Free The Boyfriend Bylaws by Susan Hatler

hallucinate. It couldn’t be Matt. I leaned back further in my seat, lost my balance, and fell backward off the stool. I landed on my side with an “oof,” then rolled onto my butt and stared up at Matt and Kaitlin, who both hovered over me.
    I flinched as Kaitlin bent toward me, then felt guilty when she appeared to want to hug me, then rolled my eyes when she reached past me and retrieved her veil, dusting it off. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
    I should’ve known better. The only person Kaitlin thought about was herself. It’s not like I’d wanted a hug anyway, so why did it bother me when she hurried off toward the restroom to put her veil back on—leaving me sprawled out on a barroom floor. This was Matt’s fault. I frowned at him. “What are you doing here?”
    Matt reached out a hand to help me up. “I’m here with Steve and Erica. They wanted to take me out for drinks since today was my last day.”
    I brushed his hand away, pushed myself to my feet, then rubbed my hip, which was sure to have a large bruise in the morning. “So you just happened to come to The Oasis after I just happened to say Nick and I would be here?”
    He shrugged, not looking the least bit apologetic. “You invited me, remember? Plus, it’s a public place. You don’t own it.”
    I took a step closer to Matt, who looked amazingly hot in slacks and a collared shirt. Major improvement from the sweats he wore to work at Totally Fit—well, when he used to work there. My heart sank, and I lifted my eyes from his chest to his face and squinted at him. “You didn’t tell me today was your last day. It was supposed to be next Friday.”
    “Change of plans.” Matt drained his beer bottle, then reach for my hand. “Let’s dance.”
    After a year of flirting, he’d spent the last week avoiding my touch as if I had an easily transmitted skin condition. Feeling his hand around mine brought tears to my eyes. “I c-can’t. I’m here on a date.”
    He squeezed my hand, let go, then made a big point of looking around the club in a three-hundred and sixty degree turn. “Funny. I don’t see Nick anywhere. One dance.”
    It was a fast song, so what harm could there be? Feeling nervous in every cell of my body, I followed him to the dance floor, where we pushed our way through gyrating bodies, right to the center. He turned around and faced me.
    I lost my breath.
    Then he smiled and started dancing.
    With a range of emotions shooting through me, I decided to concentrate on what I knew best—dancing. Moving to the beat, I felt my body take over even though my mind kept slipping back to the fact that this guy moving in front of me, dancing in the sexiest way, was Matt. I swung my shoulders in time with the music while simultaneously unable to stop staring at him.
    Somehow the first song slipped into the next, then the next, and soon I was lost in the world of dancing—a place where I’d always been able to escape the reality of my life. The music flowed through me, creating a safe place from pain. Somehow, right now, Matt had slipped into that world.
    The music died down, then switched into a slow beat. Matt took a step toward me.
    I bit my lip, but didn’t pull away when his arms went around me slowly, one and then the other. His chin rested on the side of my head and I closed my eyes as we swayed with the song.
    Feeling a hum by my ear, I tilted my head up slightly and realized he was singing. Chills ran through me with each word about loss, regret, and love slipping away.
    The song ended way too soon. I stood there, feeling his hands on my lower back, my hands sliding down his biceps. Fear swept over me, and my stomach knotted. “I should get back to Kaitlin.”
    I hurried away toward the group of tipsy girls surrounding my stepsister with a long, white veil draping perfectly over her red hair.
    Kaitlin’s eyes flipped to mine. “Who was that?”
    She looked up at me with wide eyes, curious and…trusting. Something inside me