Well, that made me feel much better to know that Rafe had been miserable all week! I grinned and started dancing when Chris let go of me. “Thanks for going with me.”
“Are you kidding? It was awesome to watch Rafe’s face when I told him tonight that you’d asked me.”
I felt my heart stutter. “What did he say?”
Chris threw his arms over his head and started doing this really funky hip-shaking move. “Nothing! He just looked shocked. It was great! He was so jealous I thought he was going to punch me.”
“Really?” That was the best news ever!
Chris leaned forward and yelled in my ear. “Lily, he’s still going out with Paige. Give up on him.”
I grimaced. He was right. “I know,” I shouted back. “I’m over him.”
“Good. Maybe then you’ll notice me.”
I gaped as Chris winked at me and then spun around to the music.
Chris and me? Hmm…
I grinned and started dancing for real.
* * *
Chris and I stopped to grab a drink after about an hour of hard-core dancing. He headed off to grab a couple waters, and I snagged a seat at one of the tables, still breathing heavily from working it on the dance floor. Chris could really shake it up, and he made me laugh. The night was going way better than I’d expected.
I’d barely thought about Rafe at all.
Feeling surprisingly happy, I leaned back in my seat and scanned the room. I wrinkled my nose when I noticed Les just off to the right, standing by himself and watching everyone else dance.
His face darkened when he noticed a gorgeous girl slow dancing with another guy. As they swirled past him, he reached out and grabbed her arm, tugging her free.
I leaned forward to listen as the girl glared at Les. “Leave me alone, Les.”
“You’re my date,” he yelled over the music. “Not his!”
Oh, no way! This was too awesome! I grinned as she rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m ditching you. Be a man and get over it.”
“But—”
She held up her hand to silence him, then she spun off with her new guy.
Les whirled around and saw me. I immediately wiped my smile off my face. He scowled, then appeared to notice I was alone and slouched over to me. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So, you want to dance or what?”
Wow, and to think I could have been stuck with that attitude all night? No thanks. Feeling just a little bit smug, I nodded at Chris, who was walking up behind him. “I have a date.” I couldn’t help but snicker at the sour look on Les’s face as he sized up Chris, who looked decidedly hot in his suit and was slightly taller than Les.
I saw the moment Chris recognized him. His eyes narrowed a fraction, then he broke into a broad grin and slapped Les on the shoulder. “Man, am I glad you were too stupid to hang onto her. Your loss, buddy.” He set my drink in front of me and rested his hand on my shoulder, making it clear that he was with me and happy about it.
I grinned at the deepening scowl on Les’s face. “You’re really with her?” he asked.
“You better believe it. I wouldn’t have missed the chance.” Chris nodded and sat down next to me, draping his arm over the back of my chair. “See ya,” he said purposefully.
Les glared at us both and then stalked off. I burst into laughter as soon as he was out of hearing. “That was too funny!”
Chris grinned and held out my drink for me. “That guy’s an idiot. I can’t believe you were going to go with him. Let me guess, football player?”
I nodded as I took the water. “He knows nothing about music.”
“As I said, idiot.” He slanted a look at me. “Is that what you’re into? Football players?”
“Why? Are you one?” I realized I knew very little about Chris, other than that he was nice to me.
He shook his head and shoved the sleeves of his blazer up his forearms, putting a little edge in his suited appearance. “Singer all the way. That bug you?”
“No way. It’s great.” I took a sip of my water and enjoyed the sight of Les lurking by the punch bowl, looking annoyed. “Just don’t ever ask me to sing with you.”
He raised his brows. “You think you can’t sing?”
Like there was any doubt about that! “Oh, I know I can’t sing.”
“Everyone can sing. You just gotta practice.”
I frowned. “No, really, I can’t.”
He snorted in disbelief. “Sure you can. You just have to try.”
I sighed as I thought of Rafe and how he’d accepted my lack of singing ability. How he suffered from the same thing. He got me and didn’t want me to change. Oh, crud, I was thinking about Rafe again. Yeah, okay, so this was not the right train of thought. I needed to stop! I held up my hand as Chris continued to push on the singing thing. “Let it go, okay?”