HIM
as he grabs both the cases from me.Thankfully, he grabbed those; I was about ready to lose the bottle of Fireball I had tucked up under my arm.
"Thanks, Austin," I reply with a smile.
I begin following him up the stairs to the game area above the garage, but I peer down the long driveway that goes past Jason's first. I want so badly to walk down there and see if Luke is here or has been here since he had left Milwaukee almost a week ago.
"Could you grab the door, please," Austin asks.
I pull the door open, and we enter. There are a few more people here than I was led to believe based on the number of cars outside. There are about fifteen or so people here already. Nikki and Mindy among them and three other girls but no sign of Bridget, thank God. The rest are guys from work, High School, and a few that I don't recognize. I don't see Jason, so I set the Fireball down next to the other liquors at the homemade bar then turn to leave to find him.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Nikki yells from across the room.
I stop and turn back toward everyone. Mindy and Nikki walk up to me; hopefully, they won't be too harsh without their fearless leader. I give them a polite smile as their piercing glares rip holes through my clothes. Why do women have to do that to one another? Why are they so cynical?
"Hey," I say.
I am not enthused what so ever by them judging my hair, makeup, and choice of attire with their annoying glares.
"Aren't you drinking tonight, or are you just running off to your boyfriend," Mindy chimes.
I cannot tell by her tone if she's being friendly or a straight-up bitch, but how does she know Luke is, well was I guess you'd say as of currently, my boyfriend.
"You best hurry because Bridget has already left to go see him, and she's going to beat you to your man," Mindy smirks and laughs, while Nikki shows zero emotion.
Okay, now I know that her tone was bitchy. I don't know what the hell I've ever done to these three girls to cause them to hate me so much. I don't reply; I smile a fake smile and walk away. I make my way down the stairs, and another wave of butterflies hits me.
I cross in front of the garage, which is open but doesn't look to have anyone inside. More cars are coming down the driveway. I stop and stare down the dirt driveway that leads to Luke's place. What if he doesn't want to see me? What if Bridget is down there already and they are- ugh, I don't even want to think about her touching him or worse, him touching her. I couldn't handle walking in on them. That would make me feel grossly uncomfortable and would break me inside.
I hear the door of the house close, and I watch as Jason walks out. I smile and start to walk toward him.
"Damn, Alicat. Why do you have to come dressed all fine and shit?" he says as his eyes practically bug out of his head.
"Shut up, Jay. My outfit isn't that bad," I blush.
"No, no, you look fucking hot. For real," he says, his face a bit flushed.
"Um, thanks," I spit, then giggle.
He tugs at the bottom of my dress, and I swat at him.
"A little fucking short, young lady," he smirks.
I pull my dress down as Jason puts his arm around me, and we head back to the garage. A group of guys comes boisterously, strolling up the driveway toward us along with Bridget. Fucking Mindy tried to start shit between Bridget and me when she wasn't even fucking here yet. These girls still act like we're in damn High School, it's getting old.
Bridget looks at me from the corner of her eye then walks past with the group of guys. Jason removes his arm from around me to fist bump and does some weird handshake with some of them. Jason grabs my hand like he used when we were younger, as we head up the stairs. He always had a hold of me at school and parties as if I were his property, or he was my overly protective big brother.
I walk over to where all the beer and liquor are displayed to get myself a drink. I'm not in the mood for beer and don’t know what I want. I skim over the large selection as if I'm at a mini liquor store. I notice the gold and maroon bottle of Jeremiah Weed; I liked this a lot the last time I was here. I search for some lemonade and find a bottle next to the Coke and Sprite. I make myself a weed and lemonade then head back over by Jason, who won't stop checking me out since he first saw me.
We start a game of beer pong, Jason, and I used to be the reigning champs back in our High School days.
We win our first game. I make myself another weed and lemonade as we wait for new opponents. Someone grabs my ass, and I turn to deck them but realize it's Jason. If it were anyone else, I would have lost my shit. The only guy I've let touch me since the night with Brady has been Luke. Even though it was Jason, it still made me cringe and feel a slight bit uneasy. He apologized when he saw the look on my face, so I know it was harmless and something he's done for years.
He talks me into taking a victory shot of tequila. It's so hard to take right off the bat when you've just started drinking; it doesn't go down as smooth. We begin a new game, stopping halfway for Jason and a guy from the opposing team to grab a beer. I mix another drink quickly. Of course, we end up winning again. We both