Every Kiss(14)
“You may not know those people down there, but I do, Callie. I’ve been watching them looking at you, and I can promise that every single one of them is going to try to get you out of those tight ass jeans tonight. And Jake is probably the worst one. I’m just trying to protect you.”
I place my fists on my hips. “Protect me? Are you freaking serious? Jake was being nice to me after you’ve been an ass to me all afternoon. Why don’t you start by protecting me from you? I’ll handle the rest.” I turn to the door and jerk it open, but his hand appears beside my head, slamming it shut again.
“Callie, I’m serious. Not with him. Jake may be a good friend of mine, but there’s no way in hell I’d let any girl I know have anything to do with him. He’s a player. I’ve seen the way he treats women, and I don’t want to see you treated that way. And Shane would kill me if I allowed that to happen. I know I treated you like shit today, and I’m trying to make up for it. Please, just promise me that you’ll stay away from him.”
I turn around to face him, and he presses his other hand to the door, effectively pinning me to it without physically holding me there. “I’m not going to promise you anything of the sort. Who are you to tell me who I can or can’t talk to? If you want to protect somebody, why don’t you go protect the girlfriend you left alone down there? She’s the only woman here that you need to be worried about.”
“Callie.” He stares at me for a long moment and finally groans a sigh. “Fine. Suit yourself.”
I spend the next hour dodging the accusing stares of the other partygoers. I don’t want to know what’s being said about my little trip up to Wes’ room. I busy myself with refilling appetizer trays and picking up empty cups and beer bottles from every flat surface in the house. Only an hour in, and the place looks—and smells—like a seedy Vegas strip club, so somebody needs to try and maintain a little order and cleanliness.
“There you are! I guess I lost you when we came downstairs earlier. Where have you been?” Makenna grabs the rest of the empty cups on the table I’m clearing. “I just heard that you and some guy went upstairs earlier. Please tell me you didn’t already hook up with somebody.”
“Jeez, Mak! Do you even know me at all?” I drop everything in the trash except for a cocktail napkin, which I wad up and toss at her.
She bats it away with a look of horror. “Eww. You don’t know where that napkin has been. And yes, I do know you. That’s why I’m asking.”
“I do have some standards. Pretty sure I need to know someone for more than a minute or two first.”
“Who was it?” She backs into the pantry, crooking her finger for me to follow. “I saw you talking to that Jake guy earlier. Was it him? Ooh, what about Tucker? Wren? Come on, Cal. No one can hear us in here. Give me the details.”
“Wes.” I never realize quite how big of a mouth she has until I watch it practically hit the floor. I know what must be going through her mind, and there’s some part of me really deep down that is disappointed that I’m going to have to set her straight.
“You and Wes? Oh my goodness.” She squeals and jumps up and down. “Upstairs? Omigod . . . where? Wait a minute. How did that even get started? So many questions, not enough answers. Spill!”
“First of all,” I begin, clamping my hands on her shoulders to stop her bouncing, “sorry to burst your bubble, but nothing happened. When Jake came up and talked to me, Wes got all ‘protective’ and told him that I’m off-limits to all the guys here. I had to set him straight, so we went upstairs to talk.”
Her face falls and her shoulders slump. “I was hoping for a little juicier story than that. But why would Wes intervene? I would think his girlfriend or whatever she is would keep him busy enough. I’m telling you, he’s just not himself today.”
I open the pantry door and shrug my shoulders. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Well,” she says, twisting her mouth, “I have to get back to Shane. I just told him I needed to check on you. Want to come with?”
I scan the crowd for Jake and see him leaned up against the wall by the kegs. Wes is no more than ten feet away, kissing Allison. Hmm . . . I don’t know what his angle is, but I’m feeling a little rebellious tonight. “No, I think I need a drink. I’ll catch up with you in a little while.”
“Okay, I have my cell phone with me, so just call if you can’t find me.”
I stroll toward the table of booze, pretending to contemplate my choices. I try to seem as nonchalant as I can be, waiting for Jake to notice me and waiting for Wes to come up for air to see me. Oh, but the stars do align oh-so-perfectly. I’m just walking past Wes and Allison’s tangling tongues when Jake approaches me.