turn back to Landon, take in the stiffness in his body, the tightening of his hand on his beer, rage emanating off him in waves. What the hell is going on with him? I realize he doesn’t like Cameron, but who I’m with is none of his business. Not that I’m with Cameron. I just want to keep things platonic. “What should I tell her?” I ask.
He pulls his phone from his pocket. “Nothing. I’ll text her myself.” He climbs from the stool, and I lose sight of him in the crowd.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Cameron asks, and spins my stool until I’m facing him and his legs are wrapped around mine. The position is intimate, too intimate for our friendship, and a little possessive. I try to move, shift a little but he keeps me in place.
“What are you drinking?” he asks.
I glance at the blue magic in my glass. “Not even a clue.”
He laughs and Peyton leans into us. “It’s a Blue Lagoon.”
He makes a face like he might have just sucked a lemon. “I think I’ll stick with beer.”
Peyton pours him a draft, slides it across the counter and disappears to help the next customer. I turn to take in the bodies on the dance floor.
“Looks like you want to dance, Peaches.”
“No, actually I don’t.” I notice a red haired guy sitting at a table close to the bar, studying me. With a sly grin, his gaze slowly slides from me to Cameron, back to me. Do I know him? I can’t quite place him or figure out why he looks so familiar. He’s probably in one of my classes.
“Drink up,” Cameron says, and tips my glass to my mouth.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” I tease and once again that uncomfortable feeling takes up residence in my gut. I shift again, and put my hands on his legs to move them so I can turn on my stool. Am I being silly? Reading too much into this? He eyes me, and I turn my focus to the band. “They’re pretty good, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, pretty good,” he says and I look back at him.
“I’m talking about the band.”
“I’m not.” He leans into me. “Let’s get out of here.”
“And go where?”
He reaches into his coat, and pulls out a movie. I gasp when I see that it’s A Tale of Two Cities.
“Where did you get that? That’s one of my favorites.” I eye him suspiciously. “Wait, how did you know?’
He grins. “I know everything, remember?”
I narrow my eyes in on him, and something just beyond his shoulder catches my eye. I lift my gaze and find the same guy with the red hair, leaning over the counter, trying to get Peyton’s attention. Those little alarm bells jangle again. How do I know him?
“Seriously, Cameron. How did you know?” I ask. He picks up his drink and his eyes go to Peyton. She smiles at us and reaches into the fridge for the orange juice. Ah, that makes sense. He asked Peyton, and really that’s kind of sweet. “You really want to watch this?” I laugh. “That does not seem like your thing at all.”
“Come on.” He takes a big pull from his beer, nearly finishing it, and sets his glass on the counter. A second later he’s standing and pulling me up with him. My body collides with his, and I look up, way up, to meet his eyes, but there’s no spark to dry tinder. Not like there is when I’m near Landon, or not near Landon. I look over my shoulder, my gaze searching the room…searching for the man who makes my insides quiver without even trying or knowing. My heart sits heavy in my chest, when he’s nowhere to be found. I guess I should be glad that he’s gone to my sister’s rescue and really why shouldn’t I do something with Cameron. It might actually help me move past Landon. Or not. Either way, I’m not going to sit here and mope about it.
“Where to?” I ask, turning back to see some heat simmering in Cameron’s blue eyes.
“Your place.”
I nod. I do feel better about going to my place, and Peyton is off in half an hour, so she’ll be home with us. “Okay,” I say. We step outside and I put my arms around my body to ward off a chill as the night temperature has dropped with the sun going down.