He smiles sweetly and says, “I had fun, we will do this again soon.” Then he places a kiss on my forehead and heads out the door. What a sexy man!
I head inside and grab a quick shower, throw on some comfy clothes and head out to class.
Chapter 13
The week flies and I hung out with Tucker a few times, but with classes resuming they are taking up all my time with homework and papers. I worked two shifts during the week and Tucker ended up working his jobs as well, so we haven’t had to talk about our pasts yet, which I am completely fine with. I haven’t had any more nightmares thankfully, but I know they will come when I least expect them.
I don’t work until Saturday so Tucker mentioned about hanging out Friday after classes. Other than that, we hung out a few times for lunch but that’s about it. The professors packed on the homework after Spring break and it’s kicking my butt. I’m studying my ass off though so I still have good grades, but I cannot afford to let my grades slip. I need my scholarship and I will make sure I get the grades I want. (Which of course are A’s).
Tomorrow is Friday and though I have some pain in the ass tests today in two of my classes, I am looking forward to the weekend. I need a few days away from homework and classes. The afternoon flies by but that’s because of my tests, before I knew it, I am heading out the door of my last class for the week. I leave the classroom and see Tucker standing there waiting for me.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey, how was your test?” he asks walking towards me. He’s always a gentleman, at least to me!
“Hard, but I’m pretty sure I passed it,” I say with a smile on my face.
“I’m sure you did, you’ve been studying for it all week,” he says with a little laugh. “You ready to go?”
“Sure!” I am so thankful this week is over.
We head out of the building to the parking lot and start to make our way toward my dorm building. As we enter my dorm, Tuck turns and says, “So there is a party at my frat house tonight; we don’t have to go, but wanted to give you a choice if you didn’t want to stay in tonight,” he says a bit nervously.
“Oh okay, well we can go if you want. I can’t say I have ever been to a frat party but it could be fun,” I say easily enough. Okay so I am a little nervous about drunken college guys and groping hands, but Tucker will be there, so I know things will be okay.
“We don’t have to go, I just wanted to let you know,” he said with a concerned look on his face.
The more I think about it, if we go then we don’t have to talk about our dreaded pasts. The party is looking more and more appealing by the minute. “No we should go; it is your fraternity anyway. You shouldn’t miss one of your own parties,” I say with a smile.
“Okay, but Harp whenever you want to leave you just say so and we’ll go alright? I know some of the guys can get pretty rowdy and out of hand,” he says looking at me with a concerned look.
“Sounds good, what time should we leave?” I ask because clearly I haven’t gotten a clue.
“We have a while, we can get something to eat and hang out and then head over,” Tucker says sweetly.
So that’s what we do, we hang out at my dorm for a while then head out to grab some grub then head to the party. It’s only going on 9 p.m. but dang if these people aren’t drunk already. We walk into the crazy packed house and people are yelling in every direction and the music is pumping loud.
Tucker turns and asks, “Do you want something to drink?”
“Sure, I’ll just take a beer,” I say. Okay, so just because I don’t have friends doesn’t mean I haven’t drunk. I can hold my own pretty well. One of the things I was able to do at my parents’ house. The house was always stocked, so drinking because my escape for a few years.
The look on Tucker’s face showed he was surprised by my choice, but he just shrugs and heads into what I assume is the kitchen. I glance around and watch the slurring bunch of drunks around me that are trying to dance on the made up dance floor. At least they are having fun right? I just smile and say hi to the people that say hi to me. Tucker returns a few minutes later with an unopened beer in his hand and when he hands it to me, “Harp, don’t take a drink from anyone unless it’s me,” he says with a serious look on his face.
“Okay,” I say. He pops the top off for me and I take a nice swig of it. Definitely had better, but I know it could be much worse.
“You’ve drank before?” Tucker says after I take my nice size sip.
“Yeah, hasn’t everyone?” I say slightly embarrassed. No need for him to think I’m a drunk or anything. I haven’t drank in quite a while, but that’s mainly because I don’t know anyone who could get it for me and I haven’t had the nerve to ask Eddie since I am underage.
