The Game Changer (10 page)

She had never danced with anyone like this before. Usually when guys asked her to dance it was to a faster beat, and they remained face-to-face. When she was out with Olivia in Toronto, she tried to avoid the slow dance portion at the end of the night, because she knew Rick wouldn’t like the idea of her dancing that close with other guys. Not that
he
ever wanted to dance that close with her. She could remember only one time they had slow danced—at her cousin’s wedding—and there had been at least a foot of space between them as they danced with hands on hips and shoulders, reminding her of elementary school dances in musty gymnasiums.

Julian bent his head and pressed his face into Melody’s hair. She inhaled sharply, surprised by the gesture. When he remained like that, Melody’s eyes drifted closed, and she drank in the moment with all her alcohol-soaked senses.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said into her ear, causing renewed shivers to race up her spine.

The song switched into something with a faster tempo, and someone took Melody’s hand. Her eyes flew open and focused on Olivia’s smiling face. After a beat of staring at her best friend, she realized Julian was no longer behind her. Had she imagined the whole thing? Blacked out and dreamed those wonderful four minutes and the words he’d said to her? She whirled around to search for him and ran straight into a short, curvy blond.

“Oh! I’m so…sorry.” Realization hit Melody and made her feel suddenly sober as she stared down into the wide gray eyes of Rick’s date. She looked past the petite blond to Rick, who was hovering close with his hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“Melody,” he said, swallowing hard. The nervous bobbing of his Adam’s apple almost made Melody laugh.

“
This
is Melody?” the blond said with a sneer in her voice, despite the fake smile plastered to her face.

“Uhh, yeah.” Rick looked as if he wished there were a hole nearby he could crawl into. “Sydney, this is Melody. Melody, this is Sydney, my…”

“His girlfriend,” Sydney piped up, her smile turning slightly smug. Like Rick’s, her teeth were so white, they almost glowed in the dark.

Girlfriend?
Don’t react, don’t react, don’t react
. Olivia gave her back a small nudge, and Melody knew she was thinking the same thing. “Nice to meet you,” she said with a big smile that seemed to throw Sydney off, because her own smile faltered almost imperceptibly. “These are my friends Olivia and Angelica. We were actually just about to head to the bar for a refill, so if you’ll excuse us…” She could feel Olivia latch onto her hand from behind, and as she started to pass the couple Melody paused beside Rick and said in a sugary voice, “Great to see you, Rick.”

Turning to make sure Olivia and Angelica were with her, she saw Rick’s eyes widen in surprise. Sydney stiffened and moved closer to him, putting her arms around his waist possessively.

“A little early in a relationship to be so territorial, don’t you think?” Olivia said as they made their way up the steps and headed for the bar.

Melody scoffed. “Kind of pathetic, really. But you know what? Not my problem.”

“Atta girl,” Olivia said proudly, moving forward to flag down the bartender.

“I’ll be right back, I’m just going to the washroom,” Melody said. She waited a beat, accustomed to someone offering to go with her, but Olivia was waiting for their drinks, and Angelica was engaged in conversation with someone a few feet away. Shrugging, she wound her way through the thinning crowd and into the restroom.

When she came out of the stall, she washed her hands, then fished around in her tiny handbag for some lip gloss. Leaning in close to the mirror, she saw movement behind her in the reflection of the glass. Sydney.

Melody carried on with her application of gloss, waiting for Sydney to pass, but after a moment she realized the woman was standing behind her with her arms crossed.

“Plenty of sink space,” Melody pointed out, capping her gloss and sliding it into her purse. She spun around with the intention of moving past Sydney, but Sydney stepped into her path, staring up at her with cold eyes.

“Stay away from Richard,” she said, her voice hard.

“I have absolutely no interest in Rick.” Melody attempted to side step around the shorter woman, but once again she was blocked. Sydney reminded her of a small, tenacious dog.

“Didn’t seem that way on the dance floor,” Sydney snapped.

“What, you gathered that I’m still interested in him by the handful of words I spoke? We were together
three years
, I can’t just
not
speak to him when I literally bump into him,” Melody said, exasperated.

“Yes you can,” Sydney said, her eyes narrowing. “And that’s exactly what you’re going to do if you happen to ‘bump into him’ again. Got it?”

This little woman had a whole lot of nerve. Yet, despite her size, Melody was actually beginning to feel uneasy. The bathroom, which was usually bursting with girls, was empty, and if she were to call for help no one would hear her over the music from the club. Mustering up her bravado, she scoffed. “Are you kidding me? You’re crazy. Now get out of my way.”

She stepped forward quickly, but Sydney shoved her back hard. Melody would have landed on her rear on the floor if she hadn’t caught herself in time on the edge of the sink. What was that saying? Small but mighty? Maybe insanity and jealousy made a person stronger.

Melody pushed herself up and smoothed down her dress. She wanted to lash out and slap Sydney across the face, but that seemed far too dramatic, not to mention unnecessarily violent. This wasn’t some melodramatic chick flick, after all, where the girls start a bathroom brawl, pulling hair, scratching, and biting. She had a feeling that might be Sydney’s style, but it certainly wasn’t hers.

Straightening herself to her full height, Melody stood over Sydney and looked down at her. “Touch me again and you’ll regret it,” she said, amazed that her voice wasn’t shaking. “Now get the hell out of my way.”

Sydney stepped to the side, donning a self-righteous smile. “Just so long as we have an understanding.”

Melody stormed past her, muttering under her breath. “We have an understanding all right, you crazy little troll.” She flung the door open and was taken aback by the sudden blast of music from the club. Slightly disoriented, she stumbled across the floor to the bar, where Olivia and Angelica were waiting with drinks.

