On the Sideline (BSU Football #3) - J.B. Salsbury Page 0,41
her that this means nothing and that I’m counting down the minutes until I can end it.
The back door swings open and I get a quick glimpse of Bex’s red dress, but she’s not alone. She’s with two of her sorority sisters. I smile her way but she’s too engrossed in conversation to notice me. The draw to rip my hand from Riley’s is strong, but I suck it up and take Riley into my arms on the dance floor wishing she were her cousin instead.
Chapter Thirteen
Bex
Walking out of a bathroom at a crowded event and running face-first into women waiting to use that bathroom is not uncommon. So I don’t think much of it when I come nose-to-noses with Lily and Becky after exiting the bathroom.
“Hey, Bex,” Lily smiles at me, the first indicator that something’s not right. The girl never smiles at me.
“Hi…?”
Becky angles her body to block me from going back outside.
“Is everything okay?” I ask the girls.
“We were going to ask you the same thing,” Lily says, still smiling, and now I see it for the sham that it is because no one smiles when they’re genuinely concerned for someone’s wellbeing.
“I’m fine.” I narrow my eyes feeling a whisper of suspicion. “Why?”
“You were in there for a while,” Becky says.
“No I wasn’t.” Unless they’re counting the time I was in there with Loren which would mean they know more than they’re letting on. A brick settles in the bottom of my stomach.
Becky steps away to open a gap for my escape, effectively releasing me. “Okay.”
I squeeze through them toward the door when Lily calls at me from behind.
“You look so pretty tonight,” she says.
That’s the first compliment she’s ever given me. Something is seriously wrong. “Thanks?”
“Have a good night, Bex.” Becky looks at Lily and they spin away in unison toward the kitchen.
“What the fuck is going on?” I mumble to myself and head back out to the party.
If they know I was in the bathroom with Loren, would they be so passive aggressive? Or would they ignore me all together, and just be cruel? No, they were sitting at their table when I got up to join Loren, they couldn’t have seen.
I spot Kaipo talking to two guys near the punch bowl and casually look around the space in search of Loren as I make my way to him. It takes me longer than usual to find him because he’s in the one place I’d really hoped he wouldn’t be—on the dance floor with Riley in his arms. The visual of his hands at her lower back and her arms stretched up to rest on his shoulders makes jealousy flare so intensely I feel nauseous.
“I know what that look means,” Kaipo says as I approach. “Time to take a spin on the dance floor.” He excuses himself and offers me his elbow.
I slip my hand beneath his arm to rest against his gigantic bicep and he leads me away.
Loren and Riley sway gracefully around the dance floor and I wonder what it would be like to have him dance with me in the same way. The only thought that keeps me from running up to my room to cry in my pillow is that I’ll get the chance to dance with him soon enough.
“Stop looking so sad,” Kaipo says close to my ear. “You’re the one who wanted it this way.”
I blush as he not only calls me out on the direction of my thoughts, but I’m surprised by the guilt that weighs heavy in my chest. Kaipo’s right, I have no right to feel jealous when I pushed him into her arms myself.
He turns me to face him and with one hand on my hip he takes my other hand and holds it to his rock-hard chest. He purposefully maneuvers me so my back is toward Loren so that I can’t torture myself with the visual of him with my cousin. I wondered if tonight would be a complete disaster and if I’d have been better off attending the formal alone, but I’m grateful to have Kaipo here with me.
The next song is also a slower tempo, this one by Adele, so we extend our dance.
“Where’d you learn to dance like this?” I ask as he expertly twirls me around the wood floor.
“My mom. She insists on making each of her boys dance with her on her birthday.”
“That’s a fun tradition. And useful.”
I’m grateful he doesn’t ask where I learned to dance. I was