“You surprise me Harper Lane!” he says smiling.
Next thing I know, people are yelling Tuck’s name left and right and he is pulled in a bunch of different directions. I don’t know anyone at this party but that’s not surprising because I’m not friends with anyone. I decide to walk around and get another beer because I finished the first one a little too fast, but who cares, I’m here to have fun right?
As I head to the kitchen to get another beer, I see Tucker. I start to head in his direction but stop because he’s not alone. The perky brunette is hanging on his arm and whispering in his ear. She is showing a lot more skin than I ever would and she flaunts what she’s got. By looking at her, she looks like the type of girl that Tucker would date. Both are amazing good-looking people. What was I thinking coming here with him? I am just a plain Jane that’s messed up. I decide I’ve seen enough when the brunette plants her lips right on Tucker’s lips. I make my way into the kitchen, grab a beer, pop the top and take a nice long sip, and then I grab another beer so I don’t have to make a trip back in here to get another one.
The house is crazy loud and I see a door off the side that leads to the back of the house. I decide I might as well get some fresh air. I head out and the backyard is packed full of more drunken college kids. Some are making out on the grass, others are passed out on the lawn and I also saw a girl puking her guts out, gross. I head in the opposite direction of the puking girl and see a fire going so I sit in one of the chairs surrounding the fire. There are not many people by the fire but it’s relaxing.
Next thing I hear is, “Hey there beautiful, how are you doing tonight?” I look over and see a clearly drunken idiot, but whatever, “I’m good thanks.” He sits right beside me almost falling off the lounge chair which had me almost spit my drink out, it’s absolutely hilarious. Some people just cannot handle their alcohol.
He tried to have a conversation with me, but he’s clearly too drunk. By the time I’m annoyed by the slurring stupidity of this guy, I already finished the two beers I had. So I decide I might as well get another one.
I head back inside and grab another beer, pop the top and take another swig. The beer tastes much better now, thank goodness. I don’t see Tucker anywhere but I’m not surprised, he’s probably off giving her exactly what she wants. Okay so yeah I’m a little jealous, how can I not be? But we aren’t anything but friends, so I can’t get mad. I have no right or claim to him.
I head into the living room and see the amount of drunks on the dance floor has almost tripled. I take a seat in the corner and watch the craziness that is going on before my eyes. That’s when a new guy comes and sits beside me. Great, more drunken conversation.
“Hi, I’m Mark.” Mark holds his hand out to shake mine, so I shake his hand.
“I’m Harper.” Mark doesn’t appear to be drunk like the others.
“I haven’t seen you around here before, are you new here or visiting someone?” He asks looking curious.
“I go here, I started in January,” I say. Then he stops and looks at me like he’s thinking.
“Wait, I know you from somewhere.” Great, what a good pick up line, so not what I want to hear. Before I get the chance to say anything he starts in, “You wor
k at PowerTrip’s right?”
Ahh, so he saw me working now it makes sense. Not a pick up line good to know. “Yes I do work there.”
“I thought you looked familiar. Well welcome to the party tonight. I’m in this fraternity and probably the only one that’s sober,” he says with a light laugh.
“Yeah I think you may be the only sober one by the looks of it,” I say with a slight laugh.
We have mindless conversation about this and that and then I ask, “Hey have you seen Tucker around?”
He looks at me, “You’re not his type.” What the hell does that mean? Not his type? What?
“Excuse me?” I say with an irritated tone to my voice.
Mark looks at me, “No offense Harper, you seem like a nice girl but Tucker has a certain type of girl he goes for and though you are a beautiful girl, you’re not the type Tucker hangs out with for a night,” he says like it’s no big deal.
I am still dumbfounded at the words that are coming out of this guy’s mouth. So I know I am not the most gorgeous girl in the world and yes I have boobs and curves, but I never thought there was something wrong with me. Not in the looks department anyway. I don’t know what to say so I just shake my head and chug the rest of my beer.
