by R. S Burnett
“Yeah…shit,” I say dryly.
“Hey Brooke, you look beautiful tonight.” Andrew grins at me.
“Thanks.” I smile and accept the drink he hands me along with a shot.
“So your friends tell me your single?” he asks as soon as we’re alone.
“Technically I am, but I’m kind of seeing someone at the moment,” I smile back at him.
“Not any of them I take it,” he nods over to my friends and I turn to see what he means. Sophie is now wrapped in Matt’s arms and Luke is kissing Kate, but what catches my attention is that Tucker has one arm on some girl’s shoulders and the other holding his drink.
“No, none of them,” I tell him and manage a smile as I turn back to the bar. “So what can you tell me about Will? I’m meeting him tomorrow,” I sigh.
“Will’s great, he and your dad were very close. He actually manages a club not far from here; you should check it out later. I’ll take you if you like,” he offers.
“I suppose I could; it would be easier if I know who he is before I meet him. I’m trying to remember things but nothing is coming back to me. It’s never been this bad before.” I shake my head at myself.
“It’ll come to you, just give it time,” he assures me.
I take the time to look around the bar that was my dad’s favourite. It had a nice feel to it. The decorating is a bit dated, but it isn’t distasteful. There are two pool tables, a jukebox, small stage and a bar that goes around the whole room with the only gap in it for the two bathrooms and front door.
“Want a game of pool?” Andrew asks pulling me from my inspection.
“Sure,” I shrug and follow him to the pool table. “I’ll rack, you break,” I offer as we reach it.
I try my best to ignore my friends as the game progresses, but it isn’t easy when they are only about ten feet away from us.
“Come on Brooke,” Sophie cheers.
“No fair, you get cheerleaders,” Andrew chuckles tapping me on the shoulder with his cue as he joins me at the top of the table so I can line up my shot.
“You have your fan base,” I smirk and nod my head at the group of girls that are huddled by the table watching his every move.
“Bend over any more and you’ll give your fans a heart attack,” he smirks back at me and nods to the bar. I turn to see a group of men staring down my dress.
“Ass,” I mutter as I take my shot much to his amusement.
“It’s a very nice one.” He winks at me and hits my backside with his stick.
“You’re just jealous because I’m more entertaining to watch,” I tease him.
“Want to bet on that?” he asks raising an eyebrow.
“What’s in it?” I ask not about to back down from the challenge.
He takes a step towards me so only our pool cues in front of us are separating us and lowers his voice.
“I bet that I get approached by someone of the opposite sex before you do.”
“That’s not fair, you know everyone here.”
“Not everyone; people we know aren’t included.”
“What happens if I win?”
“If you win, I’ll do whatever three things you want, you win and you have to do three things I want and just so you know in advance, it will be very embarrassing, so back out while you can.” He smirks at me.
“No chance.” His arrogance surprises me, he’s so sure he’s going to win. “You’re on,” I whisper and lean up to kiss his cheek.
“Go tell your friends not to come up then,” he smiles at me.
I head over to the table where they are all sat. I walk around Tucker who hasn’t even noticed my approach because of the girl sat on his knee and make a beeline for Matt who is thankfully not sat down, but just returning to the table.
“You owe me, so make sure no one I know comes over to me at the table no matter what I do next, okay?”
“What are you going to do?” he asks looking amused.
“You don’t want to know, but I am going to kill you tomorrow and not speak to you for a month,” I grumble as I head back towards Andrew who’s racking the balls setting up for a new game. “Your break,” he grins at me.
I bend over to take my shot but stop when I catch sight of him lifting the bottom of his shirt up to scratch his stomach, revealing a few muscles I’m sure he spent hours at the gym to get. I hear a few giggles from girls around the bar and roll my eyes when I notice that one of them is Sophie’s.
Once I’ve taken my shot, I look up at the ceiling and pretend to look thoughtful.
“What’s wrong?” Andrew asks coming around to stand next to me and looks at the ceiling as well.
“Just wondering how I’m going to make it obvious which itch I need scratched,” I shrug and he bursts out laughing.
“Watch and learn.” He winks at me bending over so his rear is at the right angle for the ladies to ogle.
I position myself so I’m in direct sight of his corner vision and directly in front of the guys sat at the bar as I wrap my leg around the pool cue three times.
He misses his shot and turns his head to get a better look at my leg. I pull the cue out from the coil instead of unwrapping my leg from it and smile sweetly at him “Did you miss?”
He shakes his head at me and watches at I bend over the table slowly to take my shot; my ball goes in and I stand at the side of the table. I don’t look at Andrew, I just look at the table putting on a concentrated expression and mindlessly run my index finger from my throat to my chest and back up a few times. I bend over the pool table, still at the side and look over at the men sat at the bar and smile shyly at them looking up from under my lashes.
I miss the shot and pout at the table.
“Brooke,” Luke says and I hear him ask someone what I’m doing. I look up to see Matt pull him back down when he tries to stand and shake his head at him. Everyone at the table is watching me; Matt looks amused, Sophie and Kate look impressed, Tucker looks annoyed and the girl who is still sat on his lap is looking at me curiously.