“I was just attacked by a munchkin!” she cried, her voice far less steady than it had been a moment before.

Olivia and Angelica stood on either side of her with their arms around her while she recounted what happened in the bathroom. She had barely finished speaking when Olivia said she was going to find Sydney and teach her a thing or two about intimidation.

“No, no, she’s not worth it,” Melody said, grabbing Olivia’s arm. “Just let it go. We’ll probably never see her again anyway.”

“She’d better hope we never do.”

Melody felt a swell of affection for her best friend. She didn’t know many people who would stand up for her, but Olivia always came through. “Shake it off,” she told her, imitating their old high school gym teacher, who encouraged students to shake it off, whether it was a minor ache or a major sprain.

That got a small laugh out of Olivia, and she shook her head. “I’m losing my buzz thanks to that little minion of hell,” she griped. “I think we should do some shots.” She downed the rest of the drink she was holding, and encouraged Melody and Angelica to do the same.

Melody was half tempted just to call it a night and go home, but they’d been having so much fun she was determined not to let someone like Sydney ruin it. She linked arms with Angelica and followed Olivia back to the bar, where the three of them proceeded to down shots of tequila.

After another whirlwind trip to the dance floor, the girls ended up in the quieter part of the club, sitting at a table with a plate of mozzarella sticks between them.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this drunk in my life,” Angelica slurred as she nibbled a gooey mozzarella stick. “I sure hope my mom’s in bed when I get home so she doesn’t see me like this.”

“You can always crash at our place for the night,” Olivia offered.

Angelica waved her suggestion away. “If my mother woke up and realized I wasn’t home she’d probably call the police. She treats me like I’m fifteen instead of twenty-five.” She leaned one elbow on the table and cupped her cheek in her hand, her eyes glassy as they surveyed the room. “Hey look, there’s that guy.”

Melody tensed, thinking Angelica meant Rick. She did
not
need a repeat run-in with Sydney. Slowly, she turned to look where Angelica was pointing, and saw Julian sitting on the couch near the wall. He was engaged in conversation with a raven-haired beauty, but as if sensing Melody watching, he glanced over and shot her a quick grin before returning his attention to the woman beside him.

“Ugh,” Melody groaned. “Guys like him are the reason I need to stay single for awhile. Too hot for their own good, so they think they’re god’s gift to women.”

“Mel, a guy like that
is
god’s gift to women,” Olivia said, eyeing him appreciatively. She turned to Angelica and inclined her head in Julian’s direction. “Back me up here. You saw the way he danced with her. Tell me a guy like that wouldn’t be incredible in bed.”

So Melody
hadn’t
imagined it—she and Julian actually did dance together earlier. She’d almost convinced herself that her drunken mind really had daydreamed the whole thing.

“Mm-hmm,” Angelica agreed, sighing wistfully. “Incredible.”

Melody’s cheeks burned, partly from embarrassment and partly from pleasure. “Anyway,” she said with a shrug, trying to ignore the tingling that had started in her belly at the thought of Julian’s bedroom eyes, “I think he’s already found someone to go home with tonight. And it’s not me.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when Julian rose from the couch and took the woman’s hand to pull her to her feet. Melody ducked her head and let her hair fall forward so she could watch the pair without being too obvious. The woman fished in her purse for something and handed Julian what appeared to be a business card. He took it with a smile, and bent to accept a kiss on the cheek before the woman turned and made her way through the club. Alone.

“Maybe we have him all wrong,” Olivia said, leaning toward Melody. “If all he really wanted was sex, he’d go home with the first girl who approached him, right? I’ve seen at least half a dozen girls talking to him tonight, yet he’s still here. Players aren’t usually so selective, at least from my experience.”

In her peripheral vision, Melody could see Julian approaching. Without a word, he pulled out the fourth chair at their table and sat down.

“Are we having fun tonight, ladies?”

Stunned at how bold he was, Melody was struck speechless. Olivia never seemed to have that problem, though, so she smiled and said, “We are. We’re sad that it’s almost last call, because we’re not ready to leave.”

Julian raised his arm to catch the bartender’s attention, and made a circular motion around the girls. “There’s always next Friday.” He leaned back in his chair and hooked one leg over the other knee. “Something to look forward to during the week.”

The bartender arrived with a tray of drinks and set one in front of each girl. “Anything else, Mr. Reynolds?”

“That’s it for me for tonight. Thanks, Kit,” Julian said. “I’ll be over to settle up before I leave.”

Olivia cocked an eyebrow at Melody before turning to Julian. “Thank you,” she said, raising her glass in a salute before taking a sip. “And thank you for the drinks last night, too.”

“My pleasure,” Julian replied, with a nod of his head. Melody wondered if his hair was as effortlessly tousled on top as it appeared, or if he was one of those guys who spent an hour in front of the mirror and used more hair product than most women did, just to achieve the desired not-really-effortless-but-I-make-it-look-effortless look.

Julian’s eyes moved to Melody and swept over her before his gaze met hers. Before he could speak, Melody said, “Yes, thank you. Very generous of you. This is our friend Angelica, by the way.”

Julian turned his attention to Angelica and smiled. “Angelica,” he said, the name rolling off his tongue like music. He reached across the table to shake her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Angelica smiled shyly and raised her glass the way Olivia had. “Likewise.”

Julian turned back to Melody and leaned closer to her. “So, do you think Atlantis will be your new favourite place? Or did you come back tonight hoping to see me again?”