I’ve been at this party for over two hours and have not seen or heard from Tucker. Wow, maybe he’s not such a great guy after all. All of a sudden Mark hands me an unopened bottle of beer. I hadn’t even realized he disappeared. I open the beer and down its contents. It’s been a while since I’ve drank and I can say I am starting to feel something.
Mark turns away and comes back and sits beside me handing me two more beers. “I figured I better get you two since you cleared that last one pretty damn fast.” He has a stupid smile on his face and I want to knock it right off of him, but I would never do that.
“Thanks,” I mumble. Then I proceed to open up the beer and take a long swig of it.
Mark looks at me “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings and if I did I’m sorry. You seem pretty cool Harper.” I just shake my head and down the rest of its contents. Then reach for the other bottle and open it and take another sip. This shit is going down like water now.
Mark continues to talk to me for what feels like eternity. He gets me a few more beers all of which I drink pretty quickly. As one point he asks if we can hang out, I just shrug and drink more. It‘s easier than answering the damn question.
I look at the clock on the wall and see it is almost 1 a.m. and still no Tucker. Wow, what an ass. I decide I’ve waited long enough and want to go home. I can’t call or text him because I don’t have a damn phone. Ugh, how annoying. Oh well, I’m a big girl. I can make it home by myself. I say bye to Mark telling him I am going outside for some air, he tells me he will come along but I decline, telling him to go and have fun. Then I turn away and head out the back door, because I don’t want him following me home. I may be drunk, but I’m not stupid.
I make my way through the throng of drunks outside now. More throwing up, making out, and passed out on the lawn. I don’t feel sick, which is good, but I never throw up from drinking thank God. That’s disgusting. I feel a good buzz going on, but figure I have my pepper spray in my bag. I pull it out just so I have it if I need it on the way home. I make my way around the house and pass more people making out, I think one couple’s even having sex, but I’m not looking long enough to find out.
I make my way down the road and head in the direction of my dorm. About thirty minutes later I find my dorm. I guess I am a little drunker than I thought. I make my way inside and lock the door then go to my bedroom. By the time my face hits the pillow, I pass the hell out.
I wake up to constant pounding, what the hell is that? It takes me a few minutes to register that it’s my damn front door. I get out of bed and make my way to the door; I open it to see a pissed off Tucker standing there glaring at me. What the hell? Why’s he mad at me, he left me at his party. Since I’m still drunk and pissed off, I do the only thing that comes to mind and slam the door in his face and walk back to my bedroom. I crawl back in bed and ignore him. Stupid me though, I shut the door in his face but I didn’t lock it. Next thing I know I have Tucker standing over me yelling at me.
“Harper, where the fuck did you go? I fucking looked everywhere for you.” Is he serious right now? I sat in that damn living room for hours. The more he yells the more pissed off I get.
“Get the fuck out of my dorm Tuck and do not come back.” I yell back at him. He looks at me shocked and he shuts up real quick. He hasn’t moved so I yell, “NOW, get the fuck out NOW.”
“Harp, we need to talk. You had me worried sick about you,” he says trying to look worried.
Oh, how original. “Save your bullshit Tuck. I saw you with the brunette with her tongue down your throat. So don’t you dare say you were worried about me. I sat in the fucking living room drinking for hours. So clearly, you didn’t look that damn hard. Now this is the last time I am going to tell you to get the fuck out.” Tucker looked at me with a sad face but too damn bad; I am still drunk and pissed off. Before he can say anything I yell, “NOW.”
He looked at me with a sad face, but leaves my room and I do not move until I hear the front door shut. Once it shuts, I go out and lock the door and then head back to bed and pass the hell out.
Chapter 14
The next morning I wake up and take an aspirin with a bottle of water and within the hour I feel much better. I think about last night and get mad at the Tucker situation all over again. How dare he take me to a party at his fraternity and then disappear, then to come here and yell at me. Before I can get any angrier I decide I need to go for a run. I’m full of pent-up anger and running will help to calm me down. I get my gear on and head out the door.
