Alex and Annie: A Bad Jokes Spinoff

Chapter 8 (Alex): Annie Was Mine

After we'd received our drinks, we watched the dancing on the first floor and things were pretty calm until Shelby started in.

"Come dance with me, Alex. Come on."

"I'm not dancing," I said.

"Want to dance, Annie?" Creighton asked.

She smiled at him. "Sure! I'm ready to try new things."

"I'll show you some new things," he said, and I stood up, ready to break his legs.

"It's too crowded to dance," I declared.

"If they're going to dance, we should," Shelby said to me, tugging on my hand.

"Holy shit, this was so worth coming out tonight," Justice whispered to Gracie, loud enough for all of us to hear.

"I'm not dancing, and I don't think Annie should, either."

At my statement, Annie rolled her eyes at me and walked off with Creighton the asshole, who checked out no fewer than three women once they hit the dance floor. I stood at the railing, making sure he watched over her carefully. And didn't try any sneaky shit with her.

Some man from another VIP table came over and asked Gracie to dance, then when she turned him down he asked Justice to dance. Turned down again, he tried his luck with Shelby, who practically jumped up from the table.

"Are you sure you don't mind me dancing with another man, Alex?" she asked.

"Why would I?" I asked, and with an angry huff, she took off with the guy.

And then I was surrounded by the Bad Jokes on both sides of me at the railing, Gracie and Justice on one side, Rory and Xane on the other.

"So, Alex, you and Annie..." Rory started.

"What?"

"What'd you do to piss her off?" Justice asked. "That woman is mad at you."

"Nothing!" I said. "I didn't do anything to make her mad."

I saw the three of them exchange skeptical glances.

"I didn't," I protested. Because I hadn't.

"Did you cheat on her?" Justice asked.

"What? No! We're not even really together."

"Not even really together?" Gracie repeated my words slowly. "So you're sort of together?"

"We're not together! Just..."

"Just what?" Gracie asked.

"Just friends," I finished lamely.

"Just friends...with benefits?" Rory asked what they all thinking.

"Maybe. Yeah." I wasn't sure why it was so hard to admit to that. I didn't like saying that.

"Oh, my God," Rory said. "You're friends with benefits and you caught feelings."

"What? No! No feelings. We decided that from the start."

"Oh, well, then. You decided from the start, so clearly no feelings could happen."

"No! There are no feelings!"

"You really need to expand your vocabulary," Justice said. "You're usually more articulate when you aren't having an existential breakdown."

"I didn't catch feelings! She didn't either." I turned to glare at Gracie and Justice.

"Damn, Creighton's hands are all over Annie's ass," Xane said.

"I'll kill the motherfucker!" I snarled and looked down to the dance floor where Creighton and Annie were dancing a foot apart.

"Nope, no feelings there," Rory laughed at me.

"Knew you were an idiot where women were concerned," Gracie said, "but I didn't realize your condition was terminal."

"So why'd you make her mad?" Rory asked.

"I didn't." Why did they keep insisting I'd done something wrong?

"OK, let's back this up," Justice said. "When was the last time she didn't seem mad at you?"

That was easy. We'd just fucked when I'd gotten back from an assignment, she was cuddled on my chest, and then she jumped out of bed when I'd told her I was looking to start a relationship.

"And then I said I felt ready to start a relationship with someone like her," I finished the story.

Nobody said anything.

"It was a compliment!" I said. "I could see her getting mad if I said I wanted to find someone who was the complete opposite of her, but I didn't!"

Nobody said anything.

"What? Somebody say something."

"How about...you're beyond stupid?" Justice offered.

Then Gracie jumped in. "You said that to her after you just...well, right after? It'd be bad enough to say what you did in any circumstances but your timing in this instance? Horrible."

Gracie shook her head at my stupidity.

"Especially since you don't want a woman just like Annie," Rory said. "You want Annie."

"I --" Then I stopped. Annie?

"You fell in love with her, you dumbass," Justice said. "Not sure how you missed it, but you're exhibiting all the classic signs and symptoms and then some."

The signs...Annie who I missed like crazy when I was out on assignment. Annie who I talked to about everything. Annie who I invited into my private domain because I loved being around her and needed her near when I was home. Annie who I trusted. Annie who I wanted to make happy. Annie who made me happy just by being with me. Annie who made me crazy when she tried to distance herself from me because of the shit that'd spewed out of my mouth.

I'd hurt her. And, as a result, she was taking herself out of my life. Not acceptable. I thought of how crazy I'd been going without being able to talk with her, to be with her, and when I thought of my life without her permanently, my insides froze.

"And based on the way Creighton's grinding against her on the dance floor right now," Rory said, "you might have lost her."

Like hell I'd lost her. I looked at where Rory was pointing and fucking bolted down the stairs to the dance floor like my life depended on it.

Because it did. Annie was mine.

And a certain motherfucker was about to die if he didn't get his hands off her.