“Speaking of very smallpackages,” I said, glancing at his belt buckle suggestively, “Don’t you have a set to finish?”
Ignoring my insinuation,Finn once again leaned forward into my space. I immediately moved away, until my upper back brushed against the bar. His eyes traveled leisurely down the length of my body and then back up to meet mine. Reaching out to touch my temple, he gently traced a finger over the now-concealed bruise.
“Brooklyn,” he whispered, his face inches from mine.
“What?” He was unnervingly close, leaving me no room to move away.
“You still owe me that t-shirt,” he said grinning broadly, his demeanor switching from smoldering to playful in less than a second.
“You want me to get you a t-shirt for your own band? You can get a new one whenever you want! There’s no way in hell I’m paying for it,” I growled. “And you just drank two of my shots. So we’re even.”
“You didn’t even pay for those shots,” he noted. “So technically—”
“Oh, just shut up.”
He laughed, turning away from me and taking a few steps toward the entwined form that was Lexi and Tyler.
“Yo, Ty! We’ve got a set to finish man,” he called. “Break’s over.”
Tyler broke away from Lexi and shot a lengthy glare inFinn’s direction, finally turning back to whisper something in her ear. Whatever it was had her beaming brightly. She gave him a final, lingering kiss before he walked away.
“Oh, and Brooklyn,”Finn called out to me as he followed Tyler to the stage, ignoring the desperate girls flocking around him. “Why don’t you get yourself anApiphobic Treasonshirt and wear it all day tomorrow to commemorate our new friendship.Thenwe can call it even.”
I flipped him offin response. He laughed – as usual, he was completely unaffected by my disdain – shaking his head back and forth as he walked away.
Lexi wandered over, still slightly flushed from her blatant PDA session.
“Well, you two looked…friendly,” I laughed.
“Oh. My. God.” Lexi whispered, a goofy grin spreading across her face. “I think I’m in love.”
“Lexi, you’ve known the boy for less than 24 hours,” I noted.
“Time didn’t matter toRomeo and Juliet,” she sighed dreamily. “They only knew each other a few days.”
“Yes, and look how that turned out -- they both ended up dead. Have we learnednothingfrom history?” I asked incredulously.
“You’re such a cynic, Brooke,” she said, “One day, someone will break down all those walls you’ve surrounded yourself with and worm his way into your heart. Then you’ll understand.”
I chose to ignore that comment. Clearly, Lexi was now a certified love guru. By this point, the band members had regrouped onstage and were preparing to finish their set. I welcomed the distraction, glad for a brief respite in what I was sure to be a night of endless, lovesick Tyler-worship.
“Can we go home now?” I asked.
“What? No! We have to stay for the end of the set, Brooke. Plus, Tyler said he’d see me after the show.”
At this point, I was too tired to argue with her. Last night’s lack of sleep was finally catching up to me, as were those final two shots. I grabbed her hand and led her back to the dance floor, maneuvering past several drunken couples shamelessly hooking up against the club walls.
After pulling us into the heart of the throng, Lexi and I began to dance. Within minutes, two cookie-cutter blonde frat boys had joined us. Mine – either Jason or James, it was hard to hear over the music – snaked one arm around my waist and pulled my body flush against his, grinding his hips into mine. He was cute enough, but I wasn’t in the mood to be mauled on the dance floor tonight.
I looked at Lexi with wide eyes, signaling for her intervention. Her eyes flared with understandingand she moved away from her own frat boy, grabbed my hand, and pulled me from Jason-James’ grasp. Quickly leading me toward the stage, Lexi tossed a parting wink and goodbye wave over her shoulder in the boys’ direction.
“Thanks,” I said when we were safely hidden from their view.
“Don’t thank me, it’s in the wing-woman job description,” she said, looping one arm around me. “I’m so happy we came tonight.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”
“Aren’t you? What were you andFinn talking about at the bar?”?