“What did you want, sweetness?” He tilted his head toward the waiting bartender, who’d lost her flirty smile and straightened up so her boobs weren’t about to pop out of her top anymore. Not quite, anyway.
Finally finding her voice, Hannah croaked, “Just water.”
The bartender nodded, filled a glass with ice and water, and slid it to Hannah before filling a frosted glass from a tap and shoving an orange slice on the rim. She set the glass on the bar, took the guy’s money, and moved on to flirt with the next group of guys who’d sidled up to the bar.
Hannah gulped her water and moved away from the hand on her waist. He let it drop without protest and followed her away from the bar.
He leaned down so he could speak into her ear. “Sorry about that. I saw the way she was ignoring you and figured I’d help you out. There wasn’t time to explain before she came over. I wasn’t trying to creep on you or anything.” He smiled again, and Hannah smiled back, a full smile this time.
“I guess I should say thank you then.”
“You’re welcome. I’m Evan, by the way.”
“Hannah.” She moved toward an open table, wanting to sit down. Over an hour of dancing in the strappy heels Elena insisted she wear meant that her feet were killing her. She hadn’t noticed it much on the dance floor, but now she was just standing, her feet throbbed in time with the music. Evan followed, pulling the other chair around the table next to hers.
Plucking the orange slice off the rim of his glass, he squeezed it into his beer before taking a drink. Then he leaned in close to her, pitching his voice loud enough to carry over the music. “Are you here alone?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m here with a friend.” She waved a hand toward the crowd. “She’s dancing. I needed a break and some water.”
He nodded, and Hannah looked him over. The colorful flashing lights of the club made it hard to see him well, but she liked what she could make out. Tall, broad, his shirt clinging to muscular shoulders, hinting at more muscles beneath without being overly tight all over. She couldn’t tell what color his short hair or his eyes were, but she liked his smile. Since she’d come with Elena to try to meet guys, she figured she should make more of an effort here.
She smiled at him, leaning closer now. “What about you? Are you here with anyone?”
He smiled back, nodding. “Yeah. My friend Duncan turned twenty-one this week, so we’re all here partying with him.” He pointed to a group of guys standing around a high-top table laughing and drinking, a few of them had girls in skimpy clubwear hanging off of them.
One of the guys saw Evan pointing and stumbled in their direction. “Coop! There you are!”
Hannah wrinkled her brows, looking at the guy next to her. “I thought you said your name is Evan.”
He shrugged, taking a drink of his beer. “It is. My last name’s Coopman. The guys on the team call me Coop for short.”
“The team?”
“Football.”
With a nod, Hannah gulped down the rest of her water. Matt had been on the football team. Evan probably knew Matt. Which mean Hannah could find out about Matt. Had he ever mentioned her? Probably not. What was she thinking? Spinning her glass between her hands, she sunk her teeth into her upper lip to keep herself from asking any of the questions running through her mind.
She was saved from further temptation by Evan’s friend barging over to their table and clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Dude! I thought you were just getting a refill. What are you doing sitting here? Come back to the party!”
Evan looked at Hannah. “This is Duncan.” He turned to Duncan and inclined his head toward her. “Duncan, meet Hannah. We were just hanging out for a second. She needed to sit, and I was waiting for her to feel up to dancing again before inviting her to join us.”
“If you’re worried about sitting, you both need more to drink! Come on! Bottoms up!” Duncan seemed to notice that Hannah’s glass was empty. “What’re you drinking? Never mind. Come over to our table, we’ll get you sorted. We’ve got plenty.” He gestured at Evan. “This one’s too snobby for our pitchers of beer, but I’m sure you won’t mind.”
Hannah opened her mouth to respond, but Duncan was off, lurching back to the table he’d come from, raising his glass high in the air and shouting. “Whoo! Happy birthday to me!”
Evan grinned at her. “What do you say? Wanna come hang out for a while? I won’t insist you get drunk, but you might have more fun over there if you do.”
Even though Hannah pretended to think it over for a minute, she’d already made up her mind. She knew Matt had already graduated, so he couldn’t be on the team. There was no way he’d be here. Even if these guys knew him, she doubted it would matter. Here was this cute guy who seemed interested in her. He’d already helped her out when she needed a drink. And even if having his arm around her had startled her at first, she’d actually enjoyed the way it felt. Plus, Elena would kill her if she turned him down. A couple more drinks, some dancing, what was the harm?
She smiled widely. “Sure.”
Evan smiled back at her, drained the last of his beer, and stood. His hand went to the small of her back as he ushered her over to his group of friends, and Hannah sunk into the feeling of a guy paying attention to her, claiming her, even if only for the night.
When they arrived at the tall tables where Evan’s friends were gathered, the group split apart, making room for them. Hannah stepped into the gap, Evan moving close beside her, angling his body so
