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6/17/17
THE REST OF the night goes by smoothly. We drink. We dance. Finn flirts and I flirt back. He is cute and he makes me blush. It's a good night.
But then why do I feel so distracted? Why do my emotions feel scattered all over the place and that my heart is blossoming with blue and purple bruises?
Finn's arm is now wrapped around my waist as we step out of the loud and sweaty club. It's late and my feet hurt and I'm already looking forward to my bed. The night air is warm but the slight breeze raises goosebumps all over my skin and sends a chill racing down my spine.
We are leading the group with Cale and Grayson trailing behind us whispering dirty words to each other and Grayson giggling between hiccups, and Hayley wanders lazily behind them texting nonstop on her phone and I just know she's drunk texting Clayton right now. We turn the corner to the main downtown street where we can call an Uber when I stop dead in my tracks as surprise widens my eyes.
Because Colt isn't home miles away from here. Nope. He's standing in the middle of the sidewalk before us and it isn't just him that causes me still. It's the fact that he's talking with a woman. A beautiful woman at that.
She's petite in the way guys love, but with long legs and an ample chest that sits perfectly on display in the red velvet dress she's wearing. Her dark hair is wavy and somehow still shiny and smooth in the humid air unlike the frizziness of my own hair. Her tanned caramel skin glows under the golden traffic lights and the bright moon, and the bitter taste of something I don't expect to feel explodes on my tongue and slithers through my veins making me feel disappointed in myself.
Because I don't get jealous. I'm not a jealous person. I never have been. So why now? Why with him?
"Colt's still here?" I hear Grayson's voice question from behind me and I snap out of my daze realizing everyone is now huddled behind me watching the scene play out in front of us.
"Looks like he found the perfect distraction," Cale murmurs sarcastically as he tugs his girlfriend closer to his side.
Confusion and annoyance flare from within me. "Distraction?" I ask curiously. What does he need a distraction from?
"Dad's been riding him pretty hard lately," Cale says rather indifferently. My eyebrows draw together as I think back to the night I reluctantly hung out with Colt and we watched a movie together. He said people only see what they want to see with him, and I assumed it was just a line. But now I'm beginning to wonder if his words held some truth to them.
I watch the woman place her perfectly manicured hand on his arm as she laughs, and he laughs along with her with a comfortable ease I rarely see from him. It's a full and hearty laugh. The kind of laugh that's rare and you wish would last forever, and it strikes me directly in the chest and steals my breath all at once.
Finally she leans in for a hug that he reciprocates without hesitation, and it lasts for a beat longer than it needs to and once again that bitter taste ignites within me and I hate it. She finally leaves and Colt turns around and spots us immediately. He isn't shocked to see us almost as if he's been waiting for us.
