Excerpt: In Your Dreams

Evan suddenly felt like he was being watched. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a guy with short black hair and a cute smirk on his face. One look over his own shoulder at the wall told Evan that, yes, the guy actually was smiling right at him. Instantly all relaxing powers of his beverage were nullified and Evan sank down a little more into his seat. He averted his eyes from the cute guy and glanced at his jacket. Maybe if he just grabbed it and left his friends wouldn't notice! Then he wouldn't have to worry about some stranger possibly walking over to him and asking him if he wanted to dance. But the knowledge that his friends would be mad at him for ditching his own birthday celebration kept him glued to his chair. So he tried to look busy by pulling his phone out of his pocket and cycling through his contacts list. Evan couldn't really call anyone with the music being so loud, but he could pretend he was about to.

A quick glance up a few moments later and it was clear the cute guy was busy himself, buying a drink at the bar. Evan let out a deep breath and tucked his phone back in his jeans pocket. He looked over at Troy again and noticed he was dancing with someone who definitely wasn't Jason or Ryan. More proof that everything would always be the same. Troy would be his outgoing self and get to know any guy who caught his eye without hesitation, while Evan would sit alone with his chin in his hand feeling pathetically shy.

"Is this seat taken?"

The voice, smooth and self assured even while having to be louder than the music, caught Evan by surprise. He took his eyes off of Troy and his next conquest and there, at the next chair over at his table, was the cute guy with the smirky smile. And he was talking to Evan. There were still a few empty tables around, Evan thought in a slight panic, so why did this guy want one at his table?

"Uh... sort of," Evan practically stammered and scanned the dance floor for his friends. Troy was busy, but maybe Ryan or Jason could save him from this awkwardness. He couldn't spot either one of them and looked back up at the cute guy, feeling like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh, your friends?" The cute guy looked out at the dance floor too while sipping some kind of mixed drink.

"Yeah." Evan nodded in affirmation. He wished he could crawl under the table then, because he knew he was blushing like some teenager who'd never spoken to someone attractive before.