I run and run and run until I can’t run anymore. I hit around eleven miles today. My legs burn, I’m dripping sweat, and I’m starving. By the time I make it back to my dorm my legs feel like Jell-O, but I’m thankful for the run.
I head inside and grab a shower then eat lunch. I have to work tonight so I take the rest of the afternoon and get lost in my reading. I need something to distract me from the brown-eyed deviled asshole. I just don’t get what happened. He goes from telling me he likes me to hanging out and having fun to last night, he just disappears with another girl. I mean yeah, we aren’t having sex or doing anything even remotely close, but have the respect to at least tell me. I deserve at least that, especially since we are friends. I don’t deserve what the hell he did to me last night. Well I learned my lesson; I will not make the same mistake twice.
The rest of my afternoon goes by and before I know it, it’s time to head into work. Tucker hasn’t come by today so hopefully he got my message loud and clear this morning. I make my way into PowerTrip’s; King Dread is set to play tonight so it’s going to be a busy night. I’m looking forward to it though. I say hey to everyone and get set up behind the bar with Natalie and Marcus. I see Parker when he comes up to the bar to get a drink before the band starts. We have a small conversation and I wish him luck before he takes the stage.
Parker is a nice guy, unlike the other asshole I know. I see Tuck at the bar but he doesn’t come up and say anything to me. Unfortunately, I can feel his eyes bore into me throughout the night. I just ignore him and continue doing my job. When the guys are on a break the bar gets swamped and we are getting drink after drink for our crazy drunken crowd. After the line goes down I take my break. I head outside for the fresh air and run into Parker again. He’s having a cigarette.
“Hey Harp, how have you been?” He asks sincerely.
“I’m pretty good, how about you?” I state because tonight is going great.
“I’m good, really good,” he says with a sexy smile on his face.
“Oh yeah, well that’s great Parker! Any special news you want to share?” I ask smiling at him.
“Well it’s always great to see your beautiful face,” he says with a smile, but then continues and say
s, “We got signed to a recording label earlier today,” his smile is huge.
“Holy shit that’s awesome! Congratulations Parker!” I walk over and give him a big hug. “That’s great news!” I have a big smile on my face. I am so happy for them, they deserve a contract for all of their hard work and their music is amazing.
“Yeah, we’re going to celebrate afterwards tonight. You are more than welcome to come along,” he says looking excitedly at me.
As much as I would like to celebrate their news, last night with one sexy man didn’t go well, I better not push it with a different sexy man tonight. Last thing I need is a repeat of last night.
“Thanks, but I’ll probably just head home. I can’t get into places anyway since I’m underage.” I say this hoping he buys my excuse.
“You don’t have to worry about that, we’re going to Eddie’s house. He won’t care; he looks at you like family. Plus if it makes you feel better, I can make sure you get home if you don’t want to stay at Eddie’s house,” Parker says sweetly. Before I can say anything Parker continues, “Come on Harper, it’ll be fun.”
“What the hell! Why not? I’ll come,” I say with a smile on my face!
“Great, well I better get back in before the crowd gets too crazy,” he says with a sexy smile on his face.
I follow him in and head back to the bar to help with the crazy lines that have formed. The rest of the night goes by quickly. I still feel eyes burning into my every now and then, but I control myself to not look for Tucker. After the band is over we restock the coolers and I stay back and talk to Eddie about coming over to his house.
He tells me I am more than welcome to stay in one of the guest bedrooms if I want and he will make sure I get home tomorrow, but we will see how it goes. After the bar is closed we hang out for about twenty minutes before making our way out the doors to head to Eddie’s house.
I see Tucker the moment I walk out and head in the opposite direction of him, hoping that Parker is parked somewhere on this side. I don’t make it too far before Parker says he’s parked on the other side. So I turn around and walk in the direction of Parker’s car, same direction as Tucker.
Needing You Page 9