Sea Breeze 04 - Just for Now

easier.”
    Willow rolled her eyes.
    As the song ended I glanced back up at the dance floor to see Preston walking toward us with the girl he’d been dancing with following close behind him. At least he wasn’t touching her. Normally, Preston had his hands all over the girls he played around with.
    His focus was on me, and I was extremely grateful that Marcus’s back was turned to the dance floor. The waitress placed a coaster and my Coke down on the table in front of me. I dropped my eyes from Preston’s and took a sip of the cold soda.
    “Hey, Low,” he said once he got to the table. “Amanda.”
    I didn’t lift my gaze to his. I simply replied with “Hello” and kept drinking.
    “Hey, Preston,” Willow said cheerily. “Haven’t seen you on campus yet. We must have no classes together.”
    “Guess not,” he replied.
    “I want a beer,” the girl said as she took the empty seat beside me. “Hi, I’m Jill.” It took all my restraint not to shove her off the stool.
    “Amanda. It’s nice to meet you,” I replied. The politeness was trained into me. My mother had drilled it into my head. I could feel Preston’s eyes on me. He was watching me. Did he think I would be rude to her? Just because he’d chosen her to screw tonight instead of me? I’d have to dislike the entire town if that was the case. He’d slept with most of the women in it.
    “Oh, you’re Marcus’s little sister. I remember seeing you with Sadie White.”
    She knew Sadie? “How do you know Sadie?” Because she was not the kind of girl Sadie made friends with.
    “I don’t know her. I know of her. I’m a huge Jax Stone fan.”
    That made more sense.
    “Amanda is dating Jax Stone’s brother,” Willow chimed in, smiling brightly.
    “You are?” the girl asked in a disbelieving voice.
    “No, not really,” I replied, shaking my head and wishing to God that Willow would shut up.
    “He is trying real hard. He was texting her today and making her smile awfully big.”
    This was my cue to leave. I reached for my purse and didn’t make eye contact with anyone.
    “Jason Stone is still contacting you? Didn’t he leave with Sadie and Jax?” Marcus asked curiously.
    Crud. I wasn’t going to get away from this.
    “You’re still talking to Jason?” Preston asked, surprising me. I hadn’t expected him to pipe up in this conversation. Not with Marcus sitting here. I looked at Marcus to answer. I would not look at Preston. This was not his business.
    “Yeah, he’s in LA. He just wants to see if we might could see each other again sometime.”
    Willow covered up a laugh with a cough. I shot her a pleading look to please not say anything more. She understood and nodded.
    “He wants to date you?” that girl, Jill, said. “His picture is plastered all over the place with models and actresses.” The disbelieving tone of her voice was grating on my nerves. I was well aware that I couldn’t exactly compete with his normal choice in females, but surprisingly, Jason Stone liked something about me. Even if Preston Drake didn’t want me.
    “I need to go. I’ve got a paper to write, and I need to check in on Mom,” I said, standing up.
    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Don’t leave because of my big mouth.” Willow sounded concerned.
    I smiled at her reassuringly. “Really, I didn’t mean to come in and stay. I just wanted to say hello to everyone. Now Preston can have my seat.”
    I didn’t glance over at him.
    “Thank you so much for today. You were so much help, and I had so much fun with you,” Willow said, standing up to hug me.
    “I loved it,” I replied, and hugged her, then stepped back and made one big sweep of the table, including Preston, who was still standing on the other side of Jill, watching me.
    “Bye, y’all.” I waved, then turned and headed for the door. I could not get out of here fast enough. This was a bad idea. I wouldn’t be back here. Not for a while. Pretending like Preston wasn’t a man whore was easier when I didn’t have to witness it. Tonight was a reminder I needed but really wanted to forget.
    “Manda,” Preston’s voice called out from behind me the moment I touched the handle on my car.
    What was he doing ?
    I could act like I didn’t hear him and open the door and get inside and drive away. Or I could see what had him running out here to talk to me. My decision making only gave him time to reach me. My escape plan was no longer possible.
    “What do you