Page 21 of Flare Up
Through the corner of his eye, he saw Gavin pull his phone out and send a text. “Who are you texting?”
“Cait. Trust me, I want to get out ahead of this.”
Grant watched Cait read her phone and then burst out laughing. Naturally, her phone got handed off to Wren and then all the other women so they could all laugh. “What the hell did you tell her?”
“I told her you ate some bad seafood and I found you wandering the streets.”
“Funny.”
“They think so.” He looked down at his phone again. “She said they voted and since we came all the way over here, we can go in for one drink.”
“They have beer, right?” It didn’t look like a beer kind of place.
“Let me get this straight. We left Kincaid’s to come all way over here so you could see Wren, but now you might balk because of the beverage choices?”
“I wanted to see Wren. She wasn’t supposed to see me,” Grant muttered.
“You know that’s stalking, right?”
“Okay, yeah. In hindsight, this was a really stupid idea.”
“If only you had a friend to tell you that.”
“We should go.”
Gavin laughed and gave him a shove toward the door. “Nope. You dragged me here to crash their girls’ night and you’re not backing out now. Face the dance music, my friend.”
As soon as he walked through the door, Grant wanted to walk back out. The dance music wasn’t obnoxiously loud, but it wasn’t his thing. And there were a lot of smells happening. Good ones—perfumes and lotions and hair sprays or whatever—but enough of them so he felt an urge to sneeze. It couldn’t be good for Wren, he thought.
But then he saw her and it didn’t matter where they were. He was barely aware of Gavin joining Cait or the laughter that followed whatever he said to her.
Wren was walking toward him and she was smiling. “Bad seafood, huh?”
His cheeks got hot. “Really bad.”
“That story smells a little fishy to me.”
“Oh, Wren, no.” He laughed with her, though. “How many have you had?”
“Just one, actually.” Her eyes sparkled in the club lighting and he wanted to kiss her, but he held back.
He looked around and then steered her toward what looked like a quiet spot. “I guess I should explain about tonight.”
Her mouth quirked up at the corners. “I’m pretty sure crashing a girls’ night is a huge no.”
“It is. I know that. And Gavin already pointed out I’m a stalker, a creepy douchebag and a moron.”
“That seems a little harsh.”
“Maybe.” He peeled off his jacket because it was about nine hundred degrees in the club. “I should explain, though.”
“Okay.” She tilted her head, waiting.
“I...don’t really have a good explanation.” He shoved the hand not holding his coat into the pocket of his jeans. “For months, I worried about you. I wondered if you were okay and where you were. Maybe, subconsciously, I still feel that, but I had the ability to answer those questions tonight. Where you are and if you’re okay. Does that make any sense?”
“It does.” There was a sadness around her eyes now, and he hated himself for chasing away the happiness. “I won’t disappear again. I shouldn’t have before and, no matter what, I won’t run.”
“Fair enough.” He grinned. “I’ll stop being a creepy stalker douchebag, then.”
