This was getting out of hand.
Stanley held up his fist. “Good looking out, dog.”
Charlie exchanged dabs with Stanley while Anna looked on with horror. Say something. But what? Stanley looked so proud of himself that she was afraid hurting his undersized ego in front of his boys would be tantamount to kicking a box full of puppies.
“I, uh—”
“Let’s go, T,” Charlie said and then winked at Stanley and Anna. “And you two, don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”
Stanley’s chest puffed out even farther. “C’mon, man. You know how I do.”
If Anna wasn’t mistaken, she would’ve sworn that she saw a flicker of disappointment in Taariq’s eyes. But in the next breath, he said, “You two play it safe.”
Stanley waved them off.
Taariq cast another look in Anna’s direction and then headed out the front door behind Charlie. The moment he walked out of the fraternity house, her body suddenly seemed to need oxygen. She sucked in a deep breath. But when that didn’t steady her nerves, she remembered the drink in her hand and downed its contents in one gulp.
Stanley blinked in stunned silence.
“Ahh. I guess I needed that.” Anna handed her empty glass back to him.
“Um. Okay.” He cleared his throat. “Would you like another one?”
“No. I’m good,” she told him, allowing the awkward silence between them to drift and expand, while everyone else in the frat house was bumping and grinding to Shaggy’s “Bombastic.” More than a few rocking hips and butts bumped her closer to Stanley, so much so that he got the wrong idea.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked, setting her glass down on a table.
“I don’t know. Maybe I should be getting back to my dorm room.” She gave her best apologetic smile.
“What? But you just got here.” He grabbed her hand. “C’mon. Don’t be a party pooper. You can share one dance with me. I swear I won’t embarrass you.”
Anna dug her heels in a bit, hoping that it would buy her brain enough time to come up with another excuse. It didn’t.
“C’mon,” Stanley urged again with another tug. “Show me what you’re working with.” He started popping his hips and surprisingly had pretty good rhythm … for a white boy. “Ah. You didn’t think I knew anything about this here, did you?”
Damn. He’s a better dancer than I am. The realization made her laugh.
“See? I told you that I wasn’t going to embarrass you.” He moved in close then busted out a few more slick moves.
A few partiers peeped his style and started pointing and egging him on. After a few dance songs, Anna realized that she was actually starting to have a good time.
The crowd chanted. “Go, white boy! Get busy! It’s your birthday! You know it!”
Stanley looked as if he was on top of the world with the adulation. A little later with his confidence sky-high, Stanley decided to make his move and lure Anna into a corner of the crowded house. No sooner did he get her over there did Charlie and Taariq throw open the door, lugging in a keg of beer.
“Everybody ready to get their party on?” Taariq shouted.
The crowd responded with a thunderous, “Hell, yeah!”
Someone jacked the music even louder. Anna could barely hear herself think. Oddly enough, her gaze didn’t initially stray to Charlie, but looked over to Taariq and his infectious smile. She also noticed that there were at least a dozen or so women smiling and batting their eyelashes at him.
However, Taariq glanced over at her. The heat started up again and her stomach looped into knots as if she was about to bungee jump off the side of Stone Mountain. What the hell was going on with her?
“I’m glad to see that you’re having such a good time,” Stanley said, handing her another rum and coke.
“Uh? What?” Anna forced her eyes to swing back toward Stanley. Guilt inched up her spine. It’s time, she told herself. She couldn’t continue to give the man false hope. Shakily, she drew in a deep breath. “Stanley, we need to talk.”
Instantly, his smile melted. “Uh, oh. That’s not a good sign.”
“Well, I just think that we need to get a few things cleared up … about you and me.”
“Definitely not a good sign.” He reached for his own beer and took a quick swig. “Let me guess. You don’t like me.”
“No.”
Stanley’s shoulders slumped. “Damn. Really?”
“I mean I like you,” she rushed to get her foot out of her mouth. “I just don’t like you in the way that you want me to.” She winced and held her breath, hoping that she didn’t completely destroy Stanley’s fragile ego. “I mean … I look at you like a brother.”
“Oh.” He dropped his gaze and stared at his bottle of beer. “A brother. Great.”
“I’m so sorry, Stanley.” Anna placed her hand on his shoulder. “You’re a nice guy.”
“Oh, God. Not the nice guy routine,” he moaned. “That’s starting to be the story of my life.”
She cupped the bottom of his chin and tilted it up. “There is nothing wrong with being a nice guy. We just don’t have that kind of connection. You know what I mean? “
“You mean like the connection you feel toward Charlie?” He lifted his head and trapped her with his vibrant blue gaze.
“What?”
Stanley shrugged. “I’m not stupid … and I’m damn sure not blind. I’ve seen how you look at him. All googly-eyed and everything.” He shrugged. “I mean a lot of girls like Charlie … and Derrick … and Hylan … and Taariq. Hell. I’m the odd man out.”
“Stanley—”
“No. No. It’s okay. I’m used to it.”
Now she felt like crap. “I’m sorry. But I really feel that there’s a girl out there that’s going to be perfect for you,” Anna comforted even as a horrible thought occurred to her. Oh, God, if Stanley knows …
“Don’t worry. I don’t think Charlie has a clue,” Stanley said as if he’d just heard her private thoughts. “He’s my dog and everything. But like I said, he’s used to women looking at him googly-eyed.”
That wasn’t comforting. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I hope that we can still be friends?”
Stanley attempted to smile, but it failed miserably.
She felt the need to say something else. But the right words failed her and she was left to just awkwardly watch him drain the rest of his beer.
“Well. Enjoy the rest of the party,” Stanley said, avoiding her gaze and then peeling away from her so fast that she didn’t have time to stop him.
“Great. Way to go, Anna,” she mumbled under her breath, convinced that Stanley was going to hate her forever. She tossed back her second drink and then reminded herself that she had a low tolerance level.
Notorious B.I.G.'s “One More Chance” started thumping from the speakers and everyone threw their hands up and started rocking to the smooth beats. Anna scanned the crowd again, searching for Charlie.
“Now