ARROGANT | HS |

NINETEEN

I held my hand out, ready to take the papers so that she didn't step any closer to me — so I didn't have to hear his name come out of her mouth. "Thank you. For this report."

"Okay, yeah." Clasping her hands in front of her, I barely glance at her as she nervously bites her bottom lip out of habit. "You're welcome."

That's how our entire day goes.

One awkward interaction after another.

We both go our separate ways for lunch and the rest of the day even, the opposite of how we've spent most of our days going to the deli and eating at the park side by side — always on the same bench. Eating alone in my car just doesn't cut it but when it comes to Murphy?

It has to work.

Only when we pack up early do I let my eyes linger on her longer than they should, pushing back how it feels knowing in only a few hours I have to see her wrapped up in someone else who is stuck in love with themself.

I can't wait.

•

"Can I get you anything?"

Looking up at the man dressed in a suit behind the bar, I shake my head. "Just water."

When he turns around, I pull some money from my wallet to slide into the tip jar before looking out over the people still coming into the ballroom. Dressed in gowns and tuxedos, seeing people dressed up makes me want to be excited for the evening.

But I'm not.

Picking up the glass and bringing it to my lips, I let the frigid water coat my tongue as my eyes scan around the room one more time and feel my breath get caught in my throat when I see her.

My Murph.

Bear.

Her shoulders are bare in the strapless midnight blue gown, one that flows all the way down to the floor. From the other side of the room where I'm standing the light bounces off of the dress and in that moment I come to realize that I don't think I've seen anything more beautiful.

Except for when she smiles at me.

That's when she looks the most beautiful.

I was sure of it.

When I see the man behind her, my grasp on the glass tightens. David. Dressed in a suit, his hand is wrapped around Murphy's elbow as he leans down to say something in her ear. As I see her jaw clench, it takes everything in me not to make my way across the room and take her away — to shelter her from all the things that man has ever done to her.

"Are you okay there?" Tearing my gaze away from her and him, I look at the bartender. "That glass is going to shatter if you squeeze it any harder."

Relaxing my grip, I shake my head. "I'm fine. Sorry."

"Have a good night." The bartender gives me a knowing smile before moving to the next guest, leaving me with my water and my bad attitude before I make my way over to my assigned seat.

Unbuttoning my jacket, I sit down and smile at the faces of the people around me and even though I can see their lips moving, I don't register a single sound coming out of them.

My eyes follow Murphy as she stops to talk to everyone with a smile on her face, doing everything I can not to cross the room and either punch the sad excuse for a partner in the face or throw her over my shoulder and leave without plans of coming back.

Her eyes catch mine across the room and I watch as she takes a shuddering breath as her tongue darts out across her ruby painted lips, stopping in her tracks. Only when David nudges her from behind with an annoyed look on his face does she give me a half smile before getting whisked away to another group of people.