I stopped in front of her, and Josie’s surprised gaze met mine. She wasn’t expecting me to approach her, especially not in front of her dad, and I couldn’t blame her. I hadn’t expected that this was what I would be doing either.
I just knew that I had to.
"You look beautiful tonight, Josie."
Josie’s gaze bounced to her father before it met mine again, and I knew that she was careful with what she said next. I could feel her tension in the same way I had felt Frankie’s, and I didn’t know if it was simply caused by me or because her father was watching us with an unrelenting stare.
"Thank you." Her voice was curt and dismissive, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss the living shit out of her.
"Mr. Vos." I nodded my head, and his scowl only deepened. I knew the man hated me, and if I was smart, I would have walked away as quickly as I had approached.
But I was never smart when it came to his daughter.
I didn’t think I would start being so now.
Not when she looked like that.
"Beckham, it looks like your father is looking for you." His voice was as dismissive as Josie’s, and I wondered if that was where she had learned it from.
I looked over my shoulder to my dad, and Mr. Vos was right. He was staring daggers into my back. He was probably worried that I was causing an
even bigger shitstorm than I already had.
But the truth was that I didn’t care what Mr. Vos or my dad thought when it came to me and Josie. I only needed to convince her, and everyone else would melt away.
Their opinions and disproval wouldn’t matter at all if she really wanted to be with me.
"Josie, would you like to dance?" I could have sworn her eyes sparkled as I ignored her father and spoke directly to her. I wanted her to know how little I cared about him or his opinion of me. I wanted her to know that I only cared about her and making up for all the shit things I had done.
And I knew that what I did to her in the locker room didn’t help with any of that. What I did in the locker room was the exact opposite of what I was trying to accomplish.
"Not right now." She tucked in closer to her father, and I swear everything in my body ran cold. I knew that she didn’t like her father, and I couldn’t believe that everything I had done had made her feel like she needed his protection over me.
It made me feel sick.
"Okay. Later then." I smiled at her and tried to keep the anger out of my voice. I didn’t acknowledge her father again as I let my gaze run down the length of her dress, then turned away from her.
I had to get away before I said something I would regret, before I made her hate me even more with something stupid I knew I was likely to say.
I didn’t go back to my table either. I went to the back of the ballroom and grabbed a glass of champagne from a wandering waiter. Everyone here knew that I was far too young to be drinking, but not a single one of them stopped me.
That would be up to my parents and them alone, and I made sure to stay out of their line of sight as I swallowed down the entire glass in a few gulps. I spotted Carson leaning against the back wall with a slim brunette on his side.
I didn’t recognize the girl, but that didn’t mean anything.
I walked up to him and smiled at the girl. She was pretty and smiling up at Carson like he was the best thing she had ever seen, and I knew that he already had her on his line.
"You coming back to the table?" I interrupted him, and he looked up at me with a bored expression that told me to get lost.
"Do you need me?"
"I do." I put my hand on his shoulder and gave the girl a gentle smile. "I can’t keep your girlfriend company much longer. She’s starting to worry where you are."
The girl huffed before stomping her foot and storming away from him.
He ran his hand down his face and groaned as I laughed.
"You are such a dick. You know that?"
"I do." I leaned my back against the wall next to his and stared out over the ballroom. "But you don’t need any more notches on your belt. That girl looked like she would be in love with you before you even got off."
"So, what? You were saving me?"
"Exactly."
Carson pulled a small flask from his pocket and took a sip before passing it to me.
"I saw you over there with the Voses. What was that about?"
"You saw that through your flirting game?" I took a long sip from the flask, and the dark liquor burned my throat.
"I’m a multitasker, Beck. You should practice that talent."
I handed him his flask back, and he tucked it back down into his pocket.
"I was over there asking Josie for a dance."
"Shit." He laughed, and I turned my head to look at him.
"What’s so funny about that?"
"She turned you down."
I couldn’t help smiling because he was right. She had. "Technically, she said not right now."
"She was just being nice. I bet you a hundred dollars she doesn’t dance with you at all."
"You’re so full of yourself. Of course, she’s going to dance with me."
He shook his head like he didn’t believe it for a second. "I’ll even sweeten it for you. A hundred dollars says she doesn’t dance with you. Two hundred says I can convince her to dance with me."
There was no way in hell she was dancing with Carson, and not just because I didn’t want her to. I knew that she wouldn’t fall for his charms like every other skirt he chased. "Fine." I held out my hand, and he took it in his.
"All right. Let’s head back to the table to eat, then I have to go on the hunt."
I rolled my eyes because he was absolutely absurd, but I still followed him back toward the table where we had to pass his almost conquest before I
had interrupted. She was staring daggers at him, and I couldn’t help laughing as he tried to look anywhere but at her.
By the time we got back to the table, some chairperson for the charity started talking into the mic. He was droning on and on about what the money that was being raised tonight would be used for and how this was the biggest and most beneficial event of the year.
He named both my father and Joseph Vos as top contributors to the charity, and everyone clapped as the two of them lifted their heads in acknowledgment.
I spotted Josie sitting next to her father. She was paying close attention to the presenter, but all I could look at was her. I had never seen her look so… I didn’t even know the word for it. Beautiful felt far too simple and overused.
She looked like she was right where she belonged. In that dress with her head held high and her gaze empty of worries.
If I cared about her at all, I would just walk away and let her live in peace. It would be the gentlemanly thing to do. It was what my father had told me over and over was the only option between me and Josie, but as my phone buzzed in my pocket and I checked the text that had just come through, I knew that wasn’t possible.
Stop staring at me. I’m not going to dance with you.
My gaze flicked up to hers, but she still wasn’t looking at me. She looked like she had no concerns in the world, especially no concerns with texting me.
I can’t. You look so freaking gorgeous tonight.
She bowed her head and looked down at her lap, and I knew that she was reading my text. She raised her head, staring straight at me, and I had not a damn clue what she was thinking.
It took several minutes before she text back, and I could feel myself getting more and more anxious as the seconds ticked by.
Too bad it’s not for you.
I smiled because I knew she didn’t mean it. She just wanted to get a rise out of me, and it was working.