Blind Spot - Katana Collins Page 0,90

he filled a tumbler with Jim Beam.

I examined him for a moment. He was cute. Dark hair. Tall. I didn’t realize I was staring at him until his grin widened. Crap.

Reagan took my hand, pulling me onto the dance floor. Harrison joined, staying a bit behind Reagan as she swayed against me, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I don’t know what happened to my sense of rhythm, but nerves and insecurity had taken over my body, and I just stood there beside Reagan, swaying like a lame duck to the music.

Reagan took my free hand, shaking me to the music. “Girl, loosen up. It feels like I’m dancing with a two-by-four.”

“That’s giving me too much credit right now.”

Before long, I was only slurping icy water at the bottom of my glass and was to the point that the nasty taste of alcohol was almost ignorable.

The walls seemed to be spinning. Reagan still held my hand, but had shifted her attention to some guy grinding near her. Even Harrison seemed to have found someone to dance on. And here I was, just me and Jim Beam having our own love affair.

Harrison’s voice was closer now, leaning down to catch my eye even though his hand was still curved around another girl’s waist. “You okay, Shelbs?”

I nodded, but the floor seemed to lurch beneath my feet. Maybe three shots at once was a bad idea.

“Oh, she’s fine.” Reagan pushed Harrison to the side, ignoring her dance partner and sidling up beside me once more. “Go get her another drink.”

The two exchanged a look that in my inebriated state, I couldn’t quite decipher. He eventually sighed and went off to the bar.

“Well, well, well,” Reagan whispered in my ear. “I think we hooked us a catch.” Clasping my hand, she twirled me, and directly behind me was a guy, several inches taller than me with a cute “boy next door” sort of face. He smiled, sliding a hand around my waist, and pulled me in.

He moved to the beat perfectly, dragging me along with his sway. Damn, he knew how to move those hips, and I was glad that he was in the lead because I didn’t quite trust my own balance.

A cold, wet tumbler appeared in my hand, and I looked up to find Reagan smiling, dancing with Harrison. “We’re right here,” she mouthed to me.

A chill crawled over my body. I wasn’t sure about this. It had taken me weeks, months even, to trust Tate enough to open up, and look where that landed me. Drunk, alone, and in double-layered pants. I wasn’t sure I was ready to start all over again. I tugged my halter-top higher over my cleavage. I felt lost in my own skin, like I wouldn’t have recognized myself in a mirror.

“You a student?” he asked, his lips brushing my ear as he spoke.

I gulped and nodded, shoving the straw into my mouth and sipping to give myself something to do. “You?”

He nodded. “Grad student. Architecture. I’m Matt.”

“Shelby,” I rasped.

“Shelby. That’s cute.”

A big, dumb grin spread along my face, and my skin prickled. The song ended, and I backed up, nearly knocking into Harrison behind me. “Thanks for the dance,” I said.

He tilted his head, one side of his mouth tipping higher. “Who said it had to just be the one?”

My lungs stretched with a deep breath, and as the lights swirled around me—around the dance floor—I looked beyond Matt’s shoulder, connecting to two azure eyes fixed right on me.

Tate. Fuck me. Tate was here? My initial reaction was momentary excitement at the thought of seeing him. And then reality cut through my alcohol infused fog, and I remembered there was no longer an us. Chrissy was still hanging on to him, but his eyes stayed locked on me. His hardened scowl was like a punch to the throat, and I backed away from Matt, shaking my head.

“Maybe later,” I said to him, doing my best to offer a smile, though I was pretty sure it was wobbly like my stomach. I handed my drink to Reagan and whispered in her ear. “I need the bathroom.”

She gave me an uncertain look. “Need me to come?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine,” I lied. I needed a moment. A place to breathe, to be, without Tate. He was fucking everywhere. He was in my thoughts, my apartment, my classes, the tutoring center… There was no escape.

As I pushed past my friends, bobbing and weaving through the