she’d told herself she wouldn’t get attached to. Which was really just a wake-up call that she’d let things with Sasha go too far. She’d told herself she could fool around with him without getting hurt, but it was looking more and more like Piper’s warnings about him were prescient.
And just when Paulina reached the point where her emotions were on the edge of boiling over—to the point where she wanted to sayforget Sasha—he happened to appear, as if he’d manifested out of the ether to talk to her.
“Hey,” he said, flashing that damned smile that turned her insides to mush. “Wanna dance with me?”
Her righteous anger melted away in an instant, even if part of her wanted to stay mad. She took his hand and he led her to the crowded dance floor. They carved out a spot in the crowd and started to move to the beat.
“Great party!” He shouted over the music so she could hear him. “How’s your night going?”
“Good,” she said. Which wasn’t alie—the nightwasfun, all things considered—but it certainly wasn’t the whole truth, either. It was hopeless to try to explain the depth of her emotions when the music was so loud, though. “How’s yours?”
“Great!” he yelled. She liked how close he had to get to her to be heard—she felt the warmth of his body against her chest. He pulled her even closer and his warm breath was ragged on her ear, a reminder of last night that sent a tingle up her spine. “I’ve been wanting to be with you all night.”
She pulled back. “Yeah?”
He nodded.
“Oh,” she said, “because I thought maybe you were getting tired of me already.”
He wore a shocked expression. Again, she felt his warmth against her neck as he bent down and leaned in. “Why would you think that?!”
“I dunno.”
He shook his head. “Never, Paulina.”
Never?She loved to hear him say it, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but playfully roll her eyes. How could he throw words around like that? There was no way he actually meant it—and she wasn’t going to get herself hurt by believing him. She’d already learned that lesson.
She stood on her tiptoes and shouted to him, “It’d be okay if you got tired of me, though, Sasha.”
He looked appalled. “Why would that be okay?”
