Adore

Chapter 38

"Miss," the bartender asked. "Are you done with this?"

I looked down at my third empty cup. I slid my hand to the base of the cup and pushed it towards the man. "One more," I responded quietly.

He nodded, taking the cup and turning away. I swung around in my seat and faced the crowd of people talking back and forth and occasionally sharing a laugh. Niall had come to check up on me a couple times tonight but each time I told him to go spend time with his friends. 

I shouldn't be acting like I'm all upset and jealous about the fact Niall's ex-girlfriend is here. I'm just not a fan of how she's acting towards him. As I heard the cup hit the bar behind me, my mom's words from awhile back popped into my head. "If there's a girl all over the guy you want to be with, push yourself in between them and use your assets. You'll be able to tell by the way he responds whether or not he rather be with you." I guess this applied to the situation unraveling in front of me.

I reached behind me to grab the cup and took a swig of it before leaving my seat.

"Audrey!" Niall said, turning to me as I showed up next to him. "How are you doing?"

His arm fell across my shoulders and I brought my empty hand around his back. "Wonderful," I nodded.

"You know," his friend, Connor, spoke up once more. His words seemed to slur with every word. "I never thought I'd see you with another girl, Niall."

It seemed that in that moment, Niall, Sara, and I all shot some kind of gaze at him. I was rather annoyed that he was bringing this up again. 

"I mean, two years," he shook his head. "That's a long time."

"Mate, when are you going to get yourself a girlfriend?" Niall teased.

Everyone laughed besides me. I was too out of the loop to understand any jokes that were being made. Then, there was something about Niall's laugh that intrigued me so much. The way his eyes also always closed and his full face seemed to be taken up by the wide smile he shared. It was contagious, really, but I was too consumed in the beauty of his happiness to look away. 

He looked back down at me and pulled me closer to him, gently placing a kiss on the top of my head. I took a step back to look up at him. "How much have you had to drink tonight?" He asked me quietly.

I looked at the cup in my hand. "Four," I responded.

He shook his head and smiled. "I told you our drinks were better here."

"Oh, hush," I took another step back. "Where's the restroom?"

He went ahead and pointed me in the direction of a short hall where they were. I excused myself and made my way over to them. I was beginning to feel a little more dizzy but that was my fault. I hadn't had any water yet. After what felt like a minute or so, Sara walked into the room as well. I fixed my hair in the mirror as she walked past me and to the sink beside me. 

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hello," I greeted her in response trying to not show any hint of what I actually felt towards her.

"You enjoying yourself?" She asked. 

"Yes."

"How long have you and Niall been together now?"

"Officially? SInce today. We've been seeing each other for a couple months, though."

"It took you guys that long to get together?" She seemed shocked.

I shook my head. "It's not that things weren't happening or working out, I've just never dated anyone before like in an official relationship."

"You're a lucky girl," she said turning to me. I nodded but I kept silent. "I've missed him, so much," she added on quietly.