Falling Away

by Devon Ashley

  Sophie was pissed. She noticed me and we stared for a moment, then she began stalking towards me, so I let the door close completely behind me. “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Can I borrow your phone for a sec? Mine died on me a few minutes ago and I need to check on something.”

  “Sure,” I agreed, greedily wishing I knew more. I passed her my phone and asked, “You and Jhett are still good for tomorrow though, right?”

  “What?” she asked sharply, completely surprised by my question. “Why? Because of that? That had nothing to do with me and Jhett. We just don’t agree on something,” she explained vaguely. She looked over my shoulder, then excused herself for a second to make the call in her room. A body quietly passed me in the hall.

  Robert. His lips didn’t part, but I distinctly heard his throat grumble the words, “Oh, God…” as his body continued on even though his eyes couldn’t fight the stare. I didn’t bother defending myself since I most likely agreed with whatever his monologue was saying right then. He gently knocked on Jhett’s door, leaning with his back to me until he was able to disappear inside. I waited in the hall by myself until Sophie peeked out a few minutes later, waving me into her room, suddenly all smiles.

  “Better?” I asked as she returned my phone and I dropped it back into my purse.

  “Much. Problem solved.” She clapped her hands together and wickedly sang, “Ready for a night of drinking and debauchery?”

  “Yay on the drinking, nay on the whole debauchery thing.”

  She walked about the room, stuffing items into her purse for the night. “Tonight…no boy toys, no future hubby, no guys period unless they’re stripping on stage or randomly grinding up against us on the dance floor.”

  Yeah, definitely yay on the drinking then.

  “Ready, be-yatch?”

  “I am, but you’re not.” I reached into my purse and pulled out a veil attached to a hair comb. It went perfectly with the pink words, “I’m the Bride, Just Do What I Say” written across her tiny white t-shirt.

  She laughed and cried, “Awesome,” as I secured it onto her head.

  Dana met us downstairs in the hotel lobby with several other girls Sophie had met in Boston. There were only eight of us, but after three shots in the limo on our way to the first club, I had already forgotten the names of all the newbies. We each adorned a small pink veil that Dana gave to us so we’d be sure to draw even more attention to ourselves. Lovely. That’s when the fourth shot made its way down my throat.

  It was all a little fuzzy, but I did recall dancing a lot…willingly, if you could believe. But the moment some random guy got a little too touchy-feely for my taste, I’d wiggle myself to the middle of our group until another managed to break his way through for a turn. At the third club, I glanced over and caught Sophie grinding with Jhett.

  What the hell? This whole Ho’s-Over-Bro’s night was her idea, and I seriously doubted we all randomly entered the same club at the same time. I shook my head and headed for the bar, the guys on this particular dance floor were a little too frisky. Or maybe it was ‘cause it was later and more alcohol was passing through their systems now.

  My head pounding and my body kinda numb, I ordered a regular coke to settle my stomach and clear some of the haze. I stuck a skinny black straw in it and turned to watch the floor while I sipped away. It took all but ten seconds for some guy to approach me and ask me if I’d like a drink. I pressed my lips into a fake smile and waved the drink in my hand. “Thanks, but I already have one.”

  He made no attempt to mask his intentions when he looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my thighs for way too long. I rolled my eyes and was about to perform my trademark disappearing act when a hand slammed down on his shoulder from behind.

  “This bridesmaid’s spoken for. Go find another.”

  The guy lifted his hands in surrender and backed away, but his eyes still tried to undress me while I remained in sight. “Friend of yours?” I asked Robert.

  “Nope. Friend of Jhett’s, but he’s still not going to mess with me.” He ordered a refill of his glass: bourbon and coke. “Come on,” he said, his hand pushing beneath my neck to get me into motion. “Standing in front of the watering hole is as good as bending over for most guys.”

  My jaw dropped as I looked back at him, but I let him guide me to a table hidden off to the side. I opted for the corner seat so I could actually sit without flashing my goods to the world.

  “What time is it?”

