I had faith in Tyler.
The thought hit me deep in my chest. The way I felt made it undeniably clear that I’d given him my heart, my trust. And I wasn’t afraid to give it to him.
What I was afraid of was losing him.
I pushed the thought away, remembering how he smiled at me, how he touched me, taking comfort in the moments we had instead of what would come.
The bathroom was crowded with women, and after I peed, I sidled up at the mirror, digging through my clutch for my lipstick. I looked myself over, making sure I still had it together, and by some miracle, my reflection was very close to what it had been when I’d left the apartment hours before.
I popped the cap off the tube and got to work touching up my lipstick, concentrating really hard, so hard that I didn’t see that Adrienne had stepped up next to me, not until she spoke.
“Hey, Cam.”
I looked over, surprised to hear my name, though I smiled when I saw her. “Adrienne! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
She smiled back and washed her hands. “Yeah, it’s a pretty big industry event every year, so a lot of us come. Are you here with Tyler?” she asked, and uncertainty crept in, realizing I had no idea how she felt about the whole thing.
My smile fell. “Yeah, I am. Adrienne, I’m really sorry about what happened on your date. I had no idea how he felt.”
She shook her head, still smiling as she reached for a paper towel. “Don’t be sorry. I’m not gonna pretend like I’m not bummed, but I wasn’t attached, Cam. Not like the two of you are.”
I sighed and capped my lipstick. “Thank you for being so graceful.”
Her smile pulled up on one side. “Hey, it wouldn’t pay to piss off the chick who throws the best singles nights in New York, would it?”
I laughed. “So does that mean you’re coming to the next one?”
“Is that bartender in the Spiderman costume single? Because I would most definitely be interested in talking to him about the social injustices of arachnophobia.”
I snorted. “Greg is definitely single, and I’m sure he’d love to see Catwoman’s whip.”
“Then I wouldn’t miss singles night for the world.”
“Good,” I said with a smile. “I’ll see you then.”
“Have fun tonight. You look beautiful, by the way.”
I blushed and waved a hand. “Not nearly as gorgeous as you. I bet you wake up like that.”
She chuckled and headed toward the door. “Yeah, except with more drool.”
I fell in step with her. “Whatever. I bet even your drool is sparkly and tastes like champagne.”
That one elicited a full-blown laugh from her, which made me feel way better about everything, somehow.
We parted ways just outside the door, and I caught sight of Tyler on the dance floor with Jim, Anne, and a handful of other people. He looked over like he knew I was there and smiled at me, sending my heart into a flutter. I waved and pointed to the bar, making my way to get us drinks.
I was too busy looking his direction still, even though he’d already turned back to the dance floor, and as I walked around a table of hors d’oeuvres, the toe of my shoe caught on the linen. Everything moved in slow motion — the second my foot stopped, I knew what was going to happen. I pitched forward, noting the pattern on the carpet, thinking about whether or not I should drop my clutch or if I should tuck and roll. I also wondered how many people were about to see my underwear, and I spent a millisecond being glad I wore any at all.
What? I was going to a fancy dress-up dinner with Tyler Knight. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have considered going commando, too.
But just when I thought I was done for, I saw a pair of men’s shoes, and when a set of strong hands caught me, time started again.
I looked up, full of adrenaline and grateful thoughts, until I saw who grabbed me.
Kyle looked down at me, blond hair combed and shining and jaw like marble, smiling crooked as I leaned into his chest at the odd angle where he’d caught me.
“Whoa, you okay?
I immediately straightened up and took a step back. “I’m fine. Thanks for catching me.”
“Hey, no problem. You look incredible, Cam.”
I smiled tightly. “You too.” And he did. It wasn’t that he wasn’t handsome. It was that he was an asshole, which negated all hotness.
“I didn’t know you wore contacts,” he said.
I shrugged. “I usually don’t. Who did you bring tonight?”
“No one — I’m here stag. Where’s Tyler?”
“Over there with Jack. I was actually just about to get us some drinks, so—”
“Oh, good. I was heading there myself.”
I kept smiling like I was wearing a plastic mask. “Great.”
We stepped over to the bar and got in line. “How’s Tyler doing? We haven’t talked since he stormed out of the bar yesterday. Is he still pissed?”
I tried to keep my face together, though I was surprised. Not that they’d fought — I mean, I knew Kyle well enough to want to fight him every time I saw him — but that Tyler didn’t tell me.
“I don’t know. Have you asked him?”
He shrugged. “I texted him, but he didn’t answer. Did he mention it to you?”
I kept my eyes on the man’s back in front of me. “No.”
“It’s not all that weird, I guess. We were arguing about you.”