"I can’t believe I missed it.”  Trace handed Rylee and Justin their beers before taking a seat in the arm chair.  Justin and Rylee were seated across from him on the couch.

“Seriously, T, it had to have been one of the hottest things I have ever witnesses.  I didn’t know Ry had it in her.”  Justin grinned and wrapped his arm around Rylee’s shoulders.

“It wasn’t that great Trace, he’s exaggerating.”

“No, I’m not,”  He gave her a pointed look.  “All joking aside, it was great to see you stand up for yourself, especially since it was Christina.”

“I’m not sure it’s really sunk in yet.”  Rylee cuddled closer into Justin’s body and took a long sip from her beer. 

“So she actually admitted to not wanting to be with Justin?  Like, she wasn’t really upset about it all?”   Trace couldn’t believe that Christina would do something that horrible to her best friend, but apparently she was just a conniving person.

“Yeah.  I mean, she had a right to be upset, but I guess she was just making me pay for it more because she was jealous, or some stupid shit like that.”  Another long pull from her bottle and Rylee was feeling a little more relaxed.

She was still pretty upset that she had listened to someone she once considered her best friend say such horrible things.  She had been beating herself up over everything that happened with Christina, and now she knew that she shouldn’t have worried about it at all, because Christina didn’t really care.

“Well, I think you’re better off without someone like that.”  Trace lifted his bottle in a toast and they all took drinks.

“So, enough about all that crap, tell me about your apartment hunting.  How did all that go today?”  Justin wanted to change the subject because he could tell that Rylee was still bothered by everything that had happened.

“It went OK.  I found a few places that seem reasonable and I might be able to live in them.  There’s actually a place that’s not too far from here that I liked.  So, we’ll see.”  She finished off her beer. “I just hope I can figure out the payments and stuff.  Giving Christina that check today took a big chunk of my savings.”

“Don’t worry about that, Ry, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out.”

Rylee was too tired to argue money issues with Justin, so she kept her mouth shut, but she really didn’t like the idea of relying on her boyfriend for help.

“I’m in the mood to go out and do something tonight.”  Trace stood from his spot and looked over at his two friends.  “Are you two up to going out?”

Justin glanced over and Rylee and she shrugged before giving a slight nod.  He turned back to Trace, “What do you have in mind?”

“There’s this club I heard about, this little whole in the wall place that not a lot of people know about yet.  I’ve heard that it’s got good music and it’s pretty low key.”

“Can I dance?”  Rylee piped up from her spot on the couch.

“Sure, it’s a club.”

“Then I’m in.”  She grinned up at Justin, “I feel like dancing…you want to show me some moves, lover boy?”

He laughed, a deep chuckle that settled in his chest.  “Baby, I’ll show you moves you ain’t never seen before.”

“Hey!”  Trace interjected, “I do not want to be hearing about your sex lives, even if you are pretending to be talking about dancing.”

The two laughed at Trace and stood from the couch.  Rylee threw her arms around his shoulders and place a kiss on his cheek. 

“Don’t be jealous of Justin because you don’t remember having sex with me,”  She grinned at him when he scowled.

“You’re funny.  Come on, I want to get out of here soon.”

~*~

The club was just empty enough to make Rylee and Justin feel as if they were the only two on the dance floor.  They were so wrapped up in each other that they hardly noticed anyone else, and that was just fine with them. 

It felt good to just let go and forget about everything else.  The music playing was old jazz and blues, but it wouldn’t have mattered to Rylee and Justin if music were playing at all, they were just happy to be in each other’s company.

Trace stood up in the VIP balcony overlooking the dance floor.  He’d stepped off a moment before so he could grab a drink and take a break.  He was glad that he’d thought of this night out, because it was turning into a very relaxing evening.

He felt a presence behind him and he turned to see Christina standing next to him, looking down at the dance floor.

“They seem to be enjoying themselves.”  She mumbled, a disconcerting look on her face.

