Page 50 of Entwined Hearts
But I couldn’t do anything about it, so I forced a smile on my face and gave my best friend a hug. “So happy for you,” I said, clapping his back.
And I turned to Brittany, pulling her into my arms. “Congrats, Britt.” I broke the hug. “Might need to check you into the psych ward, though. You sure you wanna stare at his ugly ass forever?”
She grinned up at me, eyes shining with joy that twisted my stomach into knots. “Lock me up, cause there’s no one else I’d rather spend forever with.”
I knew that feeling, knew it well, and hoped to have it again one day. I gave her a soft smile. “And that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“We’re having an official engagement party next week with the town, but we wanted to tell y’all first,” Colt said, his arm around Brittany’s waist.
We spent the rest of the afternoon celebrating, and I was determined to have fun despite my feelings. Today wasn’t about me; it was about Colt finding the happiness he deserved.
At around eight, Delilah stood from her lawn chair a little clumsily. Pretty sure she was two or three drinks away from hammered. “We should go out!” she yelled. “To celebrate Colt and Britt and get our minds off those Hollis pricks.”
“Delilah!” Tess gasped, looking mortified, from where she sat next to Levi.
Delilah turned away from them, giving us an ‘oh shit’ look. “Oops. You’re okay, I guess, L-dog.” I snorted. Yeah. She was wasted.
Levi laughed. “Thanks, I think?”
I looked at Savannah next to me on the loveseat. “You wanna go?” A part of me wanted her to say yes purely based on what happened last time we were there, but another part wanted her to say no, so I could take her home and keep her to myself.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”
I guess we were going to the Bull Pen then. I didn’t know what would happen, but I knew damn well what I wanted.
16
Savannah
Even though we were here relatively early for a night out, the Bull Pen was busy, blasting a mix of country and rock music that made the walls shake.
We all gathered around the bar, all of us holding a shot. “To Colt and Britt!” Claire yelled, doing a little shimmy, while holding her shot in the air.
“To Colt and Britt!” everyone echoed. I brought the glass to my lips, my eyes locking on Weston’s. The whiskey burned as it slid down my throat, but not as much as his stare did. I’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone’s constant attention, to have someone look at you with a kind of longing that made your knees weak.
Stewart never looked at me like that. Weston never stopped.
“Dancing now, girls!” Delilah yelled, and we all went out onto the dance floor with our drinks. I stood stiffly, laughing awkwardly while Claire, Delilah, and Brittany flitted around me. Their hair twirling, boots stomping, screaming their heads off.
I sipped on my drink and glanced back at the bar. Weston was leaning against it, nursing a beer, and looking honest to Godlike sex on legs. He gestured to the dance floor and mouthed, “Go on, angel.”
Heat crept up my neck, and I shook my head. I’d never been much of a dancer and would need way more alcohol than this to get me to let loose.
“Come dance with your big brother,” Emmett said in my ear from behind me, his tone light and teasing. For a moment, I second-guessed whether it was him or not.
I turned, and sure enough, it was him. “No way in hell are either one of us going out there,” I said, laughing.
Emmett, Tess, and I were the shy ones when it came to things like this, while it didn’t take Claire much to let her hair down when alcohol was involved. But when I scanned the dance floor, I found Tess with Levi, their hands joined as they danced in a fit of laughter.
“Maybe I’m tired of watching everyone have fun from the sidelines, and I think you might be too.” The teasing tone in his voice was gone, and when his eyes met mine again, they were full of unspoken understanding. We had our own different reasons for staying out of the fray, but in this moment, we were the same.
Letting out a heavy breath, I set my drink down on the half wall I’d been hovering next to. “You’re lucky I love you, Em,” I said and took his hand, pulling him out onto the dance floor.
The lights flickered, blue and purple rays swinging around over the crowd, as “Fake ID” by Big & Rich came on. Probably the most popular line dancing song there was.
“You better not make me look like an idiot.” I hadn’t line danced in ages, and wasn’t sure I even knew the steps anymore.
“I’ve got my own self to worry about,” he chuckled. “Just hope you can keep up.” And there was a flash of the brother I knew in the smirk he sent my way.
