"Good. School is crazy this semester but I'm almost done so I'm hanging in there. How about you? The last time I got to see you, was the night..."
"We do not need to talk about that night ever again, Reed. She ..."
"Can talk for herself, thank you very much." I bounced up on my toes and kissed Chris on the cheek.
"I've been good. I just left my brother’s house and found out he is going to propose soon."
"Wow! Little Asher is getting married. What a stupid thing to do."
"Chris!" Both Reed and I said simultaneously.
"What? Marriage just ruins a good thing. Why wouldn't anyone just want to stay happy?"
"Because plenty of people are happily married."
I followed the voice to see Chad and Kara walking down the driveway toward us.
"Why are we talking about this anyway?" Chad apparently didn't want to continue, knowing Kara was just getting started on Chris.
"Because Kate just told us Ash is going to propose."
"No way!" The screech that came out of that little body was deafening. She lunged for me and squeezed me to death. "How exciting is this? He's getting married!"
"It’s crazy all right. I think he's going to ask her on their trip. It is pretty cool for them."
"Where is Ryan?"
Reed asked and all of us looked at each other for the answer. Then all eyes landed on me.
"What? How would I know? I just left my family. You were supposed to call everybody, Chad."
"I tried, he didn't answer. I think I heard him say something today about taking some girl out tonight."
"Okay then that makes five of us. Bonfire still?" I was okay with whatever we did.
"I want a drink. The kind we can't make."
"Excuse me Kara, but I'm a bartender remember. I can make anything you want."
"I don't feel like going to the store to buy what we need, is that better?"
"Damn girl calm down. You need to get laid or something."
Reed had no idea what he was walking into.
"Or something is right." I thought I whispered it under my breath but I was so wrong. Both Chad and Kara's head snapped straight at me to gouge my eyes out with their looks.
"What? Hello, you were loud as hell. How did you expect me not to know?"
"Whatever, you're just jealous."
"Absolutely, I can't tell you the last time I had a man make me scream like that."
"All right, I'm all for hearing how good I am, but can we decide what we are doing before it's too late to set up."
"Babe, I don't want to bonfire anything tonight. I need a drink, a real drink. One that will take away the asshole in my head, screaming at me that his torture chamber isn't torturous enough."
We all started to laugh, but Kara didn't find it funny at all.
"You guys have no idea what I am dealing with. He is impossible."
I walked behind her, wrapping my arms over her shoulders in a backward hug.
"I'm here for you girl. Where do you want to go?"
"We could always go back to '51'?"
She felt the chill that caused my body to shiver with the memory of that night.
"Or maybe not."
"No, that's fine with me, really. He doesn't even live here anymore."
"How about the new place on 2nd street that just opened?"
"Chris how do you always know this stuff?"
"Because darling, I have a life outside of the practice."
"Like I don't?"
In unison came, "You don't."
Well if they all thought that way, it was time to prove them wrong.
"Let’s go. I will out party every one of you."
"Spoken like a girl about to go down."
"Chad, you can bring your A-game, I will still kick your ass into tomorrow."
His face was priceless! I was determined to not be the power house business woman who did nothing else but focus on her career. Today was definitely the day I needed to let it all go and be wild.
"Let’s go then. Why are we all still standing here?"
"What did you do to my best friend and why didn't you do it sooner?"
"Smart ass, get in the car."
It was a ten minute drive over to the bar, but with Chad driving, we were there in less than five.
"Holy shit, Chad! Are you trying to kill us?"
"Woman, I am tired of you bitching today. Get out of the car and take three shots before you talk again. Save us all please."
I was laughing my ass off from the back seat listening to them. They were perfect for each other. We all got out and met up with Chris and Reed who had just pulled in to the parking lot.
Chris got out and the first thing out of his mouth was, "You drive like shit my friend."
Kara and I busted out laughing again. Chad on the other hand didn't find it funny at all.
We walked in to find a packed house with no available tables in sight. The guys went to the bar for drinks, while Kara and I walked around hoping to find one. We were almost full circle when she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me roughly to her side.
"Oh my God, he's here!"
I fought the urge to vomit as fear ran through my veins. Jarrett would forever be my largest fear or so I thought, until I followed her line of vision.
"Oh, hell no!"
My body immediately turned to walk right back out the door we had just walked in through. Kara grabbed me again and said, "Oh no you don't, you are going to out party all of us remember?"
"I can't be here with him. Come on Kara, please!"
"You can and you will. Now let’s go get you a few shots to loosen you up."
She pulled me back over to our friends, who had a row of shots already waiting for us.
"You might want to order more. Kate here needs a couple of these for herself."
All three guys looked over at me as I downed the first, then second and finally the third shot. My throat felt on fire, but even that wasn't enough to give me the courage I needed.
"There, now let’s leave. It’s not working."
"Give it a minute, dork. Alcohol doesn't kick in immediately and you know it."
My best friend was about to get bitch slapped. She knew how much I wanted to avoid this and yet she was forcing me to confront my fear head on.
