Of course, she never actually went out with any other guys alone. But she did make sure she did enough flirting at these parties that it would likely get back to Alex in case he thought she might be waiting around on him pathetically.
Seeing him stroll in tonight with that whore hanging all over him was more than she could stomach. Valerie had been trying for some time now to stop with the games, but this stung like hell. Hearing about him with other girls was one thing. This was different. It’d been hard enough to catch her breath and not give into what actually seeing him with someone else did to her. She wanted to lunge at the bitch and scratch her eyes out. As many times as she’d been tempted to, she’d never lowered herself to that, and she wouldn’t now. Though, lately, the entitlement she’d begun to feel about being the only girl allowed to touch him had reached new heights.
There was a better way of showing Alex what she was feeling. After managing to pull her eyes away from them, she turned back to the guy she was dancing with on the dance floor. As with every guy she ever danced with when Alex wasn’t around, she only danced fast songs. Nothing that would allow them to touch her—ever.
Hearing about her dancing even like this would be enough to piss Alex off, but there was no way he could complain. She’d heard rumor after rumor about him with other girls. More than once those rumors had been about Nadine’s skanky ass publicly throwing herself at him and, like tonight, him clearly not rejecting her. But there was never any real evidence that he’d actually been with someone else or Nadine. It was all hearsay. Valerie knew she was delusional to think he hadn’t, but until she knew that he had for a fact, she’d hold out hope. This understanding between the two of them had been going on for so long now everyone knew Valerie didn’t even like to hear the rumors anymore unless they had something concrete.
Her cousin Sarah was the only one who bothered to still mention the rumors to Valerie. Unlike Valerie, Sarah had been in a long-term committed relationship and was now engaged, ironically, to Alex’s younger brother, Angel. So a lot of times she would get the inside scoop on what Alex was up to. It worried Sarah that Valerie was going to get her heart crushed, so she always said she just wanted to give Valerie a heads up. Sarah didn’t want Valerie to be blindsided.
That’s exactly how she felt now. Though she reasoned that Alex didn’t appear too thrilled to have Nadine hanging on his arm as they walked in. He looked distracted—annoyed even—as if he’d been looking for someone. Possibly Valerie.
Delusional.
In any case, she’d let him find her all right, and when he did, he’d get an eyeful because the image of that bitch sashaying in with him was already burning a hole in Valerie’s brain. And that burn was spreading fast. She could hardly stand it. As immature as this was, she wanted him to feel the raw burn too.
Shaking her ass a bit more seductively than she ever did around other guys, she danced her way up to Ivan, the tall well-built baseball player she’d been dancing with for a while. She’d danced with and hung out with Ivan before. He was sweet, but, most importantly, he was safe. He wasn’t aggressive like some of the other guys she sometimes flirted with at parties. Though in the past he had insinuated more than once that they should maybe go back to her dorm room or his, he’d never been pushy or rude about it.
The look in Ivan’s eyes said it all when she danced up to him and slipped her hand in his. He was surprised but pleased. Immediately, he swayed his hips against hers, bringing his other hand around her waist and pulling her closer to him. Valerie’s heart spiked when she glanced up casually to see Alex already heading toward them with that ever-menacing expression on his face.
She practically jerked away from Ivan when her eyes met Alex’s. “Let’s go,” he said the moment he reached her, too matter-of-factly.
“Go where?” she asked, pulling away from Ivan and dropping his hand.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, turning to give Ivan a purposeful glare. “You’re drunk. I’ll take you home.”
It was only then that she saw Romero rushing through the crowd behind Alex. “Why would I leave with you?” she asked, the image of Nadine all over him still scorching her brain.
“Why wouldn’t you?” Alex raised an eyebrow then turned to Ivan. “Or does he think he’s taking you home?”
“First of all, I’m not drunk,” Valerie spat back, angry again about who he’d arrived with though the bitch was nowhere around now. “And why not? You really expect me to leave with you? I saw who you came here with, Alex.”
“I came here with Romero,” he said quickly.
“Yeah,” Romero said sauntering up from behind him. “But don’t worry”—he smirked—“I already have a ride home.” He winked at Valerie, who had to refrain from rolling her eyes.
For years, she’d known Romero and Alex were one and the same. How and why she continued to believe Alex might soon change when he never had was beyond infuriating and humiliating. She should’ve walked away a long time ago. Why she stuck around only to continue torturing herself was just stupid.
To her dismay, Ivan didn’t stay quiet. “If she doesn’t wanna go with you, man—”
“Stop.” Valerie jumped in front of Alex instantly, her open hand firmly against his hard chest.
The moment Ivan had spoken, Alex had taken a step closer to him, fisting his hand. The tightening of his jaw was a clear indication of one thing. Either she jumped in front of him as she had or Ivan was about to see stars.