Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,85

about that?”

“Hundred percent.”

Greg could feel her nervousness grow until it began to take over her whole being by the time they got to the venue. She was no longer happy and grinning. She looked positively terrified.

“It’s okay,” he said when he helped her from the car and anchored her arm around his. “You’ve got this.”

She looked at him and nodded, never so much as looking away. “I’ve got this.”

“You ready?”

Wordlessly, she nodded, and he felt her grip tighten on his arm. He was going to have to hold them both up tonight. With that thought, he remembered how dancing with her felt, and a strange sense of calm and control overtook him. Tonight, she was counting on him, and he wasn’t going to let her down.

Inside, the lights from the DJ were swirling on the dance floor where a few couples already were swaying together. The song was a slow one, and Taylor blushed in the darkness remembering them dancing just two nights before. She wondered if they would get that chance tonight.

“Taylor!” LaChelle said, catching sight of them and racing over. She enveloped Taylor in a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you came.”

“I… I wouldn’t miss it,” Taylor said, hearing the unsteadiness in her voice.

“And who is this?” LaChelle said as if struck by Greg’s appearance.

“Oh, LaChelle, this is my friend, Greg Everett.”

There was heavy emphasis on the word friend, but Greg brushed that away. Of course, Taylor didn’t want to give anyone the impression that they were actually together. “Nice to meet you,” he said, shaking LaChelle’s hand.

“You too.” Her gaze stayed on him a painful second before it went back to Taylor. “Everybody’s here, Oh, and I told them you were coming. So… enjoy.”

“We will,” Taylor said, and Greg noted with no effort how wobbly she looked. He glanced down, wishing she wasn’t on heels that looked destined to pitch her in the floor.

“Why don’t we go mingle?” he asked.

Taylor nodded like nothing was even getting in, so he put his hand at her back and guided her forward, not really knowing where they were going.

Come to find out, it really didn’t matter much because everywhere they went, someone would stop them, and repeat the process. They would hug Taylor, tell her they were glad she had come, meet and assess Greg, and then politely move on. He had heard the word friend so many times by the time they made it to the back of the room, he was ready to scream.

If he’d had any thoughts that tonight was anything other than her not wanting to go it alone, they had drowned a painful death with the repetition of that horrible word.

“Taylor?” the voice said in surprise, and they both turned. “Oh, my gosh.”

Sophie.

Anger sliced right through Greg at this so-called friend’s appearance. It took next-to-nothing to remember the way she had handled Taylor’s hospital stay. With her, she was sugar sweet, but in the end it was all about Alpha Chi’s reputation.

“Sophie!” Taylor said like the girl was her long-lost best friend. They hugged like it too. “Oh, my gosh. Look at you. Love the hair.”

“Thanks,” Sophie said, flipping her blonde mane to show it off.

“And these nails.” Taylor took hold of Sophie’s hand and admired the salon-perfect manicure. “Gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” Sophie’s gaze slid from Taylor’s head down to her toes. “You look good too.”

He hadn’t realized there could be more anger in him, but it fired up at that moment.

“So, how… how’ve you been?” Sophie asked, and it was clear it was a question she felt she had to ask, not one she particularly wanted to.

“Oh, back and better than ever,” Taylor said. “Classes are good. I’m getting back in the swing of things.”

“Yeah, we wondered about that. You haven’t been around lately.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been busy trying to get my feet on the ground again, you know?”

Sophie only glanced Greg’s direction, and he was sure one look told her not to even tempt him. “You should come by this week. We’re doing a scavenger hunt on Tuesday. Remember how much fun we had doing that our freshman year?”

“So much fun.”

“Anyway,” Sophie said, “you should come by. It would be great to catch up again.”

“Yeah. It would.”

When Sophie sauntered off, Greg had to practically bite his tongue in half to keep himself from saying what he really thought about her. A new song started, and before he did something he knew she would regret, he put out his hand. “Dance?”

Taylor looked at him in worried