Free Crazy About Love: An All About Love Novel by Cassie Mae Page B

Theresa going wild out there. Wilder than usual. She probably has a few shots in her as well. A twinge of regret hits my chest, and I wonder if I should drink tonight after all, but I quickly shake myself out of it.
    “I could be persuaded,” I tell Jaycee, and she grabs me by the arm and tugs me out onto the floor.
    Hours later, Landon and Lizzie are getting ready to jet out, Jace is pretty smashed, Theresa is
incredibly
smashed, and I’m still having a hell of a time pounding on those drums and alternating between a few dance partners.
    “Hey, gotta talk to you for a second,” Jace says to me as I’m dancing with the pretty paint girl. Her name’s Kendra, and so far all I’ve learned about her is that she’s a single mom trying to make ends meet by working here. I really hope the tips are good. She seems nice.
    “What’s up?” I ask over my shoulder. His unfocused eyes roll, and he waves me toward him. I excuse myself as politely as I can and follow him toward the black curtains where all the couples are painting each other.
    “Um, dude, I love you, but I’m not painting anything on your body.”
    “Smartass.” He shakes his head, a drop of paint falling from one of his ears onto his shirt. “I need you to take Theresa home.”
    I jerk back, shooting my gaze around the room to find her. “She okay?”
    “Wasted. And if you can’t tell, I’m not exactly the best chaperone at the moment.”
    “Get her a cab.”
    “Liz said to make sure she gets home. Tuck her in. You know, that type of shit.”
    I take another glance around the room, finally spotting her at a table, head in her hands. She’s laughing at something—probably herself, because there isn’t anyone with her.
    “I…”
Can’t.
I want to say I can’t. I won’t. It’s too damn hard, and I’d been doing really well avoiding her all night, but then I remember promising her that things wouldn’t change and I’d still be there for her, and how I’ve failed on an epic level. My eyes meet Jace’s somewhat drunk ones, and he grins at me as if he already knows that I’m going to give in.
    “Thanks, man.” He pats my shoulder a little harder than I think he means to.
    “You’re getting a cab tonight, right?”
    “You bet your ass.”
    I let out a sigh and give him a goodbye nod. Then I head out into the painted crowd to put my arm around the girl that I’m crazy in love with.
    —
    “Your face is so adorable,” Theresa tells me when we’re in the car. She leans up from the backseat and her very fruity breath warms up my shoulder. “Look at this dimple.” Her finger jabs into my cheek, but slips and goes right into my mouth. Her nail scrapes against the inside of my cheek, and I grab her wrist and push her back with a laugh.
    “Driving, here,” I say as she dissolves into a fit of drunk giggles. The backseat rocks and I hear shuffles and thuds, so I flick my eyes to the rearview mirror just in time to catch her trying to take off her strappy high-heeled shoes.
    “I’ll help you with those.”
    “You’re driving.”
    “When we park.”
    “You want to take off my shoes?”
    “You aren’t going to sleep in them, are you?”
    She leans up again, and I watch her eyebrow tilt in the way it always does when she thinks she’s being cute. (She is.)
    “I’m not sleeping in this dress either,” she whispers into my ear, and the small hairs along the back of my neck stand on end. I’m glad I’m at a red light because I probably would’ve swerved if my foot was on the accelerator. “So…are you going to help me out of that?”
    I imagine sliding down the zipper, smearing paint from my skin onto hers as I smooth my hands over her shoulders. The dress pools at her feet as she steps lightly out of it. My eyes catch hers, hers look right back, and we both smile. I haven’t ever felt as alive and as terrified as I do now, with her naked and the bed right at the bend of her legs. I could simply ease her down and let her painted