Page 64 of Prove You Wrong

I stand to steady her.

‘You okay? You want to sit down?’

‘No, no,’ she slurs, ‘I’m on a night out with my friends.’ She vaguely gestures over to a group. I can smell the tequila fumes rolling off her. ‘Thought it was you sitting over here on your own.’ She runs her hand on my arm.

I don’t want to be mean and shake her off, but I wish she’d stop. My gaze flicks to her friends, wondering if I should let them know she needs a bit of looking after.

‘I miss you stopping by every week.’ She leans in and I take half a step away, causing her to stumble and, reflexively, I grab her to stop her falling.

Shit, I accidentally touched her boob. Kinda hard to avoid as it spills obnoxiously out of her low-cut dress.

‘Thanks.’ It sounds half like a purr.

I don’t want her to get any ideas here, so I try to keep conversation light — polite — until I can make an escape. ‘How’s everything going with … Kayla?’ I scramble to remember her baby’s name, despite seeing her weekly for about a year, it’s been a while.

As we talk, I tug her elbow, trying to guide her back to her group.

‘Good, she’s two now. And Morgan is five but the size of an eight-year-old.’

‘What have you been feeding her?’ The moment I say it, I regret it. Isn’t it an automatic response when a kid’s getting big? But now she’s plumping her boobs at me.

‘I blame the good stuff. Although, I kinda miss how they used to look. Do you think they’re different?’

Errr, is she asking me to look at her tits? I fix my gaze determinedly above her neck.

A dreamy expression crosses her face. Or is that the alcohol? ‘Hmm, maybe I will be seeing you again,’ she murmurs.

Frantically, I scramble for a plan to get away from her and get her somewhere safe. She’s vulnerable like this. ‘How about you introduce me to your friends?’

There’s a blur of movement.

‘Don’t let me interrupt you.’ Ella launches past, grabs at something and swivels away, stalking off.

Aw, shit. Twenty quid she’s put two and two together here and made forty.

‘Ella,’ I call after her, but she doesn’t break her stride.

Chapter 20

Ella

As I mindlessly storm back to the toilets, the flame of embarrassment flares through me. If he could hit on someone when I’d only left for a few minutes to go to the ladies room, then I’d been right from the start.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I know I was only supposed to be having fun, seeing what might happen. But that planted the seed in my stupid overthinking brain that somethingcouldhappen. I thought I’d been wrong about my first impression of Nate. And maybe that meant I’d been wrong about relationships, too.

Walls I’d carefully constructed to protect myself — from relationships and their inevitable failure — had been undermined by these sneaky thoughts. Maybe Icouldfind a trustworthy, reliable guy. Maybe I already had.

But nope.

I swipe under my lashes. The smoke machine is making my eyes prickle. Nothing else.

Cross with myself, I wonder why I hadn’t listened to my instincts. I barge through the door and into the relative peace of the ladies room. It’s blissfully empty and I pace up and down outside the cubicles, unsure of what to do next.

I’m holding my beer but I don’t remember grabbing it. A mist had descended when I saw Nate flirting with that gorgeous blonde. I can’t think why I’ve holed back up in the grotty toilet, either.

Wrapping my arms around me, I brood over all the ways Nate is wrong for me. Guys that look like him are nothing but trouble. I’d honed this theory many years ago thanks to my mum’s revolving door of a love life.

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