Page 92 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“In the back,” she called over her shoulder, already on her way to deliver the beers.

It took a while to make my way through the throng. Along with the influx of tourists, there were plenty of locals out tonight, celebrating the last night of the Lilac Festival. I stopped and talked to Posey, shocked to see that Paul was actually with her. According to her, Iris and David were both still sick. Thinking about them, of course, put my attention right back on the skit.

“Is Andrew around?” I asked her.

“I think I saw him with Eddie earlier.”

“Thanks, Pose.”

I turned from her table, determined to find him, to get this over with. I saw a flash of red in the crowd and headed in that direction, but it was only Eddie, bringing Zane a fresh beer. I waved, not wanting to get sidetracked again, and turned away.

There he was. Only a few tables away. I pushed through a group of men in business suits, clearly from the mainland, all of whom seemed to be pretty drunk for so early in the evening, and then, finally, I was at his table.

It was only then that I could see that he wasn’t alone. Jill was next to him, her chair pulled up close. Their heads were together, laughing about something. Her hand was on his thigh, the top three buttons of her blouse undone, and something seemed to fall in my chest.

Before I could think about what I was doing, I turned and fled, pushing my way back through the crowd. I thought I might have heard him calling my name, but it was hard to make out over the noise in the room. Or was that noise just in my ears? It sounded like rushing wind. Finally I made it to the back door and pushed out into the alley behind the bar, taking in huge gulps of fresh air.

I felt so stupid. To actually think that he had felt something in that kiss, that it might have affected him in some way. For all of my denial to Rebecca, I think I had actually started to believe her—believe that he might have feelings for me. But while I was on her porch spilling out my heart, he was here in the bar with Jill. Hours after he had kissed me.

“Riley.”

I spun to see him standing in the open doorway.

“What?” My voice was sharper than I intended, but I was having trouble controlling my breathing.

He stepped through the door, letting it close behind him, the sound of the bar fading. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” There was no way I was telling him why I had come here tonight. God, how embarrassing.

His eyes narrowed and he took another step closer. “I saw you in there. You took off. Why?”

“I was just looking for Jenny,” I lied.

“That’s not what it looked like to me. It looked like you got to my table and something upset you.”

Suddenly, I wanted to slap him. I was so damn sick and tired of him thinking that he knew everything there was to know about me.Riley doesn’t care about dating. Riley will get her heart broken by Chase. Riley can’t handle seeing Andrew with another girl.

“You know what, Andrew?” I said, taking a backwards step to put distance between us. “Why don’t you just go back to your date.”

“Jill? She’s not my date.”

“She sure looked like a date to me. Her hand was practically on your junk.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is that why you’re upset?”

“No!” I shot back. “I don’t give a shit what you do or with who. But I think it’s pretty crappy of you to pull this huge judgment act on me with Chase when you’re the one whoring around this entire town.”

“I wasn’t judging you about Chase,” he shot back. “I just think he’s going to let you down.”

“That’s judging, Andrew! That’s you saying that you don’t trust my own decision-making! Well, in case you haven’t noticed, buddy, your decision making isn’t that hot!”

“You know what I think, Riley?” he asked, taking another step towards me. “I think you didn’t care about who I was spending my time with so long as it was women that you didn’t have to see again. So long as it was tourists and girls from the mainland, you could give a shit. But now that it’s someone that you actually know, you’re freaking out. Why do you think that is?”

“I’m not freaking out!” I yelled. “I’m just trying to go home.”

“You’re such a liar,” he spat out. “Why did you come here tonight?”

Because I’m an idiot, I thought.And my sister is even worse.