Before You(66)

Walking into the large banquet room, she immediately noticed the high, decorative ceilings of the ballroom with its chandeliers. Large white flower centerpieces graced each round table. The dim lighting contributed to the fairytale ambience of the room.

At least two hundred people milled around the ballroom, laughing and making conversation. A breezy fusion jazz band played on a stage lined with white flowers in rectangular boxes in front of a large dance floor that strategically reflected the light of the oversized chandeliers.

Cam placed his hand at the small of her back, guiding her to their table. Noticing the entire band and their dates were already seated, she plastered a smile on her face. Cam pulled out her chair. When she sat, he leaned down and whispered, “Did I mention how much I love your new dress?”

Bre turned to look at Cam, smiling. “No. I didn’t think you noticed it.”

Sitting down next to her, Cam draped his arm around her shoulders and whispered in her ear, “Of course I noticed. I notice everything about you. You look absolutely beautiful in that dress, but I know I’m going to love the way you look without that dress tonight even more.”

Bre kissed Cam on the cheek and turned to greet everyone at the table. She cringed when she noticed everyone at the table watching the interaction between her and Cam.

Marc’s ghostly light blue eyes lit up as he smiled wickedly and said, “Bre, it’s good to see you again. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you around.” Bre had never seen Marc or Alec dressed up before. They looked nice, almost presentable, but it didn’t change the fact that she never really felt as though she had bonded with either of them.

“Cam and I have both been really busy,” Bre said, absentmindedly looking through the contents of her purse.

“Yes, we’ve heard all about how busy Cam has been lately,” Marc responded.

Bre heard a few snickers of laughter and she looked up, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the people at the table. Cam’s arm that felt warm and loving a minute ago felt unexpectedly tense and cold, like dead weight hanging on her shoulders.

“Right, I guess that makes sense since you see each other regularly.” Bre’s voice was strained and awkward.

“Bre opened a new art gallery in Aspen, Colorado. She has some great artists there, including herself,” Jax cut in. Bre nodded and smiled weakly, grateful for Jax’s comment.

“Really,” Marc replied with one eyebrow raised. “Cam has never said anything about that. He did say you liked art or something though, but we haven’t heard much about you lately. I wasn’t even sure if you two were together anymore.”

Cam cleared his throat. “Bre, you haven’t met the guys’ dates.” Cam gestured toward the women at the table. “Angela, Mandy, and Anna.”

“Nice to meet all of you.” Bre smiled, making eye contact with each woman. Neither Angela nor Mandy seemed the least bit interested in her, but Anna held her stare, her eyes narrowed, and then she looked away from Bre, purposely cutting her.

Anna had straight blonde hair that was so light it was almost white. She was beautiful in an artificial way. A twinge of envy shot through Bre, as Anna pushed her long hair off her shoulders and leaned into Jax. She trailed her long red fingernails up Jax’s arm and giggled as she plastered herself to his side.

Jax smiled fondly in Anna’s direction and whispered into her ear as he ran his fingers through her hair. The fact that Jax could sit there, openly flaunting his relationship with this Anna woman who he, not less than five hours ago, claimed he disliked, proved to Bre that she was just like every other woman who had passed through Jax’s life— meaningless, faceless.

Jax stood up and grabbed Anna’s hand, leading her to the dance floor. Anna’s black dress flaunted a body that was all legs and fake cleavage. Morosely, Bre thought if Sara were here with her tonight, they could have wasted a full hour trying to find one part of Anna that was a god-given feature. From her artificially orange skin to her white hair and gravity-defying breasts, Bre couldn’t find one thing natural about her.

Jax and Anna danced as if they were the only two people on the dance floor. Jax’s hands roamed idly up and down Anna’s bare back. Cam slammed down his drink, and Bre hoped that her jealousy of Anna wasn’t plainly written on her face as she turned to look at him. Cam wasn’t paying attention to her. His angry eyes were trained on Anna and Jax.

Without saying a word to Bre, Cam got out of his chair and made his way to the dance floor. For a moment, Bre thought that Cam might have figured out that something happened between her and Jax, but her mind cleared and she realized that was impossible.