One of the men from the bar stands up and starts to walk towards us, but Andrew strips his shirt off then makes a point of looking at his shirt and then his cue before he looks around helplessly. As if timed, a girl steps out of nowhere and takes his shirt from him making him grin and raise his eyebrows at me as the guy from the bar finally reaches me.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asks staring at my chest.
I glare at Andrew who just smirks at me.
“I’m sorry, that’s very generous of you but I’m actually here with my fiancé,” I tell him, putting disappointment into my voice and slipping my left hand behind my back as I gesture towards Andrew. The girl he’s with hears me and walks away from him pouting.
“Oh, sorry,” he says then returns to the bar shaking his head.
“So we’re engaged?” Andrew chuckles down at me as he wraps and arm around me and pulls me under his arm.
“You cheated; I have no clothes I can take off!” I accuse adding a pout for good measure.
“Uh huh, not gonna work on me.” He ruffles my hair and then grabs my arms spinning me around so I’m face to face with him.
When it’s too late, I realise he still has no shirt on and I let my eyes trail over his upper body, “What do you want me to do?” I ask nervously when I drag my eyes up to his.
“We’ll get to that in a minute. See that girl sat on your friend’s lap behind us?” he asks and I move my head to the side to look at the girl on Tuckers lap.
“What about her?” I ask still watching her.
“Look at this.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and logs into Facebook. After a few minutes, he passes me the phone and I’m watching a video. It’s of two young girls and two young boys, no older than ten.
“What am I looking at?” I ask looking up at him.
“Just keep watching,” he says and I move my eyes back to the video.
The camera zooms in and I notice the little girl is
me. I’m dancing in a paddling pool and calling out to someone called Mel. The second little girl joins me in the pool and dances with me, and then we both start screaming when two boys run past us and throw what looks like ice cream in our hair. The video goes blurry as me and the girl start chasing the boys around the garden.
“That’s me, but I don’t understand,” I admit looking up at him once the video has ended.
“That’s me, you, my brother and the girl in the video is Mel. Mel is also sat on your friends lap over there.”
“Okay…” I frown and look back to the girl who is apparently Mel. I squint at her but still don’t recognise her at all, not like when I saw Andrew in the restaurant.
“I don’t remember her,” I tell him turning back.
“I don’t think she remembers you either, so don’t worry about it.”
“How many more videos have you got?” I ask looking at the phone in my hand.
“There’s a few; get your phone out and I’ll add you on Facebook and tag you in them.”
I walk past him to the table my friends are sat at.
“Can I have my phone please?” I ask Sophie; she has my phone and purse in her bag because I didn’t bring one.
“Why? He already has you’re number,” she frowns at me getting her bag off the floor.
“He’s sending me a video,” I reply impatiently.
“You have to show me it!” she exclaims handing me my phone. I shake my head at her and return to Andrew logging into my Facebook app.
“Brooke Daniels, right? Which one is you?” he asks showing me the list of Brooke’s that have come up from his search; I point to the third one and accept the request on my phone.
“Okay I’ll tag you in them later. Want your first challenge?” he asks me smirking.
“Of course,” I nod at him and prepare myself mentally.
“You have to get eight people to do a body shot.”
I turn to the table and count six people, I look back to Andrew and note he’s the seventh; he notices me trying to work it out mentally and grins. I turn and head to the bar to order the eight shots, limes and some salt.
The girl with Andrew’s shirt comes to stand next to me at the bar and I smile to myself as an idea comes clearly into my mind.
I place the tray of shots, lime slices and salt onto the table and gesture for Andrew to join us.
“You six have to do a body shot, each, off each other,” I announce to them.
“What? Why?” Luke asks but is cut off by Katie nudging him.
I clear the table and gesture for Matt to lie down. I set him up for the shot and Sophie comes to take it; as soon as he is up and off the table, Sophie lays down and I set her up for one. I do the same for Katie and Luke. Then Tucker lies down on the table. I call Mel over and everyone except Andrew is surprised that I know her name. They all stare at me and I look away when she starts licking the salt off Tucker’s stomach. She lies down on the table once he is up and he does the same to her, but again I look away. I set Andrew up for the shot as soon as he lies down and just like I told her, the girl from the bar does the shot. Everyone sends me different looks, but I ignore them and set the girl up for Andrew to take his shot.
“You cheated,” he laughs at me once the girl has jumped down from the table and rejoined her friends.
“You said I had to get eight people to do a body shot; not that I had to be one of them.” I smile my most innocent smile at him.
“You wouldn’t have done it anyway would you?” he asks
“I only just met you; I can’t lick you when I don’t even know you,” I shrug.
“I’m going to have to be more specific with the other two, I can see.”
“While you think of them I’m going to get another drink; when I come back I expect to see you fully clothed,” I call over my shoulder as I sit on a bar stool waiting to place my order.
“What was that all about?” Matt asks slipping onto the stool next to me.
