Page 3 of Four-ever Single

“Yeah. Thank you. I’m sorry about that.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. No is a complete sentence, and I have no problem making sure they understand it.”

She smiled and tucked a strand of curly hair behind her ear.

I looked past her to see Capshaw standing at the end of the hallway, arms folded over his chest, with Lia and Kensy standing beside him.

“Looks like it’s time to go,” I said, placing my hand on her lower back and guiding her out.

“Everything okay?” Capshaw asked once we reached them.

“Yeah.”

He nodded and wrapped his arm around Kensy’s waist before leading his sister, Lia, toward the door. The crowd had grown, making it nearly impossible to move through the bodies on the makeshift dance floor.

“Oh my God! You’re the firefighters from the calendar!” A drunk girl shrieked, grabbing her friend’s arm and spinning her to face us. “Will you sign my bra?” she asked Capshaw with a huge grin, not noticing his arm around Kensy. Or more so, not caring.

She started lifting her shirt at the same time Lia raised her fist before Capshaw stopped her.

“Not tonight, Lia. You’re never going to make it through med school if you get arrested for getting into a fight,” he warned loudly, pushing her through the crowd and out the door. The loud music faded once we were outside, stepping into the crisp evening air.

“Don’t you get tired of women throwing themselves at you guys because of some stupid calendar?” Lia asked, tripping over her own feet as she stumbled beside Capshaw. He reached out and grabbed her elbow to steady her without letting go of his hold on Kensy.

“It’s not a stupid calendar, Lia. It was for charity and made a lot of money that they needed,” Capshaw corrected.

“Yeah, a lot of money from women who take it home and mastur—”

“For the love of God, don’t finish that sentence,” he muttered, steering her toward his truck as she hiccupped loudly.

“I’ll take Lia and Kensy in my truck,” Capshaw said, looking at me. “Can you drive Bella?”

“Why can’t we all go in your truck?” Lia asked, her words slightly slurred.

“There’s not enough room.”

Capshaw kept his eyes on me while Kensy grinned, knowing what her fiancé was up to. Lia frowned, not understanding it.

“I don’t mind getting a ride with Jones if he doesn’t mind taking me,” Bella said softly by my side.

“I don’t mind at all.”

“Great. It’s settled. Let’s get these girls home before they throw up in my truck,” Capshaw said, eyeing his sister.

Two

Bella

“Thank you for driving me home,” I said, tugging my skirt down. It wasn’t super short, but I didn’t want to come across as that kind of girl to Jones. Not that he’d even allowed himself to glance in my direction. From the moment he helped me into the truck, he’d gone rigid, gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white. A guy like Jones likely wanted a nice girl he could take home to meet his parents, not one who made money from people ogling her body.

“Not a problem,” he replied, looking out his window as we stopped at a red light.

“And thank you for what you did back there. With those guys...” I twirled a strand of hair around my finger, the curl bouncing back tighter than before. He made me nervous but in a good way.

“I didn’t do much.”

“You kept me from being put in a position I didn’t want to be in. That means a lot.”

I paused and thought carefully about my next words.

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