Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm very sick right now and my vision's nice and blurry from medicine, so please excuse any mistakes...and this is the first chapter where I'm kind of nervous about how you all are going to like it...so please, bear with me :) And thank you Nikki for beta'ing for me
Chapter 20

Buffy decided it would be pointless to try and say anything in response to that statement, so instead she decided to try her own shocking-ness. Stepping as close to him as she could get and dutifully ignoring the voice in her head that reminded her, ‘You’re married!’ Buffy started to grind herself against him. And of course, she totally ignored his startled gasp.

“What are you doing, Buffy?” It wasn’t a time for pet names or pussy footing around, he needed to know what she was up to. But it was time to ignore the feelings that were arising in him with her closeness. And the things she was causing to, uh, rise.

“I’m dancing, silly,” she said…the words sounding like Sam, but the tone far from her daughters. “I thought you said you wanted to dance?”

“Well, yeah…but, luv, do you really think this is a good idea?”

“Think about it like this, William….this is our time to have fun and relax, right? And we’re friends, so as long as we keep this fun, and don’t do anything we’ll regret, then everything is fine. Right?”

He meant to ask her how they would know before they did it, if they were going to regret something or not; he meant to remind her of what he’d said earlier; meant to tell her they should go get a drink and call an end to this dancing. He meant to tell her all of that, honest he did. But what came out was, “Right.”

As Buffy continued to grind herself against him and offered him a saucy smile all he could think about was kissing her. He’d only have to lean down a few inches, they were already so close, and put his lips against hers. It would feel so good, he saw how often she put that lip gloss on everyday, knew her lips would be soft and taste good. It would all be so easy to hold her tiny face in his hands and kiss her like he’d wanted to since that day in his father’s library, he knew she’d kiss him back, he wasn’t sure for how long, but he knew she would. It would all be so easy. So easy, but also so wrong.

Pushing away from her abruptly, William stomped across the room to the only available table and sat down before Buffy even had a chance to process what was happening.

It didn’t take Buffy long to spot where he’d gone, but she was just angry enough that she decided to continue dancing instead of going to join him. She’d show him, maybe she had been out of line in pushing him like that, but it didn’t mean he had to go storming off like that. After all, he was the one who’d given the big speech about control earlier, didn’t he know her well enough to know that she’d need to find out just how much he believed that? Guess not.

Another man came up to her and started dancing and for a second, just a second, Buffy considered dancing with him the same way she’d danced with William to make him jealous, but as fun as that would be, it wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted William to know that she felt something for him, she wasn’t one hundred percent definite what exactly it was, but she didn’t want him thinking she was just some big dancing slut, that was for sure.

Making sure that the unknown man didn’t get too close, Buffy tried to stop herself from thinking about William at all and tried to enjoy her dance.

*(*(*(*I*)*)*)*

William was partially glad that Buffy didn’t seek him out…and partially disappointed. Watching her dance with some ponce, he pushed down the jealousy that flared up in him at the sight. He was about to get up to go to the bar for a drink when a young woman sat down in the seat opposite him.

“Hi will you help me find my lost puppy? I think he went into this cheap hotel room across the street?”

William would have to have been blind not to see what she was offering, hell a blind man would have been able to sense it. “Does that usually work?” William asked as he took in her low cut leather mini dress. She might have been a beautiful girl, if she toned down the clothes and the make up.

“Usually, I mean, what guy passes on the chance to fuck a girl hot as me?”

“Awfully conceited, aren’t you?”

“Well…yeah, but have you seen me? Think I have a right to be. But, you gonna come with me or no?”

“Gonna have to say no.”

“You must have it bad then,” the woman said, sounding surprisingly unfazed by his rejection.

“What?” William asked, having no idea how she could have gotten that just from his refusal to have sex with her.

“That girl you were dancing with, you must really have it bad for her. I mean, I kind of get it, sure, she’s pretty hot—not compared to me of course, but in general, yeah…she’s pretty hot,” she seemed to think about it for a minute, “Don’t think you could get her to join us do you? ‘Cause ‘that’ would be hot!”

William had to laugh at that, “Yeah, it would be. But I’m sure she wouldn’t, and I’m not sure it’s what I’d want either. You see, the thing is, she’s my friend…and she’s married.”