“I lost a bet” I glare at him. “Don’t ask and I’m seriously going to kill you tomorrow. Do you have any idea how drunk I’m going to have to get just so I can get through the next two things I have to do?”
“What have you got to do?” he asks, grinning at me making me glare harder.
“I don’t even know yet!”
“Anyway, Soph sent me over to ask if you’re going home with Andrew tonight.”
“No!” I answer; surprised that Sophie would even have to ask.
“She said you’d say that so she wants to know if you want to stay in our room tonight.”
“Why?” I ask frowning at him confused.
“Umm…well” he doesn’t finish the sentence, just gestures with his head to our table. I look over and see Tucker whispering something in Mel’s ear making her giggle and bite her bottom lip.
“Oh…I know her…or I used to anyway. He wouldn’t bring her back to the room would he? I mean, he knows there’s only one bed. Can I have four shots of tequila, a jager bomb and a bottle of beer please?” I ask the bartender as soon as he stands in front of me.
“I’m not sure but you can stay in our room just in case,” Matt says frowning at the drinks being placed in front of me. “Who are they for?” he asks.
“Me,” I say distractedly as I pay for the drinks.
“Brooke, you are not going to drink all them and not be sick,” he says unbelievably.
I don’t reply. Surely Tucker wouldn’t bring someone back to a room knowing that I’ll be in the bed too. First shot.
He wouldn’t do anything with her after last night, this morning and this afternoon. Second shot.
Although he is all over her and has been since we got here. Third shot.
Maybe, I didn’t drop my panties quick enough for him. Fourth shot.
He’s probably laughing at me for everything I told him about the dream and stuff. I wince and slam the now empty jager bomb glass down.
“No?” I ask Matt picking up my beer and taking a sip.
“Oh boy,” is all he says and walks back to the table looking worried.
I shake my head at the mess that has quickly become my life tonight. I’ve lost a bet and now have to do three embarrassing things that – thanks to the four shots and jager bomb – quick thinking isn’t going to get me out of anymore, by a guy that I used to be friends with and who both my friends are attracted to. The guy that I care about and am attracted to, is now getting it on with a girl I also used to be friends with. Oh and I have to share a hotel room with people who will be having sex, no matter which room I stay in, after I have met my dead dad’s best friend, of course. Great.
Eleven
I wake up to an annoying song and thirty people hitting me in the head with hammers. I throw the pillow over my head but the noise doesn’t stop. I reluctantly lift my head off the pillow and search for the noise.
I find my phone on the floor next to the bed in my shoe.
“Hello?” I whisper into the phone.
“Where the hell are you?” Sophie screams into the phone making me wince and hold it away from my ear.
“Shh…umm I’m not sure, hold on.” I whisper to her then look around the room; I’m still in the hotel but my stuff isn’t here. “I’m in the hotel.”
“Why are you whispering?” she asks, not whispering.
“Head…hurts…dying,” I groan and walk into the bathroom. “Oh fuck,” I whisper as I take in my appearance; I look like death.
“What? What’s oh fuck?” Sophie screeches in my ear.
“If you say anything above a whisper from now on, I am hanging up on you,” I warn in a whisper so it doesn’t have the desired effect.
“What room are you in Brooke?” she asks, sounding worried now and talking a bit quieter thankfully.
“I don’t know, hold on,” I tell her and head to the door to check the number on the outside. “Four oh seven,” I tell her.
“I’ll be there now.”
“I’ll leave th
e door unlocked then because I’m getting in the shower,” I say before she hangs up.
I let the water wash over me and stand under it for much longer than I need to. I don’t bother drying my hair when I get out but get dressed in the fresh clothes that Sophie has left on the toilet for me. I can hear an argument so I put my ear on the door and try to listen.
“What are you doing here?” “What do you mean what am I doing here, what is she doing here?” “I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to her far from getting this room number yet” “Well why not?” “Where’s your friend?” “She went home.” “I can’t believe you.” “Hey, at least I came home last night.” “Will you two stop it?”
I lower myself to the floor and put my head in my knees trying to think what happened last night. I remember everything at the pub and getting to the club, but nothing after that. Someone knocks the door above my head.
“Yeah,” I call not lifting my head.
“Are you okay Brooke?” Katie asks softly.
“I’m not sure,” I answer honestly.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.” I shift out of the way as she slides in and closes the door behind her. She takes in my position on the floor and climbs down next to me.
“What happened last night?” she asks looking me over.
“I was hoping you could tell me,” I whisper “I can remember as far as getting to the club and that’s it,” I groan.
“You were only with us until two o’ clock then you disappeared…with Andrew.”
I groan and reach for my phone holding it to my ear once I’ve dialled his number.
“Morning,” he says happily
“What the hell happened last night?” I ask, not bothering to greet him back.
“You drank a truck load,” he laughs and I hold the phone away from my ear until he stops.
“I can’t remember anything.”
“You didn’t do anything stupid; you could only just walk when we got to the club so I let you off the bet. You met Will and spent most of the night talking to him. You’re not meeting him today now, you told him were going to sleep all day instead.”