He groaned, looking from me to Bradley, the secret service guard that had been sourced in tonight to look after Anna and Cameron in his absence. “I don’t actually want to go,” he muttered.

Anna sighed and gave him the puppy dog face; right then and there I knew he was done for. I’d never seen her not get her own way, he was putty in her hands, and they both knew it. She stepped closer to him and gripped the front of his shirt, playing with the neck of it teasingly with her finger.

“Just go out with your boys. Cam and me will be fine, and you need to have some fun. You’re too tense, Ashton.” She turned to me and smiled. “Make sure he has a nice time tonight, okay?”

“I’m gonna get him trashed,” I confirmed, ignoring Ashton’s protests.

Anna pointed at the open front door. “You two boys get the hell out and don’t come back until you’re good and drunk.”

It took another couple of minutes for Ashton to finally leave her and his newborn son in the capable hands of the other guard. As I watched him talking sternly to Bradley about what to do if there was an emergency, I silently wondered if I would ever get to the point where I was so concerned about someone else’s safety that I would put their happiness above my own. I actually didn’t hold out much hope for it; after all, there couldn’t be two girls that were as incredible as Anna in the world. My mind flitted to Rosie again – it had been doing that a lot recently and it was driving me crazy. Tonight though, I vowed only to think of two things: alcohol and sex. I refused to let Rosie and her beautiful smile invade my dreams tonight again while I slept alone.

By the time we arrived at the bar, Seth was already drunk. He was leaning on the bar heavily, doing shots with our other two close friends Wayne and Ryan. As we approached the bar, I put in an order for eight shots of tequila, watching as Ashton frowned and groaned. “Anna told me I had to get you drunk tonight so she could take advantage of you.” I laughed.

He shrugged. “She’d do that anyway whether I’m drunk or not.”

“Yeah, but she said if I get you really wasted that she’d take advantage of me too, so I’m gonna get you so drunk that I have to carry you home and then I’m gonna have me some fun with your wife.” I smiled teasingly making him laugh. He knew I was joking, the idea of Anna being with anyone but him was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard. When the drinks were made I passed one to the other four guys, pushing two towards Ashton and keeping two for myself.

“We need to catch up,” I explained to his horrified face. “On three.”

After we’d had a few drinks, we were all standing around talking and laughing. I felt a little tipsy, but not drunk yet. When a group of girls breezed past us, Ashton reached out, grabbing one of their hands, pulling her to a stop.

The girl turned quickly. “Hey!” she cried angrily, tugging her hand out of his grip. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of her. It was her; the girl I’d been thinking about for the last five days; the only girl that had ever turned me down flat. Her face softened immediately as she looked up at my best friend.

“Oh, Ashton! Sorry, I didn’t realise it was you.” She stepped forward, hugging him affectionately.

“Hey, Rosie, what are you doing here? I thought you were going for dinner tonight with your sister.” He looked over her shoulder and smiled at the other girls that were with her.

“Yeah, we went for dinner, but then they wanted to come dancing.”

Her eyes flicked to me for a second but held no recognition whatsoever. I recoiled. She didn’t even recognise me? I must have made even less of an impression than I thought!

“So where’s DJ tonight?” Ashton asked.

Rosie’s eyes softened at the mention of his name. My interest was instantly piqued. Was DJ the guy she was seeing that she was in love with?

“He’s still in Barstow. He’ll be coming here on Tuesday once I’ve got everything sorted.” She smiled happily.

As she spoke, my eyes roamed over her. She looked incredible tonight. When I’d seen her at the hospital, I thought she looked beautiful in a pair of jeans and sneakers; now though, she was dressed to kill. The little black skirt that she wore came to mid-thigh and made her legs look perfectly lickable. Her dark blue top that hung off the shoulders, was fairly loose but still hinted at what was underneath. Her hair was down tonight and was in loose waves down her back. Every single inch of her was making my mouth water, and I was racking my brains thinking of the best line I could think of to use on her. I had another shot tonight to make her forget her man, and I was certainly set on taking it.

