Oh,Brother! (Complete)

14: Guilty Pleasures

Avoiding Jason was easier said than done. His smiling face when I passed him at work made me feel guilty about the kiss at the basketball game. All week, he would try to speak to me at the office, but I managed to avoid him. I would feel guilty when he would ask me to lunch and I would blow him off with excuses, saying I had too much work to do. Throughout the week, I had been having lunch at my desk instead.

This whole week had showed me how much I had actually missed spending time with Jason. I shouldn't have felt that way about my best friends' brother. This was why I had to spend as little time with Jason as possible. And it was proving to be harder than I thought it would be.

Liz had also been calling me all week, asking to hang out. Every time I thought of Liz, the guilt would eat me up again. I hated keeping secrets from my best friend and not telling Liz about what happened at the basketball game was painful. I wasn't sure if I felt guilty about kissing her brother, or if I felt guilty because I actually liked it.

I had been avoiding the Agreste household like the plague, worried about what I would say or do or how I would act in front of Liz. I just didn't know what else to do. The only rational thing I could think of was to avoid them both.

But that was all about to change. Tonight, Max wanted to meet all my friends, so we were all meeting at a new club which had opened up in our town.

I was going crazy not seeing Liz, so I had been spending a lot more time with Max. We would go out to cafes, hang out at the park or hang around at my house. I just needed someone else to talk to and a week of not talking to Liz was a long time.

We had arrived at the club just before the rest of the group arrived. The new club was busy. The strobe lights flashed all around us and the music was blaring. From our seats in our booth, I could see the bar tenders expertly whipping up cocktails, serving customers at the bar as fast as lightning.

I smiled as Ethan, Jason, Ian and Liz approached the booth. Liz ran over to me and hugged me tightly. "Where have you been all week Missy?" she squealed in delight.

"I think this is the longest we've gone without seeing each other" I hugged her back.

"For the first time in years, the house was so peaceful and quiet" Jason laughed.

Liz punched him on the shoulder "Shut up"

I noticed that Liz was nowhere near Ian and was keeping her distance. Which was probably for the best, seeing as she wasn't ready to tell Jason yet.

"You already know Liz" I said to Max, introducing him to Liz.

"Hey Max, nice to finally see you again" Liz waved.

"And this is Ian and Ethan, friends of Jason" I introduced, pointing to the boys, who waved back to Max.

"And this is Jason, Liz's brother"

"Oh, so this is Jason" Max nodded.

Jason furrowed his eyebrows "Has Rosie mentioned me?"

"Sort of. I saw the basketball game and- "

"Who's ready for some drinks?" I shouted out, cutting Max of from saying anything else.

I could see the rest of the guys look on with wide eyes as I grabbed Liz's hand and dragged her to the bar.

"What was that all about?" Liz questioned, raising her eyebrow.

"Oh, it's probably just boy talk, talking about sports and such" I waved off "So, tell me, how things with you and Ian?" I said, swiftly changing the subject.