Page 33 of Wild About You
11
AWESOME OR OVERBEARING?
PIPER
For hours,Jade and I don’t leave the dance floor. My face hurts from smiling and laughing. And this dress? I don’t think I’ll be returning it. It smells like sweat and champagne.
The party has died down and the few of us left are sitting in the living room at Jack’s house. He has this huge sectional. Me and Jade, Declan, Scarlett and Leo, Ash and the girl that’s been with him most of the night are all sitting on it. Tyler is sitting in an armchair across from me and Jack is in another. A guy named Johnny Maverick is sitting on the floor between us all, leaned back with his legs kicked out in front of him.
The guys are heckling Leo about getting married, but when I check his reaction, he doesn’t look like it bothers him one bit.
“Married life is great,” Maverick says. He’s the only one here that’s already walked down the aisle. “Don’t let them scare you off. Nothing better than knowing someone always has your back. Plus, sex. Lots of it. They wish they were getting laid as much as us.”
“Speak for yourself,” Ash chirps. “Your wife doesn’t even live here. How often can you really be getting it on?”
“Does phone sex count?” he asks.
Ash sucks in a breath through his teeth, a playful smile on his lips. “Gray area, but I’ll give it to you.”
I inadvertently glance at Tyler and find his gaze on me. I managed to dodge him all night long, but this isn’t the first time I’ve caught him looking my way. I break eye contact first, but he speaks for my benefit.
“Dakota, Maverick’s wife, is still in college back in Arizona.”
My face warms. I was feeling slightly out of the loop, but I didn’t want to break the atmosphere with a thousand questions to figure out everyone’s backstory.
“Oh, right. I keep forgetting you don’t know everyone,” Scarlett says.
“It’s fine. I’m figuring it out.”
“Who am I?” Ash asks.
“Trouble. That’s who you are, Ash Kelly.”
Everyone laughs.
“Sorry to be the first to cut out, but I should get going.” Tyler stands and smiles at Leo and Scarlett. “Congrats, guys. Thrilled for you.”
Leo gets up to shake his hand and pull him into a one-arm hug. “Thanks for coming.”
Tyler waves to the group, letting his stare hold on me a beat longer than everyone else.
After he’s gone, other people start leaving. Declan, then Ash and his girl say their goodbyes, then Scarlett and Leo.
Jade and I follow them out, but linger in Jack’s driveway to wait for Sam.
“God, I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun,” I say, spinning in a circle with my arms out. My coat falls open and the air bites at my skin, but I don’t care. I’m not even drunk. A little tipsy, maybe.
Jade, on the other hand, is well past tipsy.
“Sam’s here!” She tosses her arms up when headlights turn down the street. “Oh, no. That’s not him.”
We take off up the street anyway. She links her arm through mine, and we sway and sing. Good thing most of the neighbors know us. Her steps slow suddenly and pull me backward.
“Creeper alert,” she whispers loudly.
I stop singing and look up the sidewalk where a guy paces ahead of us.
“Not a creeper,” I say.
