“You go grab the next round, I’ll snag us a booth,” Haleigh says, once they’ve finished talking to yet another one of her friends. 

They’ve been at the club for no less than half an hour and they’ve easily run into at least five people she knows. Zack’s been introduced to them all, and he smiled and nodded politely during conversation while sipping on the whiskey Haleigh forced on him, all the while wishing that the clocks could find a way to speed up so he can be free of the crowd. Unsurprisingly Haleigh is in her element, mingling with literally anyone who crosses her path; so he’s not really shocked when he turns around from the bar, drinks in hand, to find that she’s being chatted up by some guy who’s obviously trying to shoot his shot. 

He pauses at the end of the bar, unsure if she’d want him to interrupt or if he should hang back, the dude’s admittedly pretty good looking, as far as Zack knows he could be Haleigh’s type.

“I wouldn’t worry about him,” a female voice says as he’s mulling over his options. 

To his right is a familiar blonde, they’d been introduced earlier but he can’t remember much from that brief conversation. 

She gives him a little knowing smile, and says teasingly, “It’s Hanna. Jack, right?”

“Zack, actually,” he corrects, but he’s pretty sure she knew that already. “You were saying?”

Hanna tilts her head towards the booth where Haleigh and the guy are talking. “That you shouldn’t worry about that guy chatting her up because she’s clearly not into it.”

Zack’s brows raise in surprise and he pins her with a quizzical stare. “What makes you think that?”

“What? That you’re worried or that she’s not having it?” she asks with a playful grin as she adjusts her skirt.

Zack huffs and rolls his eyes, taking a long sip of his drink. The whiskey burns all the way down and tastes like jet fuel, he doesn’t know why Haleigh likes it so much. Hanna is staring at him expectantly, looking way too amused for his liking and he doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction, but damn if he’s not just the slightest bit curious to hear her reasoning. 

With a long suffering sigh that she no doubt can’t hear over the noise of the club, he turns to her and asks, “What makes you think she isn’t interested?” 

“Simple,” she replies as she plops down onto the barstool and swivels around to observe the couple in question. “Body language. Observe,” she says with a gesture of her hand, “notice how straight she’s sitting, super rigid, hands folded, minimal eye contact, she’s not giving him anything,” she assesses. 

Despite feeling a little awkward about it, Zack does as she says and studies the way Haleigh’s sitting and finds that she’s right, she does seem tense. 

Just as he’s about to grab their drinks and head over to step in, Hanna grins at him over her shoulder and adds, “It might interest you to know that she’s the exact opposite when she’s with you.” 

“You’ve been studying us?” 

She shrugs. “I have a degree in psychology and I like to people watch,” she says easily, like that perfectly explains her behavior. “She’s very affectionate with you, it’s like she has to be touching you whenever you’re around.”

“That’s just how she is with people,” he says dismissively, but much to his dismay he can feel the tips of his ears heating up. He tries not to let that comment get to him, when it comes to Haleigh he knows more than some random psychologist at a bar. Haleigh’s been incredibly tactile since they met, it’s a part of her personality. And he knows how it must come off to people on the outside, but he’s never cared, still doesn’t. If this girl thinks Haleigh’s constant touching means something else than the two of them must not be that close.

“Is it?” she challenges. 

Before he can reply she swivels on her stool once again and grabs her clutch off the bar counter. “Well, it looks like she’s wrapping things up over there, so I’ll leave you to it.” She hops off the stool and with a wink says, “See you around, Jack,” before sauntering off to another group further down.

 He doesn’t have enough time to process that whole interaction before Haleigh’s appearing in front of him with an exasperated look on her face. She grabs her glass off the counter and throws it back like it’s not pure fire before pinning him with a glare.

“You could have saved me from that, you know,” she says, jerking her thumb towards the guy from before, who seems to have moved on to another girl.

“Sorry, I’ll do better next time,” he promises as he tries to shake off his previous conversation.

“You better,” she warns. “Anyway, you buzzed enough to dance with me yet?” 

She doesn’t seem that interested in an answer, instead she loops her arm around his and starts tugging him towards the dance floor before he can get a word out.

“I guess I have to be, huh?”