Free Unexpected by Meg Jolie Page A

styled.
    “Well, I was going to go dance,” I said as I pointed to the staircase.
    Jamie had paused halfway down, an annoyed look on her face. She raised her eyebrows, wondering if she should wait or if she could go dance to her song. I waved her off and she turned, flouncing down the stairs.
    “You can dance later,” Corey said as he pulled me back.
    He placed his hands on my waist, pushing me back into the hallway until my butt was parked up against the wall. He leaned in, sliding his arms around my middle.
    “I miss you,” he muttered.
    I laughed at that. “Yeah, it sure looked like it.”
    He ignored that as he pulled me closer. His arms around me felt way too familiar. It would’ve been so easy to just let him pull me in. Physically and emotionally. But I’d worked too hard at trying to get over him to let one comforting gesture undo weeks of diligent forgetting on my part.
    When his lips started to skim their way up my neck, I shrugged him off and ducked out of his arms. I needed my resolve to be strong enough to withhold one hasty moment that could cause everything to come crashing down. I wasn’t going to be careless enough to just hand my heart back to Corey. I didn’t get very far because he stepped in front of me, blocking me.
    “Seriously Corey? You just had your lips on someone else, like twenty minutes ago,” I grumbled.
    “No, I didn’t,” he argued. “I saw you and from then on, you’ve been all I could think about.”
    All he could think about? Or simply thinking about me because he’d wrecked his chance with Sam for the night? That was my guess.
    I needed to get away. My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Willow since Jamie wasn’t coming back anytime soon. Instead, they found Tristan. He glanced at me a second after my gaze landed on him. He frowned when he saw me, making me wonder just what kind of expression I was wearing. I shot him what I hoped he understood was a pleading look as Corey gently cornered me again. The familiarity of his nearness came crashing down on me, pressing in, slowly shattering my resolve.
    “Come on, Britta. I miss you.”
    “You do not,” I said with a blatant eye roll.
    “Yes,” he insisted . He closed the little bit of space between us so his mouth was next to my ear. “I do. I miss how you cover your mouth when you think you laugh too hard. How you chew on your pen when you’re studying. The way you twirl your hair when you’re day dreaming. I miss how you always close your eyes when you take your last sip of cappuccino, savoring it like it’s the last drop of caffeine on earth.”
    “You’re making that up. I don’t do that,” I whispered.
    I shook my head and tried to back away. His breath was hot, familiar next to my ear.
    “Yeah, baby, you do. It’s adorable. What I miss most? I miss the way you moan into my mouth when I kiss you.”
    A slow burn, like molten lava coursing through my veins took over, singeing my last little thread of common sense. When Corey’s hands moved from around my waist into a firm grip on each hip, I was afraid I wasn’t going to be going anywhere. My body tensed at the thought.
    His presence was sucking me in, pulling me under . In no time at all I was drowning in my own uncertainty and indecision.
    “Wh at’s wrong?” Corey asked. I was grateful he had the decency to sense my hesitation.
    “Tristan,” I managed to get out in a slightly strangled tone.
    “Hey, Jamie was wondering if you’re ready to go,” Tristan easily lied as he finally appeared beside me.
    “You’re not leaving?” Corey asked. His tone was aggravated and he didn’t bother to glance at Tristan.
    I nodded, sidestepping him and fin ding myself clinging to Tristan. To his credit, he just slid an arm around me as if this wasn’t something entirely out of the ordinary. He started to swing me around, to head toward the door when Corey latched onto my arm.
    “Come on, Britta,” he pleaded, his eyes never leaving mine. “Don’t go