Chad looked at me and said, "Would anyone like to tell me what the fuck is going on?"
"No!"
"Yes, Kate here has an obsession with Apollo the Greek god over there and won't do anything about it."
All three of their heads turned at the same time, looking for who the target was. Meanwhile, I was ducking down behind a bar stool.
"Get up. What is wrong with you? So you made an ass out yourself the last time you saw him. It’s time to redeem yourself."
"Kara I AM going to bitch slap you if keep this up."
"I don't get it. You have always been the untouchable one. The girl every guy at school wanted but couldn't have. Now you’re hiding from a man?" Chris looked confused.
I stood up, straightened my back, flipped my hair back over my shoulders and said, "He is different. That man renders me speechless. He defines beauty in its finest form."
"And he's coming this way."
"What?"
All eyes were focused on something behind me when I heard, "Kate".
I turned around trying to conjure all of my confidence and prove to myself I could do this.
"That would be me and you are?"
"You never actually gave me your name. I met you a couple of weeks ago and had to find out for myself. Maybe you can now do the same." He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. Followed by him whispering in my ear, "You are breathtakingly beautiful."
He pulled back and finished by saying, "I will give you ten minutes and then I will be back to find out if you have figured it out. If not, you do a shot of my choice. I’ll then come back every ten minutes after that and the same goes, until you know the answer." He turned and walked back
to where he came from without saying another word.
"Holy shit, he's hot!" I heard Chris say under his breath.
I turned around to find all of my friends with their jaw touching the ground.
"Yes, he is." I was amazed Reed could even speak because his eye balls were damn near popping from their sockets.
Chad reached over to Kara and physically picked her jaw up and put it back to prove a point which made us all laugh.
"What are you going to do? How are you supposed to figure that out?"
I looked back over to Chad and said, "Your guess is as good as mine."
I saw out of the corner of my eye a group of people getting up from a booth against the wall, so by instinct I jumped for it. Only to find it backed to the mystery man's table. I stopped dead in my tracks while my so called friends had no problem walking around me to take a seat, leaving me to be the only one standing in the aisle, looking like an idiot. I hurried up pushing Kara in, so there would be room for me to sit down.
"You are so screwed."
"Thanks Chris, I appreciate that so much."
"Oh, you're welcome honey, anytime."
The waitress walked over to us and asked what we would like to drink. I needed something stiff.
"Do you have any caramel vodka?"
"No hun, we have all of the UV line from Smirnoff though."
That was not going to cut it for me at the moment. Although the previous shots were kicking in, I needed it to hit faster and harder to help me get through this.
"Can I just get a long island iced tea then please?"
"You might want to order just water the way you’re going. You have a lot of shots in your future if you don't hurry up and figure out his name."
"I'm not playing his stupid game Kara, so it won't matter."
"Oh yes you are" came from right behind me. The whole table erupted in laughter, leaving me the color of a tomato. Did he really just say that? Come on, who does this to someone?
"I will take a UV blue with lemonade" Kara said with a smile looking right at me.
"A bucket of Bud Light for us will be fine."
"Speak for yourself; I want a purple hooter shot also."
Chris looked at Reed after he ordered and said, "You are so gay sometimes."
"Takes one to know one."
"I will just have beer and we will take turns with the buckets. Kate, are you getting a drink or water?"
"Chad, water is not happening. I’ll have the drink please." I looked up at the waitress as I heard, "Bad Choice" come from behind me again. The waitress walked away as I turned around to look at him, but I could only see the back of his head. The two guys with him were just as drop dead gorgeous and I would swear bore a resemblance to him as well.
"You may not want to test my brother beautiful. He gets his way when he's determined, I promise." The one on the left said.
"I can handle your brother, believe me. I've dealt with plenty worse before."
I turned back around trying my hardest to look like I had it all under control, when truthfully I was about to piss my pants. Everyone at my table was laughing under their breath.
"You find this funny how?"
Kara bumped me with her arm, "You haven't even tried to figure it out. You have maybe four more minutes and then you’re doing a shot. Girl, you might want to ask around."
"I'm not walking around, asking perfect strangers if they know this guy’s name. This is stupid."
"Your choice."
I ignored all of them. Like I was really going to participate in this. But as the waitress brought over our drinks and I knew the clock was winding down, I started to get nervous. What was he going to make me drink? How could I figure out his name anyway?
"Here hun, I brought you water also. Solves both problems I figure."
I looked down at the glass of water and got an idea. I was not going to be told by anyone that I needed to do something. My hand reached for the glass while I slowly rose from my seat. I went undetected until the glass was hovering over his head, tipping slowly but surely.
His brother looked up, just as I was about to pour and screamed, "Tony, watch out!"
He looked back over his shoulder and jumped practically three feet to the side to avoid getting soaked.
I righted the cup, smiled and returned to my seat, laughing my ass off. Kara high fived me while all the guys laughed right along with me.
