someone, laughing and having a good time, and without his permission, his eyes would begin to wander, combing through the crowd until he found her. There had to be over three hundred people in the room, and yet it would only take him seconds to do it. Every time. Like she was some sort of goddamned beacon.
They hadn’t spoken to each other at all that day, although they had made eye contact several times during the ceremony and a few times since the reception began. Whenever it happened, one of them would smile or hold up a hand in greeting, and the other would follow suit, but Chase could see there was a slight uneasiness in her actions. What was worse, though, was that he could feel the same awkwardness in his own, and it drove him crazy. He didn’t want things to be uncomfortable between them again, yet he felt himself contributing to it.
The bartender placed his drink down in front of him, and Chase tossed a tip on the bar as he picked it up and took a slow sip, turning to face the room full of people.
And there she was, talking with one of the bridesmaids by a table near the balcony on the other side of the room. He hadn’t even been trying that time. At least not consciously.
Ever since that moment on Tybee Island, when he had asked her what would make her happy, the dynamic between them had changed. That was the moment things stopped being innocent, the moment his conscience took a backseat and it was just the two of them, just Andie and Chase and the palpable, rousing tension between them, charged with inaccessible possibilities. At least, that’s how it had been for him. He had no idea what she had been thinking.
But then she lied.
She told Colin they’d be late because they were stuck in traffic, and he knew then that she was feeling what he was, at least on some level.
It was all so fucking wrong.
Chase took another long swallow of his drink, trying to focus on the swaying bodies littering the dance floor. All night long he’d been holding on to the notion that at some point in every guy’s life, he’s been guilty of looking at a friend’s girl and thinking things that were less than appropriate. He could be a good guy, he could be a good friend, but when it came down to it, guys were guys, and shit happens. The subconscious is an impossible thing to control. A guy wasn’t considered an asshole unless he acted on those involuntary thoughts.
Chase brought his drink to his lips again, shaking his head, because as much as he wanted to rationalize what was happening, the truth was, his thoughts weren’t involuntary. They weren’t even superficial, run-of-the-mill sexual musings.
They were so much worse than that.
It wasn’t like he found himself wondering what she looked like naked, or whether or not she gave good head. No, he would think about what it would feel like to run his palms over every inch of her, and whether or not the rest of her was as soft as her hands. He would imagine pressing his face into the side of her neck, or burying his nose in her hair, breathing in the scent that made him feel like he was turning inside out. He would think about making her laugh, the musical cadence of it, or the way she would feel pressed up against him as they lay in bed together watching some juvenile movie. He’d imagine skinny-dipping with her in some remote, clandestine pond, or cooking breakfast with her, side by side, Andie wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts, her hair up in that sloppy bun that managed to make her look innocent and sexy at the same time.
Chase squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He would have felt better about himself if he’d had fantasies of fucking her in the coat closet and never calling her again.
“Ladies and gentleman,” the DJ said over the microphone, and Chase opened his eyes and turned his head in his direction. “At this time, we’d like to ask Justin and Stella and their bridal party to step out onto the terrace for a few photos.”
Chase turned his attention back to the other side of the room where Colin was now approaching Andie. He kissed her on the cheek as he passed, making his way toward the terrace doors,