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"Me, too" Her finger brushes over it I get the feeling there’s a story behind that ring, but for whatever reason, she’s not ready to share it

The club has a VIP area in a loft overlooking the dance floor We coether in the center with four sofas surrounding them Brooke plops next to Graha into hi I keep a peripheral eye on E the after I kissed her in the hallway in front of hi my territory? Unfortunately, yes Did it feel necessary at the time? Also yes

My arh that our thighs brush with the slightest pressure Everyone orders drinks while Tadd, Quinton and I talk about the parts of our trip we can discuss inof his jeans to show a huge purpling bruise on his shin "Stupid invisible underwater branch"

"Dude, I thought the Guadalupe had an alligator," Quinton says "You screairl until you saas just a stick and started cursing like a strung-out ho"

Tadd s carefully and points at Quinton "Like you didn’t launch yourself outta that tube like a rocket when that fish bit your ass"

My hand hs with everyone else

"No one warned me there were carnivorous fish in that daet so much as nibbled It was all Quinton," Tadd says

"You’re just jealous that none of them wanted a piece of you"

"Yeah, that’s the reason"

A new song co Emma’s hand "Let’s dance" She allows herself to be pulled up, and Meredith and Tadd decide to follow us

"You sure you can hit the floor after that life-threatening injury?" Quinton quips

Tadd flips hi

Emma

I don’t look at Graham as Reid and I , descending the staircase is like entering a debutante’s ball Practically everyone downstairs looks up to see who’s conize Reid One bodyguard shadows us, and another waits just off the dance floor

Reid is either oblivious or faking oblivion; more likely the latter Clad in a blue t-shirt that exactly matches his eyes, a pair of jeans that fit him like they’re custo incarnation of uy in an Armani suit on the cover of GQ, with a spread inside in which he sports a tight black tank, doing pull-ups on a tree branch, showing off his enviable biceps and shoulders

He pullsthe fast teto ot you"

"Do I look afraid?"

"M his forehead onme closer "Positively terrified"

"I’ood to know" He pulls uards look nervous, but Reid acts as though we’re the only people on the floor, and everyone else allows it This boy could char out of anyone, and he’s quite conscious of that fact Just another reason for my apprehension

I try not to think of Grahaht because of Brooke They’re probably already involved, possibly they have been for a while Maybe they argued,to hi with him, the way he teasesto turn it into anything further will ruin it

That’s what I tellwithin a crowd of people as though no one else exists But Reid and I will never be invisible, as ht pretend it, and I never feel like everyone else disappears I feel the, the whole tih et soo up yet," Reid says quietly to roups of two and three We’re last in

"Do you want to ask anyone else--?"

"I’ve had enough of everyone else for one night" Holding one finger to his lips, he pulls ht of the elevator

He asks for a booth by theand slides in beside me instead of across We order coffee and share a slice of cheesecake,to work off that cake I shared with Graham

Don’t think of Graham