Free The Long Game by J. L. Fynn Page B

of her
mouth twitched when she gave a faint nod.
    I grinned. “Good. Looking forward to it.”
    On my own, I scanned the crowd for a second
time, looking for another group to make myself a part of. There was
only one person here I wanted to spend any time with, but my hope
was that if Spencer saw me talking to someone else, it might make
her more interested in spending time with me.
    A thin, pale girl with shoulder-length hair
dyed an unnatural shade of red perched on the arm of a sofa about
twenty feet from me. She stared at me openly, and I assumed her
boldness had more than a little to do with whatever was in the
plastic cup in her hand. She’d serve my purposes just fine.
    “Hey,” I said as I approached her. “I’m
Shane.”
    “Anna,” she said with a flirty smile.
    I leaned my hip into the back of the sofa.
“Are you an OIA sister?”
    “Not so much.” She snorted. “They throw
decent parties and all, but I’m not really into the whole
‘sisterhood’ thing.”
    “Yeah, I’m not much of a joiner either,” I
said, telling her what I figured she’d want to hear.
    Apparently, I’d guessed right. Anna slid an
inch or so closer. “So are you a loner, Shane?” she asked, laying a
hand on my arm.
    “Not always,” I said with a wink.
    She eyed me wantonly, pressing a hand to my
chest as she laughed. “Good to know.”
    If I took this much further, I’d spend the
night fending her off instead of getting closer to Spencer. I
lifted my head to glance around the room and met Spencer’s eyes.
She was at the bottom of the staircase, standing with a guy who
leaned against the banister, probably to keep himself on his feet
as much as to look cool.
    I leaned in closer to the faux-redhead on the
sofa, but my eyes never left the genuine redhead who stood across
the room. Her eyes flashed, and she turned back to the guy next to
her. He gulped down what remained in his cup and set it aside on a
marble tabletop that was already overflowing with abandoned paper
plates and beer cans. He held his now empty hand out to her. She
slipped her hand into his and, with one last glance at me, let him
lead her through a doorway on the other side of the staircase.
    “You wanna get out of here?” Anna asked.
    I’d almost forgotten she was there. “Yeah, I
do actually. It was great to meet you.”
    “But I thought—”
    I didn’t wait to hear what she thought. I
just left her on the couch wearing a stunned expression.
    It was dark in the alcove on the other side
of the stairs, but I could still make out the guy’s considerable
bulk. His back was to me, and he leaned against the wall on one
arm. Spencer was just visible, her back pressed into the wall like
she was trying to put as much distance between them as possible.
When she tried to move away, he planted his other arm against the
wall to bar her exit. He pressed his face into hers in a poor
imitation of a kiss. Spencer thumped her fists into his shoulders,
but he pinned both her wrists with one hand, the effort barely
slowing his attack on her lips.
    I cleared the distance so quickly it even
surprised me and clamped a hand down on his meaty shoulder.
    “What the hell, man?” He spun around to glare
at me, his face flushed red with anger and alcohol. “Can’t you see
we’re a little busy?”
    “She doesn’t look like she’s that into it.” I
tipped my head at Spencer. “Maybe you should let her go back to the
party.”
    “Maybe you should mind your own damn
business.” He shoved his thick fingertips into my chest, knocking
me backward a step or two.
    “I don’t think you want to do that.” I
brushed a hand over the shoulder seam in my shirt. “Come on. Have a
little respect for the girls who were nice enough to invite you to
their party.”
    “Listen, dipshit,” the guy said. He took a
step toward me, but I didn’t flinch. “You have about twenty seconds
to get the hell out of my face before you get your ass beat.”
    I chuckled. “How about you go