“Touching is not allowed,” Brook said as she gave Jill a dirty look from the dance floor.
Jill blanched when she saw us and figured out what we were talking about.
“I think she and I might need to go the ladies’ room to have a heart-to-heart discussion,” Brook said as the song ended.
On the way back to the table, Harper cut us off.
“Care if I dance with the big guy?” she asked Brook.
“No inappropriate touching,” was all Brook said as she stalked off to track down my brother’s girlfriend.
“What was that about?” Harper asked.
“I told her about how easy you were. I mean, c’mon. Why would you date Mike?” I asked half-seriously.
“What is it with you two? He can’t stand you. I was given strict orders not to even talk to you tonight.”
I grinned, pulled out my phone, and took our picture.
“You post that, and I’ll kill you,” Harper threatened.
“Uh-huh,” was my witty comeback.
“You didn’t answer my question,” she prodded.
Bad-mouthing Mike wasn’t going to win me any points with Harper, so I changed the subject.
“Let’s not ruin the night and just agree that Mike and I don’t get along. How have you been otherwise?” I asked.
“Do you ever regret what happened between us?”
“No. I got lucky with Brook. She was worth the wait.”
“That’s what Tami says. She told me that you two had a solid relationship. I know that was what you always wanted, and I’m happy for you.”
I almost believed her. Who knew? If she hadn’t been infatuated with her childhood crush, I could have ended up with her. There was a lot to like about Harper, but once the trust was gone, it was game over, as far as I was concerned. That didn’t mean that I didn’t consider her a friend, even though she had terrible taste in men—other than me.
We caught up as best we could in the six minutes it took for two songs. That was when Missy cut in.
“Hello, gorgeous,” I said as I hugged her.
I danced with her, and we chatted like old friends. I noticed that Wolf had asked Brook to dance while Sarah and Harper talked. It seemed my girlfriend didn’t plan to wait for me if I was dancing with other girls. I ended up dancing with several others, including Jill, who supposedly had been appropriately chastised. There was still an evil glint in her eyes that told me that inappropriate touching might yet be in my future. Oh, my.
I was brought to heel when I noticed Brook dancing with a college guy. It was time I reclaimed my girlfriend. When the song ended, I went to get her. Brook had mischief in mind. Her new dance partner had put his arm around her and tried to guide her back to his friends’ table. I stepped in front of him.
“Trey, this is my boyfriend, David. David, Trey,” Brook said, and then caused my Alpha Male to take notice. “Trey invited us back to his place to party.”
Her innocent expression told me she was giving me a hard time. Two could play that game.
“It’s not going to be one of those times I have to just watch, is it?” I asked, looking equally casual. “Or is it one of those times where I have to hold him down while you use a strap-on on him?”
Trey had a leer on his face up to my last comment. Brook turned to him and broke out in a big grin.
“Now that sounds like fun.”
He let his arm drop from around her waist and looked at us warily.
“You’re both crazy. I think I’ll be going,” Trey said and hustled off.
“Was it something I said?” I asked.
She came into my arms and rewarded me with a kiss. I knew that Brook could handle herself and that she loved me. She grabbed my hand and forced me to dance with her for the rest of the night. I didn’t even miss dancing with anyone else.
◊◊◊ Saturday November 12
Our game with Beverly was at one, so I was at the high school by eleven-thirty to score some food from the Booster Club. I found they were doing a fundraiser with a chili cook-off. For five dollars, you could eat all the hot dogs you wanted and sample the different chilies people made.
Mr. Sullivan was working the door.
“How do you like the new car?”
“I love it. I expect it’ll work out well for what we need,” I said as I peeled off a couple of large bills. “If anyone forgot to bring money, use this to let them in. Keep track if more show up than this’ll cover, and I’ll take care of it.”
High school kids didn’t always have cash on them, and since this was a fundraiser, I was sure Caryn wouldn’t get on me for spending money. Plus, what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt me.
Mr. Sullivan handed me a card that listed all the people who had entered chili into the contest. He explained that only a handful of people would be secret judges, and they would all vote by the end of the night. I suspected that if you donated more than five dollars to get in, you became a ‘secret judge.’
