“This should be interesting,” Marc commented, leaning back in his chair as though he were getting ready to watch a movie.
“Shut up. It’s not your concern,” Alec remarked, staring pointedly at Marc. Abruptly, he stood up and grabbed Mandy’s hand. “Let’s get a drink.”
Strangely enough, Marc and his date, Angela, got up without saying another word, following in Alec’s wake as he walked toward the bar near the back corner of the ballroom. Normally, when Marc got on a kick about something, he wouldn’t stop.
Bre sat alone at the table. She spun around to look for Cam again, but Cam, Jax and Anna were conspicuously absent from the dance floor. She didn’t want to feel slighted by Cam again, but it was hard not to when yet again she was left alone without an explanation. Worse than feeling abandoned by Cam, she felt betrayed by Jax for letting Anna hang all over him. Even though they agreed that they couldn’t be together, it didn’t mean that she wanted to watch Jax hang all over someone a few hours later.
After fifteen minutes of sitting alone, she decided to look for the bathroom. There was nothing worse than being noticeably alone at a large party. Grabbing her gold clutch purse, she walked disconsolately through the ballroom toward the hotel lobby. Bre wished she had stuck with her initial instinct and told Cam that she couldn’t come to LA this weekend. Staying home had definitely been the right choice. Before she could be around Cam or Jax, she needed to come to terms with her feelings for them. She tried to convince herself and Jax that she slept with him due to a momentary weakness because she was drinking, but she knew that wasn’t the entire truth.
As she walked into the lobby, she immediately spotted Jax’s beautifully toned frame. He was leaning against the ornate fireplace of the lobby lounge, a glass of amber whiskey in one perfectly sculpted hand, talking to someone. Bre could hear the husky tone of his voice, but she couldn’t hear his words or see to whom he was talking.
Bre hesitantly walked toward Jax and his companion, trying to overhear the conversation. She tilted her head slightly to get a better look at them. Her head was bent, and she seemed to be upset, but from the white color of her hair, Bre knew immediately that it was Anna.
Bre froze, but not before she bumped into a table, jarring a vase. She caught it before it fell, but the noise caused Anna to look up. Bre stiffened as she saw the mascara stained tears streaming down her face. Feeling like an intruder, she started backing out of the lounge area without turning around.
Clearly annoyed that Bre had interrupted something personal and intimate, Anna’s eyes narrowed in malice. “What are you doing here? Does watching me cry make you happy?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. I was just… leaving. Jax, tell Cam I left. I’m not feeling well. Have a good night.” If she needed any further evidence that she should have stayed home this weekend, this was it. She didn’t know what Jax just told Anna, but clearly it was not something that boded well for her.
Placing his glass on the fireplace mantle, Jax leaned toward Anna and whispered something in her ear. Anna roughly wiped her eyes and said, “See you later, Jax. Thanks for trying.”
Feeling sick to her stomach, Bre turned to flee from the lounge area. Nauseous with the thought of what Jax had told Anna, she briefly considered catching a taxi to the airport. This whole weekend was a colossal disaster and she didn’t think she could stomach staying for two more days.
Halfway to the front doors, Bre felt Jax come up behind her and grab her wrist.
“Bre, don’t leave.” Turning to look at him, Jax’s eyes were hard and cold.
“Go find Anna. She’s clearly upset. I’m not your concern.” Yanking her wrist out of his hand, she started walking away from him again.
“Anna’s not my concern, either.”
Furious, Bre turned around to look at him. “What the hell did you say to make her hate me?”
Jax unbuttoned his jacket. “I have nothing to do with why she doesn’t like you.”
“Right, you’re clearly with her. You were practically molesting her on the dance floor.”
“Were you jealous?” Jax smirked.
She turned to look away from him. She knew she shouldn’t be mad or jealous, but telling her mind something didn’t make the feeling go away. “Yes, damn you, Jax. It bothered me, okay? Are you happy? I just thought it would take you more than a few hours to find a replacement.”
“She’s not a replacement. I told you at lunch that I’ve never dated Anna. I’m not interested in her, but at the same time, I’m not going to sit around and watch you be with Cam, either.”