Page 13 of Chasing The Alpha's Son
I don’t turn back or say excuse me. I can’t right now. All I want is to be outside in the cold December air—to tear off this dumb bow tie and forget I ever came to this stupid party.
“Whoa! Dude, is there a fire or something?”
Aisha catches me by the shoulders before I can make my escape.
“Where are you heading?”
I glare at her sideways and immediately she can tell something is wrong.
“What did he do?”
My jaw trembles.
She looks around and gently guides me toward a glass-paneled door. On the other side, a restaurant is bustling with the overflow from the main ballroom. Lush palms surround an oval-shaped bar, which Aisha ushers me along, finding us a seat beneath a couple of large fronds.
“Here, sit down,” she says.
I press my back into the chair and realize I’m shivering, like it’s below freezing, even though the heating here is pumped all the way to eleven.
“Something to drink?” a waiter asks, swanning up to the table.
“You got champagne?” Aisha asks coolly. “We’ll take two.” The guy doesn’t even blink before nodding and floating away. “They’re never going to card two people looking as fine as us,” she says. “Don’t tell anyone I’m a bad influence, okay? I just thought we could use a drink.”
When the waiter returns, sliding two tall bubbling glasses in front of us, Aisha takes a sip, exhales, and asks, “So what’s he done this time?”
“He… He didn’t do anything. I didn’t even speak to him.”
“So what’s got you all spooked?”
“He didn’t invite me.”
“How do you know that if you didn’t speak to him?”
“Because he looked at me like—like I was the last person in the world he wanted to see.”
I’m either about to burst into tears or crumble into a million pieces, so instead I grab the champagne, gripping the glass like I’m King Kong, and down it in one gulp.
“Oh, honey.” Aisha wraps a comforting hand around my wrist. “I’m sorry.”
I hiccup but try to hide it with a grunt.
“Hold up—who did invite you then?”
I shrug. “No idea.”
“Weird.” She takes another sip. “So you came all this way, got all dressed up, and you were about to leave without giving Jasper a piece of your mind? After all this time?”
I slouch over the table and rest my head on my hands. “What’s the point?”
“The point is you’re a person in this too. Why is it always on Jasper’s terms?”
I can’t answer, so instead I turn my face away and stare at this weird little stain in the carpet.
“Don’t try to freeze me out. You know who freezes people out?” Aisha asks. “Jasper, that’s who.”
I jerk backward, spinning my head and shooting Aisha the most incredulous open-mouthed look of disgust I can.
“Talk to me,” she says.
