Tonight, we stayed at the best bar in town until two thirty in the morning, and we’re all ready to call it a night. The boys are all here and drunk, the girls and I are tipsy—excluding Stevie, who doesn’t drink due to her medical condition, but is taking care of her husband, who is kissing her with a dopey smile on his face.
We usually go out the first weekend of every semester, but this year the night was cut short when the cops raided the bar for fake IDs. We had to rush Kamila out of here along with her fake ID since she isn’t turning twenty-one for another week.
Talk about a mood killer.
Either way, tonight more than made up for it.
“Sounds fun. We’re overdue for a girls’ night out. I’ll ask Stevie later if she wants to tag along.” As soon as Kamila finishesanswering for both of us, Brad, Luna’s boyfriend and one of Stevie’s best friends that we inherited, comes up behind her.
“Okay, ladies.” He wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. “I’m taking my girl away for the night.”
“Can’t you wait for the song to be over?” I whine. It’s the first night we’ve all been able to dance together.
“Hey Ma” by Pitbull and J Balvin blasts through the speakers, and Kami twirls me around. All our voices are hoarse from the screaming we’ve had to do to carry on a simple conversation over the music. My feet are starting to hurt in these heels from all the dancing and running I did earlier, but I don’t care. This is the first time I’ve been able to truly let loose in a while.
Brad rolls his eyes. “Fine.”
He gives Luna one last kiss and moves to where the boys are, watching us. Well, except Jake, who disappeared a while ago with some random girl.
“You’ve still got him wrapped around your finger.” Kami waggles both eyebrows at Luna, and we all laugh. Brad chased Luna for months after Stevie set them up before she said yes to being his girlfriend this summer.
We have a large group of friends going, but out of my three really close ones, two are coupled up, and the third—Jake—is always on the hunt for a new fling. It’s tough to admit, but sometimes I feel left out and lonely.
A flash ofhisface crosses my mind, and I shake my head, begging my brain not to torment me with the memories of earlier today. It was hard and confusing enough to see Ace—I meanGrayson—act so differently, I won’t allow myself to feel sad about it.
These are just the side effects of the four vodka sodas I had.
“Are you okay?” Kami asks from beside me.
I nod and smile. Kamila doesn’t know about Grayson, and I never plan to tell anyone in the group; the fact that he’s a professor here is also a sign as to why I shouldn’t. They constantly complain about me not talking about my sex ordating life, but truthfully, there’s barely anything to share. And the things that have happened in the past can stay there. Unless it’s someone I know who’s going to stick around, I won’t tell a soul. I’m afraid to get my hopes up, let alone my best friends’.
The song ends, and we take a breather, fanning ourselves.
“Movies Tuesday night!” Luna yells one more time before leaving my best friend and me behind.
“I’ll look at the movie times!” And with that, I am left alone as Kamila walks to Cameron.
Taking a seat at a nearby booth that two people just left, I give my friends a few minutes before telling them I want to go the hell home. I’m exhausted.
Jeez, with the way they’re moving, they might as well fuck in the middle of the dance floor.
One day I’ll have that…without the major PDA.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here! I want pizza,” I yell at them one more time, only now I drag Kami and Stevie by their forearms.
“Hey!” Levi says loudly when I snatch away Stevie.
The girls giggle.
“I always forget how strong you are,” Stevie says.
Shrugging, I let them go once we’re out the door. “People mistake my size for weakness, but I could bring any large man down to his knees in seconds with three moves.”
Cameron hears what I said and cringes, remembering what I did to him last year.
If only it took three moves to make a guy fall in love, or even inlikewith me.
It’sfour thirty in the morning, and I’ve been lying in bed, staring at the ceiling for twenty minutes, trying to fall asleep after coming back from the bar. My buzz is mostly gone, but my anxiety is at an all-time high.