“The support act is signed to Jake’s label. What about you?”
“Work. I’m doing a piece on Raine.”
“Right, cool.” I shift on my feet, distracted.
I want to go over to Jake and the blonde, who, from what I can see in my glances over Jefferson’s shoulder, is shamelessly flirting herself all over him, but I don’t want to come off as rude to Jefferson.
“If Jake’s busy with business right now, how about I keep you company until he’s done? You want to dance?” He tilts his head in the direction of the dance floor. I see his eyes flicker to my chest.
I’m throwing this bloody top in the bin when I get home.
“Um…”
I really don’t want to dance. I would actually quite like to go home, to be honest.
I sneak another glance over Jefferson’s shoulder at Jake. Jake says something to the blonde, and she throws back her head and laughs, putting her hand on his chest.
I have a flashback to Paris and the redhead. The redhead Jake kissed in front of me, to get back at me for not breaking up with Will, after he’d begged me to.
Jealousy sears through me like a red-hot poker. I grit my teeth.
“You know what? I would love to dance,” I say to Jefferson through my teeth.
Screw Jake and his blonde…and all of his f**king conquests for that matter.
Pulling out the strap on my clutch, I hang it over my shoulder. Jefferson downs his drink, and, taking his offered hand, I let him lead me through the crowd to the centre of the dance floor.
We start off dancing separately, but it’s not long before Jefferson moves in closer.
“You look great tonight,” Jefferson says, leaning in to my ear. “But then, you always do.”
I feel his arm go around my waist.
Fuck.
I stiffen in his embrace.
Jake won’t be happy if he sees this.
Isn’t that the point?
“Thanks, you too.” I pull away from him, but I feel his grip on my back tighten, holding me in place, and he starts to dance into me, grinding his hips near mine.
Ugh.
He’s not even a good dancer.
Trying not to cringe at his awkward hip movements, I scrunch my eyes tightly, trying to figure a way out of this.
I’m such a bloody idiot at times.
I’m on the dance floor with Mr. Bean’s version of Saturday Night Fever, in a lame attempt to make Jake jealous, while Jake is probably none the wiser and off screwing the blonde bitch in the back room, not even giving a toss about me.
Now I feel sick, and I just want to go get drunk and kick the crap out of Jake and his whore. I’m just not sure in which order.
I’m about to wriggle out of Jefferson’s hold and make my excuses, when I feel him suddenly wrenched away from me.
My eyes shoot open to find a very angry-looking Jake staring down at me, and a very confused Jefferson trying to straighten out his shirt.
“What the hell!” Jefferson says, then I see his face change to awe when he realises it’s Jake who just pulled him off me.
“I thought you were in the bathroom,” Jake says to me, ignoring Jefferson. He sounds royally pissed off.
Standing tall, I say, “I was. Then I decided to come and dance.”
“And you didn’t think to come see me first?”
“What? I need to ask your permission to dance nowadays?” I narrow my eyes at him. “And anyway, you looked busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you. You should know that by now.” There’s no nice in his tone.
It’s at this point Jefferson decides to pipe up.
“I meant no disrespect,” Jefferson says. “I’ve known Tru for ages. We knew each other back in London.”
Jake stiffens. He turns to him and stares down the couple of inches to Jefferson’s face. “You meant no disrespect, but you had your hands all over my girl?”
Jefferson raises his hands in defence. “We were only dancing.” But the smile on his face says something else entirely.
It makes my body stiffen.
Jake’s face hardens. I worry for a second that he’s going to do something stupid.
“We’re leaving.” Jake grabs my arm and starts to pull me away.
“Hey, man, take it easy,” Jefferson puts his hand on Jake’s shoulder.
I know instantly he’s done the wrong thing.
Quick as lightning, Jake grabs Jefferson’s arm, twisting it back and under, forcing Jefferson to bend under the strain. Then Jake shoves him away, all but tossing him across the dance floor.
The crowd quickly parts, people shifting out of the way, watching as Jefferson lands hard on the dance floor.
Dave and Ben are beside us in a flash. Ben is quick to get Jefferson off the floor and to his feet.
“I was just dancing with her!” Jefferson shouts, clearly not having learned when to stop talking. Then I see a near smile on his face. Like he’s actually trying to antagonise Jake. “She’s an old friend.”
“She was a friend,” Jake says, hard and cold, taking a step toward him. “Not anymore. You keep your f**kin’ hands off my girl, and if I ever see you near her again, you won’t be getting up from the floor the next time.”
A grin tilts Jefferson’s lips. “Is that a threat?”
Jake’s jaw clenches, and his fists ball at his sides. “More like a promise.”
Dave stands between Jake and Jefferson, which I couldn’t be more thankful for.