“That’s what people generally do when they go out,”  Trace wasn’t really in the mood to deal with any of this drama tonight, but it didn’t look like she was going to go away any time soon.  “Are you going to go down there and break them apart?  Scream at them for good measure?  I heard that Rylee put you in your place today.”

Christina threw Trace a nasty look and returned her eyes to the couple on the dance floor.

“I think it’s a little ridiculous that everyone’s on her side,”  she started, but Trace’s scoff interrupted her sentence.

“Oh please, stop acting like the victim here.”

“Stop acting like the victim?  I’m the one that got cheated on by my best friend and my boyfriend!”  Trace was about to take a sip of his beer, but his hand stopped mid air.

“Let me get this straight, you’re talking about the best friend that’s never done anything to hurt you or break your trust before, right?”  She nodded, “and you’re talking about the boyfriend that you really wanted nothing to do with.  So much so, that you flew thousands of miles across the country to get away from him.  Is that right?”

“When you say it like that it sounds so silly.”

“That’s because it is, Christina.  You should be happy that Rylee’s found someone that makes he so happy.”

“It’s always about Rylee.”  She pouted, and Trace had to let out a laugh.

“You’re kidding, right?  You’re not about to sit here and tell me that you’ve always played second fiddle to Rylee and that she’s gotten everything she’s ever wanted and you’ve just sat back in the shadows.”

“Well…”

“Do you ever listen to yourself when you talk?  Because it amazes me how you can sit here and act like Rylee and Justin did something horrible to you on purpose.  They couldn’t help the fact that they fell for each other.  When you thought it was some bimbo at the studio you were relieved to have a reason to break up with Justin, too.”

“I was jealous, OK?”

“That’s obvious.”  He finished off his beer and set the bottle down with a solid thud.  “Rylee has never done anything before that’s broken your trust.  In fact, she’s sat back and let you live your life and supported you through it all.  Even in the short few months that I’ve know the two of you it’s obvious that she’s only ever wanted to see you happy, even if that meant she had to give something up herself.”

“It just seems that she couldn’t stand to see me with Justin so she stole him away,” the pout returned and it was taking all of Trace’s patience to not slap it off.

“Rylee fought feelings for Justin for a very long time.  She knew you were happy with him and she ignored every feeling within her because she didn’t want to hurt you.  Things only happened when Justin started to feel things too.  It was never about you, Christina, and you should just accept that fact and move on.”

She looked ready to say something else but Trace wasn’t in the mood to hear anymore whining.  He had come out so he could enjoy himself and she was really putting a damper on his night.

“Leave them alone, Christina.”  He turned his back and walked away, hoping that she would get the hint and just leave well enough alone.

He reached Rylee and Justin on the dance floor a few minutes later and he had to smile at the sight of Rylee.  She was grinning from ear to ear and it was obvious that she was very drunk.

“Tracey!  You’re back!”  She threw her arms around his neck and started to sway to the music.  “Dance with me.”

Trace laughed and danced with her for a few minutes.  When Justin butted in Trace slapped his friend on the back and grinned at him.  “Careful, JT, last time she got drunk like this she ended up seducing me.”

“Oh ha ha, you’re fucking hilarious, man.”  But he was smiling.  “Where were you, I was starting to think you’d left or something.”

“Oh, I ran into someone that I won’t name right now.  She was pouting and trying to blame everyone else for her problems.  I think she’s gone but you might want to keep an eye out, just in case.”

Justin nodded in understanding and scanned the room with his eyes.  He couldn’t see Christina anywhere, but he wasn’t ready to chance a meeting.  He’d seen enough of her to last him quite a while.

“I think we should head home anyway.  This one here’s going to need some water and aspirin, because I have the feeling that she’s going to wake up with one hell of a hangover tomorrow.”

“I’m getting sleepy.”  Rylee rested her head on Justin’s shoulder and he chuckled.

“C’mon, Babe, let’s get you home.”

“Justin, I think I’m drunk.”  Both men laughed as they headed toward the door.

“I think you’re right, Ry.”