Page 31 of Silver Linings
“He wanted to come.” He gestures to his friend.
“And who might you be, handsome?” I ask with a coquettish tone.
“Since this asshole isn’t going to introduce me like a civilized gentleman,” Hendrix rolls his eyes, “I’ll do it myself. Jae Song. I’m this surly bastard’s best friend and live in boy toy.”
Oh, I like him.Jae is tall with dark eyes, perfectly coiffed but somehow tousled hair, a humor-filled stare, and tattoos all over his arms that extend up his neck. He has that effortlessly cool style, wearing a baggy t-shirt, with loose black pants and a silver ring on every finger.
“Hi, Jae.” I extend my hand, which he grabs with both of his, pulling them to his mouth to place a kiss on the back of mine.Let’s add charming to his list of attributes. “I’m Silver James. I’m this surly bastard’s building tenant and all around thorn in his side.”
“Oh, I know who you are.” I cock my head at him in confusion.
“That’s enough of that,” Hendrix interrupts, looking at Jae in irritation while Jae looks back with challenge.
“Hey, here’s your drink.” John is suddenly by my side, handing me another cocktail while settling his palm against my bare back. Hendrix takes notice, and, yep, his gaze is narrowing. Ididn’timagine it earlier, and I’m suddenly feeling very self-conscious about the hand on my back, but I don’t step out of his hold.
“John, this is my…friend, Hendrix, and his best friend, Jae. Guys, this is my date, John.”
Jae looks at Hendrix, and I follow his stare to see his jaw flexing minutely. There and gone in a flash.
The guys exchange hellos and handshakes, and an air of awkwardness settles around us. We need more buffers…other people to flip the energy into something less tense. I usher the guys back to the booth where the rest of our party is drinking and laughing. Everyone elseexceptKena, who has made it up to the stage again to start part two of his extensive set list. I introduce Hendrix and Jae to the rest of our group, and they settle into the chairs opposite us.
Holly leans over to whisper to me. “I get it now.”
“That issonot helpful right now.”
She chuckles and leans back into Sera, who wraps her arms around her and rests her chin on her shoulder. The gesture is so familiar, so affectionate, it makes something deep within me ache. I sneak a glance over at Hendrix, who is already staring at me with a look bordering on intense before he looks away. It makes me flush with warmth. It makes me uncomfortable.Since when am I uncomfortable with the male gaze?
Clearing my throat, I look to my right and smile at my date. John has been nothing but nice, and I’m being rude by staring too long at my maintenance man who wants nothing to do with me.Right?
An hour goes by, and in that time, I’ve done a solo to ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem, Jae has surprised everyone, except Hendrix, by performing ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)’ with so much gusto that even Kena was impressed, and Hendrix has surprised no one by singing nothing. Whenever I’ve dared to glance at him in between conversations, he’s been white-knuckling his beer, no doubt regretting the decision to come out tonight.
I refocus on my date, who is telling me about his vacation to Mykonos last summer and a story about a particularly sordidnight involvinga lotof Ouzo, a priest, and a traveling circus. It’s so outlandish, it can’t be real, but it has me in tears laughing. He leans toward me, the strobe lights of the bar reflecting across his face, and places a hand on my thigh. The warmth of his hand seeps through my black jeans, and I swear I can feel eyes glaring from my left at the contact.
Hendrix stands abruptly and heads toward the bar. I track his movement the whole way there, and he flags down the bartender before sitting on a stool.
“That guy seems intense. He’s your friend?”
I have no clue.
nine
. . .
The pitin my stomach hasn’t left since I secluded myself to the bar. Seeing Silver’s date put his hand on her thigh elicited a veryprimalreaction in me. Which is stupid—I have zero claim to her, and she isn’t mine to feel possessive over, I know that. But seeing the polished up frat boy touch her with brazen familiarity sets my teeth on edge. She didn’t push him away. Why would she? She’s single and he’s attractive, nice, and isn’t weighed down by the rules of his job or traumatic past.
No fraternization with the tenants.
A rule that when informed of, held zero weight over me. But day by day, it becomes harder to abide by, even as it serves to remind me that as much as I may like Silver, I’m not allowed to go there. Seeing her with a date tonight was a surprise, but it’s something I’ll have to get used to. I can’t avoid her completely since I work where she lives.
Butfuck, if it doesn’t grate.
She looks…devastatingtonight. Every day, she looks perfect—bright and colorful and full of life. But tonight? She looks sinful and sexy and…forbidden. Siren green eyes are lined with a smokey black liner, and her platinum hair falls around her bareshoulders in soft, voluminous waves. Painted on black jeans hug her round ass and offset a shiny pink top that shows off a sliver of her stomach, dipping low between her breasts, and accented with a gold necklace glinting under the strobe lights, makingeverypart of my body ache.
Watching her with the buttoned-up guy to her right feels like a slow torture, especially when she laughs at something he says, her eyes scrunching at the corners and her lips curving upward. Iwantthat light,needthat light,can’t havethat light.
She’s like the sun, and I’m the cloud threatening to cover her rays.
Irritated at myself, I throw back the rest of my beer and signal for the bartender to bring me another, hoping it will help me forget the sight of Silver crawling across the stage. I glance around, aptly avoiding Silver and her date, and see that Jae is no longer chatting to Holly and Sera but is now flirting with a bachelorette party on the opposite side of the room. Yes, the whole party.