  Robert pulled his phone from his pocket and replied, “Twelve-thirty.”

  “Fuck,” I blurted, which got a rise out of him. “How long do you think they’ll keep this up?”

  He shook his head several times. “Sophie will probably go a lot longer than Jhett. Partying is her thing, not his. And now that he’s found her and checked up on her, he’ll probably call it quits after this.”

  “No fair,” I whined.

  “Just promise you’ll call me if it gets out of hand.”

  Maybe it was the booze, or maybe I was still just bitter about it, but I snapped, “Why? You actually gonna answer it this time?”

  He sighed, and I could already tell this might become a weekend of endless sighs from the two of us, and I was already tempted to begin a drinking game right then and there. He leaned back in his chair and entered into a temporary staring match with me. “Yes. Tonight I will answer my phone.” He looked me up and down, assessing my clothing without emotion. “Where is your phone anyway?”

  “In the limo.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Damn it, Jenna. The next place you guys go, take it in with you. It’s useless in the car.”

  Exasperated, I motioned to my clothing. “Where in the hell am I supposed to put a phone? It’s not like I can tuck it away in my bra like my license and cash.”

  “Carry it. In. Your. Hand,” he said slowly, as if it was the most obvious solution in the world.

  Okay, it probably was. My head leaned back when I sighed my frustration (drink, please). Reluctantly, I muttered, “Fine.”

  We sat mostly in silence the next half hour. I was finally de-buzzing but now I felt incredibly tired as I came down off my high. Sophie and Jhett spotted us and made their way over with their arms entwined and smiles endless.

  “So what’s the plan now?” I asked.

  “We’re heading out for another club,” she answered, swiping the rest of my drink and frowning the moment her taste buds acknowledged the lack of alcohol. Sophie was the only one of the four of us that wasn’t of age, but not one bartender or bouncer had asked the bride-to-be for identification tonight.

  “Together or separate?”

  “Separate.” Jhett shook his head and rolled his eyes when she said that. Guess he would’ve preferred us to stick together the rest of the night too. I was tired and losing enthusiasm, and sitting with Robert, even quietly, was more alluring than being groped by strangers on the dance floor. We rounded up the rest of our parties and made our way to the limos outside.

  Something occurred to me, and I tugged on Robert’s arm before he stepped out of reach. “I don’t have your number with me.”

  He gave me a funny look, then dug his phone out of his pocket. “Okay, what’s yours?”

  “I don’t know. New line,” I explained, shrugging my shoulders.

  “Well, go get yours then.”

  He followed me to the limo and waited as I crawled in and came back out with my phone. Curiously, he stood there with his head bent, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and middle finger. When I asked him what was wrong, he grabbed my arm and swiftly pulled me to the wall of the club, spinning me so my back was to it, entrapping me. Weird thing was, he looked a little mad.

  “How many times have you done that tonight?”

  “Done what?” I still didn’t know what the hell was going on.

  “Bent over to get into that damn limo?” he grumbled.

  I gasped and covered my mouth, muffling my s
cream. “OH MY GOD!” I waved my hands frantically, repeating the words twice more, with a little more horror each time. “Did you see…?”

  “That your panties match your top? Yeah, I noticed. Good thing you’re wearing the shorts instead of a thong, but you’re still only covering half the moon.”

  Oh, my God. Shoot me. Shoot me now. Lightning strike, falling piano…doesn’t matter how. Just some higher being up there needs to take me down right now!

  “You’re damn lucky it was me that got the show and not Sloppy Joe over there bouncing the door.” I covered my face in shame. I just bent over in front of Robert of all people. “And since when do you wear this shit?”

  “It’s not mine, it’s Sophie’s!” I yelled in a hush.

  “I know it’s Sophie’s, I’ve seen her wear it before. I had hopes you’d be different, but apparently, neither one of you are capable of covering up your own ass.”

  “Oh, fuck me,” I moaned, feeling a little queasy, crossing my arms over my stomach as I collapsed in on myself.