As she broke into uncontrollable laughter, William tried not to look affronted. But he failed miserably, “It’s not funny,” he said grumpily.

“Oh, but it is,” she said with a snort. “You’re a sexy guy who could have any girl you wanted and she’s this good looking woman who obviously isn’t happy with her husband—“

“Wait a minute, what makes you think that?”

“The way you two were dancing. No way she’d dance like that with you unless she felt something for you…either that or she’s a total slut,” she finished with a knowing grin.

“She is not a slut!” William protested hotly.

Faith had to stop him from storming off, “Listen, buddy, I don’t think she’s a slut…I was just trying to get you to see something. If, like you said, she were a happily married woman—“

“Now I never said that,” William corrected.

“So, she’s not happily married and she’s dancing all hot with you, but making that guy keep his distance,” Faith said pointing to Buffy and her dance partner. “Yet you think she has no feelings for you?”

“Well,” William started, knowing how naïve he was beginning to sound.

“Just think about it all right? Blondie’s coming back so I think that’s my cue to be off, but for your own good, think about it.”

William didn’t have much of a chance to think about it because in the next few seconds, Buffy appeared at the table trying to mask her anger. “So,” she drawled, “Who was your friend?” Buffy had decided to see just what was going on when, during her dance, she’d looked over and seen William and the scantily dressed brunette laughing about something—or at least that’s what she’d seen it as.

“Oh! Her?” he asked looking in the direction Faith had gone. “She’s just a girl I was talking to.”

“And what was her name?” So what if she sounded like a jealous girlfriend.

“Well, luv, I don’t know her name,” William answered indulgingly.

“Do you normally sit and flirt with girls and never find out their names?” Buffy asked snidely.

“Done more before,” William muttered, but to Buffy he said, “Buffy, pet, we were just talking, alright? She came over to ask me to um…” ‘how to phrase this right’ he thought. “She came over to see if I‘d be interested in going somewhere with her.”

Apparently, he’d put just enough in his tone that she understood what he wasn’t saying, “Oh,” she mumbled. “And, um, are you going to?” She wasn’t going to admit to the feeling of her stomach sinking as she asked that question.

“Not going anywhere, kitten,” William assured her, “This is our night out…no way I’m leaving you here all alone.”

“But you do know that you could, right? I mean, this isn’t like a date or anything, so if you did want to go with her, you could.”

“But I don’t, so what’s say you and I get a drink?”

“You stay here and I’ll go get them—I think I’m just going to get a coke anyway, that drink is starting to go to my head. What do you want? Another beer?”

“Yeah, sure you can get them?”

“I’m not incompetent I’ll have you know!” Buffy huffed before stomping off, good naturedly, to the bar.

*(*(*(*I*)*)*)*

There were already at least ten people ordering drinks when Buffy reached the bar, so she leaned against the bar and surveyed her surroundings. She spotted the woman that had been hitting on William, apparently having better luck with another man. Buffy watched as she seductively—there really was no other word for it—led him out of the club.

“You know,” a man’s voice came from behind Buffy. She turned to see who was talking to her and found a big, bulky, not unlike Angel, man smiling at her from a barstool. “I ain’t this tall. I’m just sitting on my wallet.”

Buffy had to fight to contain her laugh, “Really? ‘Cause I’m sure my husband has an even bigger wallet than you.”

“You have a husband? Well what’s he thinking let you out alone, he should know that you’re going to attract attention.”

Deciding not to yell at the condescending asshole who was hitting on her, Buffy simply said in response, “Actually, he came with me tonight.” ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ she thought the second she finished saying it.

“Sorry, didn’t mean….just sorry,” the man said when he looked back to where Buffy had come from and saw William, unbeknownst to Buffy, giving him a deadly glare. Quickly the man turned his attention to the girl on the other side of him, making Buffy wonder what had made him so afraid, it surely hadn’t been her saying her husband was there; he’d been fine about her cheating with him before that. ‘Oh, well’ she decided, ‘Guess I should just worry about getting these drinks and getting back to William and worry about all the worrisome things of tonight, later on.’

*(*(*(*I*)*)*)*

TBC…………………


A/N: Pick up lines from that 'Pick up line generator' that was going around LJ a while ago ;-)





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