Tex turns her nose up, but Peyton continues to argue with him. My girl takes the seat next to me and places her hands on the table. I want to reach for one.
Clenching my fists under the table, I give her a once-over. “I like the shorts.”
“Thought you might, pervert.”
“Ah, so you admit, you only wore them to drive me crazy?”
“I never attempted to deny it.”
At least she’s honest.
“Consider it, mission accomplished. I’m hard.”
Her eyes flush with lust, and I groan. She takes an unusually long sip of her drink, scrunching her nose as she does. The thing reeks of vodka, so no doubt, she’s got a double or triple.
“Drinking it away?”
She cocks her head and tilts her glass in my direction. “Yep. You?”
“I think I’ve got at least five on you. Shouldn’t drink your problems away, Tex.”
“Why not? You do. And if it’s good enough for Kitt Daniels, why can’t it be good enough for me?”
“Why are you on the attack?”
She drops her eyes and snaps her teeth together. “It’s not easy.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of that, but you don’t see me being bitchy.”
“I’m sorry, okay? This is so stupid, and I don’t know how to make it better,” she says.
“We’re not broken. We had an argument. It’s not like it’s our first.”
Her eyes go wide and afraid. “But it’s the first time since we’ve been together.”
“Are you pushing me away, Tex?” I put my drink down and take the glass from her hand. “Is that what this is about? You’re preparing for the end? What part of ‘I’ll never get bored of this’ did you not understand?”
I reach out and take her hand, not giving a fuck if we’re photographed like this. “We are going to argue—every couple does—but that doesn’t automatically signal the end.”
She gives me a smile and moves her arm back. My hand drops on the table, and I clench my jaw shut. I’m aggravated, confused, and lost. My first instinct is always to make her okay. It’s all her, but part of protecting her is giving us the start that won’t fuck up her relationship with her dad.
“Sorry,” she mutters. “There are tons of people here, and a lot of them are watching you.”
“Fuck them. What are you thinking about us?”
“I think I overreacted, and I’m sorry. But you have to give me a little space if I need it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to freak out. It just means I need to get my head straight. I’m not getting bored of this either.”
“Fair enough.” I can give her that. I hate to leave things on bad terms, leave an argument unsettled, but maybe that’s better than having the cold shoulder for a fucking day. “We okay?” You rational?
She rolls her eyes. “Obviously.”
“Good. Now, are you going to do tequila with me, or are you pussying out?”
“Bugger off. I’m not being beaten by a wannabe rock star.”
“Oh,” I say, clenching my heart and pretending to be wounded. “Coming from my wannabe groupie…”
Her arm flies out, and I block it, laughing.
The humour and fire are back in her eyes. This is how we’re supposed to be, always like this.
“You’re a dick, and I hate you.”
I smirk. “I love you, too, baby.”
She narrows her eyes, and then something catches her attention on the dance floor. “Oh my God, do you think she’s actually going to sleep with him?”
I follow her gaze. Coop is pawing at Pey. No surprise there. But one thing that isn’t at all the norm is Pey’s reaction. She’s pulling him closer. About time.
“Yes. If Coop wants to sleep with someone, he’s going to.”
“But they’re so…”
“Different? Maybe that’s a good thing.”
Her eyes tighten. “Right, because people who are perfect for each other always have it easy. And it’s not like it took you years to figure that one out.” She groans. “Sorry. Sarcasm is kind of a default.”
It’s how she deals with anything she doesn’t like, anything she doesn’t understand, and anything that hurts her. It’s why she jokes about her mum. She wouldn’t admit that Jennifer giving her up has left her with serious insecurities that she feels the need to conceal with sarcasm. It’s all a facade.
“Can we do that tequila now, please?”
Getting up, I say, “Sure.”
I order two each, and we down them, one after the other. She hates the taste, but she’d never back down. Her eyes water a little as she sucks on the lemon. I pay too much attention to the way her lips cover the yellow skin.
Fuck, don’t go there. You’ve got ages until you can get her in your bed.
“We doing another one, Kitt?”
I lift my eyebrow.
“Good.” She giggles. “I think I’m getting a bit drunk.”