  “I would imagine every guy that’s seen the show tonight would love to.” He snatched the phone from me and punched his number in to text himself, disgruntled ‘cause the design was archaic compared to his. “And what happened to the phone I gave you?”

  Like that’s my biggest concern at the moment. Whatever. Distractions were good… “When you cancelled my plan it became an expensive paperweight.”

  “I didn’t cancel it,” he muttered quietly, “my mother did.” He passed it back once the message went through on his phone. Figures… But still, I wouldn’t have expected him to continue paying for it. She was right to drop me. “But all you had to do was get a new line.”

  “I don’t use it anyway. This one’s pay-as-you-go and only gets used when I leave town. One less thing to pay for.”

  “Whatever.” He tucked his phone back into his pocket.

  Had I been playing that stupid drinking game, our combined sighs would have called for an entire bottle to be consumed.

  “Jenna…”

  “Robert, I feel stupid enough right now.” I rolled my head back against the wall. He was still blocking my silhouette pretty efficiently from the world. “God, I just wanna go back to the hotel, change out of this stupid skirt and never come out of bed. I thought…I swear I’d been good all night not to do that. What few times I had to bend, I did it at the knees. I totally didn’t realize the limo thing. Oh, God…how many people saw me tonight? Like really saw me?”

  He surprised me next, taking me into his arms and hugging me. “No one that you’re ever going to see again. Except me, that is.” I laughed and groaned at the same time. Luckily, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen intimately before, but still... “They were probably all too drunk to notice anyways.”

  “Let me just say I now appreciate all the times you stood behind Sophie.”

  “I was kidding when I admitted to looking at her there. Yes, I’ve stood behind her, and yes, I’ve noticed her skirts can sometimes ride up, but I’ve always diverted my eyes before I actually saw anything. And Jhett knows I was kidding, too. He just went with the flow because he hates that Sophie wears them, and hoped it would embarrass her enough to get her out of the damn things. Obviously didn’t work, as she’s now got you wearing one.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve learned my lesson.” I pulled out of his grasp. I probably shouldn’t have held it as long as I did. And I was suddenly aware of something else he said. “Wait. If you always divert your eyes, how did you know I’m wearing blue underwear tonight?”

  If it were me, I’d totally be blushing. Robert, on the other hand, gently pressed the back of my shoulder and led me back to the limo. “Sorry, Jenna. I know I’m the ex, but once you grant a guy private screenings, unless we truly hate you, there’s no shutting off the part of our mind that wants to look. Especially when you’re offering a free show.”

  I didn’t know whether to be humiliated for flashing him, or happy that he wasn’t completely repulsed by me these days. Either way, I decided that particular conversation was going down a dangerous road, so I kept my mouth shut.

  “Just do us both a favor and step into the limo backwards for the rest of the night, will you? And call me if you need us to come back for you.”

  I nodded that I would and he stood behind me as I tried my new way into the limo, giving me an encouraging thumbs up afterwards. Sophie was making out with Jhett by the guy’s limo, and Robert slapped his shoulder as he went by so they’d know to separate. Thank God Sophie didn’t see any of that, and I knew she didn’t, ‘cause I never heard a word about it.

  Dana took us to a stripper bar next, so no wonder they didn’t want the guys tagging along with us. I figured we’d end up at one of those at some point during the night, and was grateful when Sophie didn’t wanna stay too terribly long, preferring the dance clubs. I wasn’t in much of a party mood after my public viewing, so I always found a reason to break off from the group once the drinks and dancing had them spinning again. The last club closed at two and after we grabbed a bite to eat at a twenty-four hour diner, it was after three-thirty before we headed back to the hotel.

  “Who are you texting?” I snapped playfully, trying to grab the phone as we took the elevator up to our rooms. Dana lived in the city, so she took her car home, and all the other girls that came along were staying at random hotels throughout the city, so the limo driver was taking them back now. Sophie turned her back to me and blocked me out. I tried to reach around, humorously arguing, “You know you’re not supposed to be talking to him tonight! Girl’s night only! No boytoys or future hubbys! Your rules, remember?”