"That was fucking genius!" Chad screamed while laughing hysterically. I sat so tall, feeling on top of the world in that moment. I outsmarted him at his own game. Woohoo!
All of a sudden he was standing next to me, holding out his hand for me to take.
"Where are you planning to take me?"
"I want to dance with you, may I?"
"No more tricks?"
"I never once played a trick on you. I was only trying to have a little fun. Now come on, dance with me."
"I don't think that's a good idea, but thank you anyway."
He rocked back on his heels looking stunned. The fact I turned him down shocked me myself.
"If you say so. Pretty clever to get my brother to give me up though. I've gotta give you props for that one."
"Thanks, I'm good like that."
"I bet you are." A quirky smile crept up his face, like he was taking that comment to a whole new level.
"Well, it was good getting to see you again, Kate. Have a good night."
He turned back toward his table and announced to his friends that he was leaving. They stood and filed out of the bar behind him. I watched them walk away, ready to kick myself when someone did it for me.
"Ouch!"
"Are you fucking crazy?" Chris kicked me hard.
"No, I'm not crazy. I told you all I was having fun tonight. Being nervous and drooling over that guy is not fun to me, it’s pathetic. Leave me alone on this."
"Bitch, you have lost your mind. That man is walking perfection and you just let him go."
"I agree with Kara, you have lost your mind."
"Chad, help me out here with these two please."
"Not a chance girly, you could have gone home with him and won for the night. Now, you might be lucky, but I'm betting you are going to get your ass handed to you."
I thought about what they were saying and if I had gone to dance with him, what could have happened. Tony. What a fitting name. I'm sure it’s Anthony which only makes him even sexier than he already is.
"Guys, I didn't want to look desperate."
"You are my very best friend in the world but Kate, come on. How do you get to know him if you shut him down?"
"Whatever, I'm going to the bathroom."
I got up from the table and left all of them while they were still talking about how crazy I am. Once I was inside a stall safely with the door locked, I screamed. Hopefully no one could hear me out in the bar because I was sick of explaining myself. There has never been anyone in my life that has made me feel like he does. It scared me to death.
I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and then took one last look in the mirror. I did look pretty good, if it’s okay to admit that too. I walked back out in to the bar and found Ryan in my seat.
"What are you doing here? I thought you had a date."
"I did have a date. She was awful so it got cut short, end of story."
"Wow, okay. I won't ask any more questions."
"Come here pretty girl, it’s been awhile."
And then he was pulling me down onto his lap. The whole gang was here and everyone felt the need to bring him up to speed on the Tony situation. As Kara went on and on, I could feel Ryan's body tense up.
"Can we not talk about this please? It's done, over with, move on already."
Ryan tapped my leg indicating he wanted to get up. I stood and stepped to the side, when he grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the bar. I followed him, wondering what he could possibly say to me. He just left a date. We weren't together. Once we reached the bar he spun on me.
<
br /> "So, you refused him, huh?"
"Something like that."
"Good for you. The last thing you need is to jump onto the first guy that offers you something. I'm glad to see you're setting standards. Sounds like you are setting them high too. Like I said, good for you."
"I am scared of him. There, I admit it. I'm not fearful of him like he could hurt me but there is something about him that scares me to death. Like he has the power to break me and I don't even know him at all. It’s weird but it is what it is."
"I think you think too much. Let’s get a shot to take the edge off of you."
"I've already had a few, it’s not working."
"Then do I need to take you out of here and show you some fun again?"
"We always get into trouble with that idea."
"Sometimes a little trouble is exactly what you need. So you decide, drink or trouble?" He wore the cutest little smirk and I didn't know what to choose. All I was certain of is that whatever I did for the rest of the night, if I was with Ryan, it would be worth it.
"Let’s just stay here and go for the drink for now. If in an hour we aren’t having more fun, we leave and find some."
"Sounds like my kind of plan."
Ryan leaned down to kiss my cheek, but something in me decided it was time to be dangerous. I turned my head at the last minute and his lips landed on mine. He pulled back immediately with a blank expression which then turned into a gigantic smile.
"You’re playing with fire, girl."
"Something in me wants to burn."
What the hell did I just say? The alcohol must have kicked in, because I never talk like that, ever.
"What has gotten into you tonight?"
"Maybe I'm just more comfortable with you."
He got so close to me that I could feel his breath on my lips when he said, "Comfortable is not how I picture us. What I see would put you on your knees."
"Kind of like the last time we were alone?"
"What are you guys doing over here? I'm bored. Let’s go somewhere else."
Kara came out of nowhere and Ryan launched back two feet. At the same time the bartender came over and asked what we wanted to drink. I looked over at Ryan, "What do you want to do?"
"You heard the lady, let’s get out of here."
"I guess we are leaving then."
Everybody decided to let Reed have his way which took us to a karaoke bar. As we pulled up to ‘51’, I laughed out loud. Kara turned around in her seat and said, "I'm sorry girl."
Fearing Regret Page 10