“How’s the new place? Anna said you were settling in okay,” Ashton queried.

She’s moved already? Hmm, that’s news to me! Wonder why Anna and Ashton haven’t told me that little titbit of information.

“It’s okay, it’s weird being here, but I’m looking forward to starting work on Monday,” Rosie replied. One of her friends touched her arm and I heard her say something about wanting to dance. Her friend glanced at Ashton shyly; her eyes drifted down his body with an appreciative bite of her lip – but, as usual, he was completely oblivious to the attention. Since he’d gotten with Anna, it was almost as if he didn’t even see other girls anymore.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. You’re still coming over for dinner?” Ashton asked curiously.

She’s going to their place for dinner tomorrow? Well this just gets better and better, maybe I’ll invite myself over too…

“Definitely” she answered, leaning in and hugging him again. “See you then.”

As she turned to walk off Ashton called her name, making her stop for a second time. “If you get in any trouble tonight and need any help then I’ll be here for a little while. When I go, you can still come to my friends, okay?” he said sternly.

Rosie’s eyes darted to me again, and I had time to smile this time before she looked away. “I have a feeling your friends are the trouble I’d need help with.” She winked at him and walked off through the crowd.

I stared after her in shock. I must have seriously lost my mojo – or was it just her? A quick experiment would tell. I turned to the nearest girl and smiled seductively. “Hi, I’m Mr Right. I heard you were looking for me,” I stated confidently. She giggled and blushed, nudging her friend. My whole body relaxed at her reaction. Clearly it was just Rosie that had no interest in me. Again, I wondered if the beautiful little brunette was a lesbian.

The girl I had used the pick-up line on was talking to me, but I wasn’t interested in her. I was too busy looking through the crowd, watching Rosie shake her little ass on the dance floor. I stared after her in shock, then with more than a hint of lust as she started to dance. I groaned and turned back to Ashton, ignoring the girl who was trying to get my attention.

“What’s the deal with her? She’s not interested in me at all!” I complained.

He laughed and gripped my shoulder, squeezing gently. “She’s not your type, Nate. Let it go.” He pushed me towards the bar again, shaking his head.

“Why not? Come on she’s a girl, she’s my type,” I countered, crossing my arms over my chest. The girl was seriously denting my ego.

“Nate, Rosie is Anna’s best friend and she’s an incredible person. She doesn’t deserve you dicking her around and using her. Let it go,” he replied.

I sighed and frowned. I could understand him not wanting me to hurt Anna’s friend, of course, but it was freaking annoying being told I wasn’t allowed to pursue her.

I desperately wanted to sleep with her. In a way, I needed to. There was an awful nagging sensation in the back of my head that told me that she would be playing on my mind for a long time if didn’t. I didn’t want to be imagining what it would be like to run my tongue down her body, I wanted to do it – maybe then I’d realise that it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I only wanted her because she didn’t want me, at least, I hoped that was the reason I wanted her. It scared me a little just how much I longed for her. I was a player, my instincts were telling me to grab the nearest girl and take her out the back for some fun… but my eyes wouldn’t stop looking through the crowd for Rosie.

I forced my eyes away and looked at Ashton. “So you’re saying I can’t go over there and dance with her?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Go find some other girl and leave Anna’s friend alone.”

Cock blocked, damn. I nodded reluctantly.

Drinking games started not long after Ashton forbade me from hitting on Anna’s friend. All the time we were standing there, I tried desperately not to look at her, but I couldn’t keep my eyes in check. Every few minutes I’d glance over, watching her dance or laugh with her friends. I decided that she looked adorable when she laughed. Her nose crinkled and her eyes shone.

After another hour, Ashton bailed out. He actually lasted longer than I thought he would. “I’m leaving. Have a good night, and happy birthday, Seth,” he said, smiling apologetically.

“Taylor, you’re a lightweight!” Seth scolded, shaking his head in disapproval.

