Page 6 of Breaking Matt
"Stalking sounds pretty serious."
His words stopped me. I looked back at him over my shoulder. Despite his obvious concern, all I could think about was the moment he had shown interest in a girl who hadn't been me. It had put a dent in my ego—one which hurt more than I wanted to admit.
"Why don't you go and find the girl you were chatting up earlier. I'm sure she is much more interested in your company than I am."
And with that I left him at the top of the stairs without a look back in his direction. Telling him off had been a rash thing to do but it had been hard to control my anger. I was upset. He unsettled me and I didn't like it one bit. I went to find Courtney.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "I've been looking for you for the past ten minutes."
"I was hiding," I answered, surveying the crowd for my stalker.
Ryan's actions had gone past those of a boyfriend who couldn't come to terms with the ending of our short coupling. His actions were becoming more serious, which put me in a difficult situation. I had to figure out a way to deal with him or I would have to tell my mom about it—even when I knew what that would lead to.
"Ryan?" she questioned, and I nodded.
"You're going to have to do something about it before he becomes a real problem."
She was right but I had no idea what to do.
"Here," she said, giving me a plastic cup. "You need it more than I do."
I downed the liquid, feeling it burn down my throat. My eyes watered and I handed her the empty cup as I began to splutter.
And at that moment I caught Matthew watching me across the room. No girl in sight. I averted my gaze from his, refusing to acknowledge him. He'd had his chance. I didn't pine for any guy. I had put his initial actions down to someone who was playing his own game of hard to get, but I had to admit I had probably been more interested than he had been.
"The sexy stranger is watching you like a hawk," my friend whispered under her breath.
"He had his chance." I gave my shoulder a lift and dropped it. "It's time to find someone else to help me give Ryan the message that I'm not interested."
I scanned the crowd, looking for a suitable replacement for Matthew.
"I need another drink," Courtney said before she headed in the direction of the kitchen.
I swung my hips slightly in rhythm with the music as I tried to shake off the anger I was still feeling. It was a useless emotion that wouldn't get me any closer to my goal of finding a nice guy to flirt with. And I had to find one quickly before Ryan found me.
There was a cute blond guy in the corner, but I dismissed him. I liked tall guys, and he wasn't tall enough. It wasn't just his physical attributes that failed to keep my interest. There was no connection.
My gaze slid to my next potential guy. He had dark, tousled, come-to-bed hair. His eyes caught mine and he gave me an appreciative smile. He was dressed in a pale-blue shirt and faded jeans. While he checked me out I did the same to him. The thing was, even though he was hot—there was nothing wrong with him—I just didn't want him. Despite his looks I didn't feel any attraction.
I frowned. What was wrong with me? Maybe I needed to try someone else. My next candidate I found in a group of four guys to the left. He was tall and lean but it was hard to make out his features because he had his back to me. He turned slightly and I got a closer look at his profile. Nice. But when he angled himself differently so I could see his features better, I didn't like the shape of his eyes or the fact that he had freckles.
Matthew had smooth skin and not a freckle in sight. I caught myself. Why on earth was I comparing guys to Matthew?
With him on my mind I found myself scanning the crowd, but he was nowhere in sight. No doubt he'd gone to find the blonde he'd been talking to before.
Distracted, I never spotted Ryan until it was too late and he had stepped in my line of vision. I had spent valuable time thinking of Matthew when I should have been flirting with his replacement. And now I didn't have anyone to use to get rid of Ryan.
"Sarah," he said in that seductive voice that I found irritating. He reached out to touch his hand to my arm but I swayed slightly out of his reach. I didn't want him to touch me.
"Ryan," I greeted, unable to hide my annoyance.
I tried my best to look at the crowd, which was getting a little rowdy, so I wouldn't get pulled into a conversation I didn't want to be a part of.
"Did you come alone?" he asked, sliding close beside me—too close. I pulled away slowly, trying to put some space between us.
"It doesn't matter if I have or not," I said, feeling bitchier by the minute. My patience had been pushed too far and I was done trying to be nice.
"I think what you say and what you feel are two different things," he said arrogantly. "You're too headstrong to admit you made a mistake by breaking up with me."
