Brent glares at him, his irritation silent. “The line’s moving. Let’s go.”
We wait in line for another half an hour before the bouncer finally lets us all in. The second we’re inside, Evans vanishes into the massive crowd, trailing a group of girls making their way to the dance floor. Brent, seeing this, stalks the other way, heading straight for the bar. I follow after him, concerned.
“Hey, are you okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. Fine,” Brent mutters, agitated. He tips his head to the bartender and the bartender nods back, signaling that he’s next in line. “Never been better.”
“You know you can tell me anything, Brent. I’m always here for you if you need me,” I say, nudging his shoulder with mine. “Does it have anything to do with Evans?”
A muscle pops in his jaw at the mention of Evans’s name.
He visibly swallows, adjusting his glasses on his nose. “That obvious, huh?”
I nod slowly. “Let me guess: it’s complicated?”
“Yeah. A little.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I’m well-versed in the subject,”
I say, remembering my own perplexing situation with Kayden. “I’m all ears if you want to rant.”
Brent inhales deeply, tapping his finger on his chin in contemplation. “I’ve had a crush on him since high school.
It was a one-sided thing and I didn’t really think too much about it. But these past few months he’s been flirting back a lot and it feels like he has feelings for me. But I know it’s hard for him to admit those feelings. You know that he’s terrified of his parents, right?” His eyes flicker to me and I nod silently. “He likes to put up a façade sometimes and pretend that nothing ever gets to him. But deep down, it really affects him a lot.”
Huh. Evans and I would be great friends.
“How about you?” I prod, shifting the attention to his plight worriedly. “Does it affect you?”
“My parents have always been cool with it,” Brent explains. “Even Kayden. Though I’m not entirely sure if he knows about me and Evans.” He lets out a long sigh. “I don’t know what to do, Sienna.”
“If you want my advice,” I say, pressing my back against the bar and resting the back of my elbows on the surface,
“maybe you guys should have a talk about it. Get everything out. I don’t want to see you unhappy because both of you are too stubborn to admit your feelings for each other.”
“Mmmm.” Brent hums. “Speak for yourself, Sienna.”
Ah shit. Of course.
I clutch a hand over my chest. “Touché.”
The bartender finally reaches our corner to take our order. I raise my eyebrows at Brent. “You want a shot?” I offer.
Brent is silent for a beat, thinking. “Make it three. Each.
Because we’re gonna need all the alcohol we can get if we’re going to survive the night without getting laid.”
When the shots arrive, Brent and I clink our glasses against each other’s and down our shots. Brent lets out a gurgling laugh trying to finish his last shot, spitting some of the liquid on me. It splatters across my dress.
“Ew, gross!” I slap him on his shoulder. He just laughs even harder.
I watch from the sidelines as more people pack the dance floor, sweat-covered bodies pressed tightly against each other. Kayden seems to have completely disappeared, nowhere to be seen. I wonder if he’s just as affected by what happened between us this morning as I am.
The techno music eventually gives way to a slow-tempo ballad. Brent and I let out a collective groan when the DJ, perched in the booth, lifts his microphone and says in a deep, raspy tone, “This one’s for all your lovebirds out there.
May there be a lot of lovin’ and grindin’ for y’all tonight.”
Aw, jeez.