Chapter 17
Jason stared angrily at Lucky. “Well, man, did you kiss her or not?”
“Yes, but it’s not what you think,” he said, flinching as Jason rushed for the table. Liz jumped into his path, trying to hold him back.
“Jason, calm down. He’s right, it wasn’t like that, really. He was trying to get rid of some overzealous groupies, that’s all,” she said calmly, looking deeply into his eyes, hoping he would believe her and back off.
“Groupies? That’s your excuse?” he asked, looking up at Lucky again.
He shrugged, not sure what else to say. “Yeah, man, that’s really all it was. I figured it they thought I had a girlfriend, they’d leave, and they did. I’m sorry it had to be Elizabeth, believe me, she’s the last girl I wanted to kiss!”
Liz turned to glare at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I normally wouldn’t have kissed you. Isn’t that what you want to hear anyway? I mean, you’ve made it no secret that you despise me. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jason, I’m sorry I did it, and I’m sorry you had to find out this way. Actually, I figured Elizabeth would have told you by now,” he said, smirking at her, hoping to get her in trouble.
“Liz? Why didn’t you tell me? I mean, if it was nothing, then why keep it to yourself?” Jason asked her.
After shooting a nasty look back at Lucky, she turned to face Jason and sighed. “Because I knew you’d fly off the handle like this, and as much as I’d love to see you beat the crap out of Lucky, it wouldn’t have been right. It was just one kiss, it meant nothing, I... I didn’t even enjoy it!” She turned her head to see if her little jab had done its job, smiling when she saw Lucky glaring at her.
“Trust me, I didn’t enjoy it either!” he shot back. “Look, I think we’ve made enough of a scene for one night, why don’t we just go back to our dinners. The faster we eat, the faster this whole thing is over, right?”
Reluctantly, Liz nodded in agreement. “He’s got a point. Come on, go back to Carly. I’ll see you when this is all over and we can talk about it some more if you’d like, okay?”
Jason sighed. “Fine, I’ll see you later then.” He turned and walked back to his table, leaving Lucky and Liz standing alone, still frowning at each other. Suddenly realizing that everyone in the room was staring at them, they quickly sat down.
“You’re welcome,” Liz grumbled.
“For what?” Lucky asked with a laugh.
“For defending you to Jason. I could have just let him kick the snot out of you.”
“I think I was perfectly capable of defending myself, thank you very much. Now can we please just forget about this and finish eating?”
Liz rolled her eyes and picked up her fork, trying to forget that they had just made such a huge scene in the middle of the ballroom like that.
~*~
“Well, that was interesting,” Rich said. “Still convinced this little idea of yours is going to work?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am,” Charisma answered. “Actually, after that little scene, I’m even more convinced it will!”
“How so?” he asked, not quite getting her meaning.
“There was way too much passion in that argument. Sure, they say they hate each other, but I think underneath those masks, there are much deeper feelings. They probably don’t even realize it themselves yet, because they’re so busy fighting. Did you notice how Liz defended Spence to her boyfriend, instead of just letting him pummel him?”
“Yeah, but how does that prove anything? She just didn’t want them to fight in the middle of this dinner.”
“Maybe, but I’m willing to bet that it was because deep down, she didn’t want him to get hurt. She was protecting him.” She glanced over at their table again and sighed. “Luke better hurry up before something else happens.”
~*~
“Jase, you need to calm down. You heard them, it was nothing,” Carly said gently, feeling slightly jealous at how passionately Jason had reacted. He had never done that for her before, not even when he found out she was chasing after Sonny.
“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me. You’re right, I overreacted. Anyway, how can I be jealous when the two of them so obviously hate each other?”
“Right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people fight so much before, and that’s saying a lot when you consider that I lived with the Quartermaines for a year!” She laughed, trying to make Jason smile again. He cracked a small smile, and she was about to say something else, when Felicia came onto the stage to get everyone’s attention.
“Hello! Can I have your attention for a minute, please?” Felicia said loudly, waiting for everyone to look at her. Once the room had quieted down, she continued. “Okay, we’re starting a new tradition tonight for the Bachelor’s Auction. We figured for the kind of money you all put out for this, the least we could do was give you more than just a meal. So, since we’re already in a ballroom...” she trailed off, grinning as everyone started to realize what she was getting at. “Yes, you’re right, dancing! Now, you don’t have to dance all night or anything, but you do have to at least dance to the first song. Just remember, this is all in good fun, and it’s all for charity, so get up and move out to the dance floor!”
No one moved, they were all too shocked by the announcement. Some couples exchanged smiles while others exchanged disgusted looks at one another at the prospect of having to dance together. Lucky and Elizabeth were in the latter category.
“Oh, come on, get up! It’s just a dance, you’re not going to get cooties from one another,” Felicia joked. Some people chuckled, breaking the silence. Finally, in order to get things moving, Jax stood up and offered his hand to V. “Maybe if we go out there, some of the others will follow.”
V smiled and took his hand. They made their way out to the dance floor, and a few other couples followed suit.
Chloe sighed and stood up. “Well, Lieutenant, let’s go show them how it’s done,” she said, offering her hand. He chuckled and took it, leading her onto the floor as well. She stole a glance at Jax, secretly wishing she were in V’s place.
"I don't remember you saying anything about dancing," Emily said, looking at Nikolas apprehensively. As much as she wanted to dance with his, she was nervous.
He shrugged. "I didn't know. Maybe Lucy decided it at the last minute. We might as well go out there." He stood up and offered her his hand, which she took gently. They made their way out to the dance floor to join Jax and V, then waited as the others slowly filed out.
“Come on, Jase, we can do this,” Carly urged, standing up. “We used to dance all the time before, remember?”
“I guess,” he said, reluctantly getting up, glancing over at Liz as he took her hand and joined the other couples. The music hadn’t started yet, because they were waiting for everyone to get out there.
Sonny sighed and got out of his chair. “I get the feeling we can’t get out of this one. Might as well go out there.” He held out his hand and Alexis reluctantly took it.
“You know, I’m a lawyer, I should be able to argue our way out of this,” she complained, dragging her feet as they walked over to the small group.
“It looks like they’re waiting for us,” Lucky said, throwing his napkin down on the table and pushing back his chair. “Come on, let’s get this over with.” He stood up, waiting for Liz to do the same.
She rolled her eyes, wondering how much more painful the evening could get. “I swear, if Luke is behind this, I’ll kill him!” she groaned, walking with him out to the dance floor. Once they were there, the music started.
