Frankie strides up to the table, placing her hands on Fred’s shoulders, her long turquoise nails digging into the fabric of his suit.

“Hi, Barrett, good to see you.” She glances around. “Where’s Chloe?”

Fred pats her hand. “It’s a sensitive subject. She’s dancing with Ryan Shaw.”

I stand, realizing there is nothing more I can accomplish with Fred tonight.

“It’s good to see you both. If you’ll excuse me.” I do my best not to act affected but if I were a cartoon character, I’d have steam coming out of my ears.

I don’t wait for their response; I move with purpose onto the dance floor and next to where Chloe and Ryan are still enjoying their dance together.

“Barrett.” Chloe starts when she sees me.

“St. Clair.” Ryan eyes me with a smug glance.

“I’d like to dance with my girlfriend.”

Ryan lets go of Chloe who stands there staring at me like I’m a monster with three heads, of which none of them think logically when she’s around.

“Sure.” He shrugs like he’s letting me dance with my girlfriend. “See you around,” he whispers to Chloe and I fight the urge to put him in a choke hold. I’ve never put anyone in a choke hold, but I imagine it wouldn’t be that difficult in my current state. Adrenaline pumping, blood boiling, fingers itching to squeeze into the flesh of his neck.

The music changes, the upbeat song giving way to a slow ballad. Chloe’s staring at me wide-eyed. We look awkward standing here among the dancing couples, so I move closer, placing a hand on her hip and pulling her into me. It’s a reach, but she places her hand on my shoulder. My other hand closes over hers.

“I saw you talking to Fred,” she says.

I think she’s trying to make conversation. She doesn’t realize that exact sentence is like poking a hungry bear you just stole a fish from.

“I was talking to Fred until I had to come over here and pry you out of Ryan Shaw’s clutches.”

“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?” She laughs, which only serves to piss me off more. “I wanted to dance and he asked.”

“The fact that I had to leave my conversation with Fred to come over here is the issue.” I try to keep my voice calm but it’s rising with every protest out of Chloe’s pretty little mouth.

My hand on her hip tightens reflexively and my blood boils over just thinking Ryan’s hand was here moments ago. “We’re leaving.”

I drop my hand from her hip and use our joined hands to pull her through the crowd.