Ashton shrugged unashamedly. “Maybe, but when you have a little hottie waiting for you at home and a baby that you know is going to wake you up early in the morning, you’ll be a lightweight too.” He turned to me and gave me a quick man-hug. “See you in the week, yeah?”

“Sure, buddy. Maybe I’ll pop by tomorrow. I’m not working so I could come hang out or something,” I suggested, trying to look innocent so he wouldn’t know I was going there to see Rosie.

He saw straight through me though, a knowing smile on his lips as he rolled his eyes. “Right, well then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As soon as he walked off, my whole body was trying to force me to go and find Rosie. I was fighting it the best I could though. I knew he was right; this was Anna’s friend, and I would probably see her a lot so I couldn’t exactly ruin everything and make it awkward for us to be in the same room.

After a few more drinks though, I completely forgot the reason I was supposed to be staying away from her. As she walked past me with one of her friends and headed to the bar, leaning on it and waiting to be served, I grinned and followed. My eyes were glued to her behind the whole time.

I leant on the bar next to her. “Hey, muffin,” I greeted.

She smiled. “Nate, we meet again.”

“So, are you gonna let me buy you a drink?”

Her friend was completely checking me out. If I wanted to, I could have her, I knew that, but the annoying thing was, I didn’t want her. The one I wanted was smirking back at me looking so sexy in her little skirt that I could barely suppress the urge to wrap my arm around her and crush her body against mine.

“Why’s that? Gonna put some Rohypnol in there to help your chances of this latest flirting session working out in your favour?” Rosie replied cockily, playfully bumping my side with hers.

“It does look like drugging you is the only way I’m going to get you into bed,” I confirmed, playing along.

When the barman stopped in front of her, checking her out while she rattled off her order, she didn’t even seem to notice his flirting. I puffed out my chest, happy that it wasn’t just my flirting that she was immune to.

“So, you moved in alright then?” I asked, wanting to keep her talking as long as possible.

She scrunched her nose up and nodded. “Yeah, it was a pain in the butt, but it’s done now. I’d better go take these drinks to the girls.” She motioned to the tray the barman put down in front of her. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that I didn’t get to speak to her for longer.

“Want a hand?” I offered, reaching for the tray.

She smiled and shook her head, slapping the back of my hand teasingly. “If you think I’m letting you anywhere near my drink, then you’ve got another thing coming,” she joked, winking at me as she picked up the tray and walked off without another word. I laughed and just watched her walk away. She didn’t even look over her shoulder at me.

“Well, shit,” I mumbled. How was I going to get this girl interested in me? I walked over to a confused-looking Seth.

“Did you just get rejected?” he asked, clearly shocked as I stopped at his side.

“Yep,” I confirmed.

His mouth popped open and he looked over at Rosie with wide eyes. “Seriously? What did she say?”

I shrugged. “I met her the other day. That’s about the twentieth time she’s brushed me off.”

One of his eyebrows rose, obviously interested in a challenge. “I’m going to try.”

As he strutted away from me, I barely managed to stop myself from grabbing him and punching him in the face. I watched as he stopped at her side. Please don’t get it on with my friend, please, please, please! He had his game face on as he put his arm around her shoulder, smirking at her cockily. I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. After he finished talking she said something in return, which made him lift his arm from her shoulder and hold up his hands innocently. He backed away a step and shook his head, saying something else. My whole body relaxed.

A frown resided on Seth’s face as he stalked back over to me. “She’s a lesbian,” he stated, picking up his beer and downing the rest quickly.

I burst out laughing. “That’s exactly what I said.”

A while later, Ryan came back from the bathroom with a smug smile plastered on his face. “Nate, your girl doesn’t bat for the other team. I’ve just heard her and her friends talking. They’re all trying to get her to give someone a chance tonight. She just gave in and said that, to shut them up, she’ll dance with the tenth guy that hits on her. Apparently there’s already been four guys try tonight,” he reported.