  The elevator dinged and I halted my assault, thinking someone was gonna get on. Turned out we had already reached our floor, and Sophie walked past her room to mine.

  “I was just letting him know that we’re back. He freaks out when I don’t keep in touch.”

  Sounded like Jhett was as protective as Evan. And Robert, but I stopped my mind before it could go any further on that topic. I opened my door, flicked on the light and tossed my purse onto the bed.

  “Well, damn,” Sophie stated. Her eyes made a quick sweep of the room. “Your surprise was supposed to be here by now.”

  “Little late for a delivery. What the hell do you think is gonna show up here at four in the morning?”

  “I’m gonna call the party responsible for bringing it to you. Here,” she said, digging through her purse and pulling out her keycard. “There’s a bottle of rum on my dresser. Will you grab it for us?”

  I groaned internally, completely sickened by the thought of putting more acid into my stomach, my body already slow and sluggish. But it was Sophie’s night. I could just pretend to sip at it. “Yeah, sure.”

  It may have only been two doors down, but I swore the hall lengthened on me like in that creepy movie The Shining, making for an endless walk. I swiped the card in Sophie’s door reader and it beeped before unlocking. The door closed behind me as I reached for the light switch. I cursed under my breath when nothing happened. Freakin’ lamps were turned off at their bases.

  I was suddenly grabbed and slammed against the wall, my head smacking so hard I let out a moan. But before I could react in any way, lips smashed hard against mine, a mixture of booze and mint invading my mouth. The body weight that pressed against me was an immovable blockade. I grunted through the kiss and tried to push against what I assumed was Jhett’s naked chest. And because of this freakin’ miniskirt Sophie put me in, I could tell Jhett was naked against my bare legs. I didn’t know how the hell he got there so fast without me catching the movement, but the second his hand roughly squeezed my right breast, his entire body recoiled and sprang backwards, tripping and stumbling in the darkness.

  “Fuck! Shit! You’re not Sophie!”

  I slid down the wall, wrapping my arms around me as Jhett continued to bump around in the darkness. A few seconds later the lamp clicked on and I glanced up to see him wrapping a towel a
round his waist. Not quickly enough unfortunately, but I supposed it was only fair since he literally stole first base in five seconds.

  “Jenna? Damn it! Fuck me!” he cried, throwing his head far enough back it was a wonder it didn’t snap.

  “No, thank you.” I replied smartly. Oh, lookey. I do have a voice.

  I dropped my head and sat in silence for a bit, unsure how to proceed. Jhett didn’t do any better, slowly pacing between the bed and bathroom wall. After about the tenth pass, he kneeled down before me, stroking loose wisps of hair off my face, but I continued to look at my feet. “Jenna, I am so sorry. Sophie told me she was back, and when only one person came into the room…”

  “Yeah. You thought I was her. Trust me, message received loud and clear.” I used his shoulders to push myself up. He followed, but stepped back a little to give me space. Maybe he thought I’d be afraid of him now. I wasn’t. I never had any interest getting to know him that well, but, oh well, moot point now. “Well…that was….uncomfortable.” Had it been Evan jumping me like that, I’d totally be singing a different tune right now. But Jhett…that was just weird.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “No,” I said, letting go of my waist to rub the back of my head, where tiny shots of pain were radiating out in rhythm with my quickened heartbeat. Banging the back of your head for a sexual purpose: totally worth it. Banging the back of your head for any other purpose: totally not worth it. “At least not physically.” Letting out an uncomfortable laugh, I added, “Just don’t take offense if I can’t look you in the eye for awhile.”

  “Same here.” He reached for his t-shirt on top of the dresser and pulled it on. “Thank God you’re not still dating Robert.” I looked to him curiously, his words such a distraction that I was already getting over the embarrassment a little. When he saw my expression, he added, “I don’t mean that in a bad way, but Robert would pummel my ass for grabbing your tit.”