The Code of The Alpha

Chapter Twenty-One - Like Normal People Do

I laughed as I buckled my seatbelt.

"You're funny," Bates replied dryly.

It took about fifteen minutes to make it to the bar, which didn't look like much. It was in the basement of a restaurant, with the entrance down a stone staircase on the side of the building.

As soon as we walked in, I was hit with the smell of beer and cigarette smoke.

The disgust must have been evident on my face because Norah laughed.

The dim overhead lighting and glow of the TVs scattered along each wall were all we had to go by as we were led by a hostess to a booth in the back corner of the room, listening to the crunching of peanut shells under our shoes.

"This reminds me of Friday nights in college," I laughed, sliding into the faded red leather seat.

"You and I remember college very differently," Norah said, sitting next to me. "I feel like all I did was sleep and study."

"I never picked up a damn textbook the whole time I was in school," Bates scowled, taking a seat across from us.

"That was already obvious," Luca told him, getting comfortable next to me by throwing an arm around my shoulder.

This made me want to cuddle into him, but I refrained.

As everyone was seated, our waiter came over and asked for our drink order.

"Rum and coke," Ben told him.

Norah sighed.

"Vodka cranberry."

"Martini," was my answer.

"Water," was Luca's.

"I'll take a Bud," Blaine said and Bates took the same.

As the waiter left, Bates turned to me, smiling.

"You didn't strike me as a gin girl," he said.

"Not often," I assured him.

I turned to Luca.

"Water?" I asked him.

"I don't make great choices when I'm intoxicated," he laughed. "Whisky and impulse control don't really mix well."

"Hasn't stopped you before," Blaine commented, overhearing him.

Luca laughed, shaking his head as though he remembered something embarrassing.

I thought about what happened the last time I'd seen Luca drunk. I could still taste the whiskey on his lips.

Stopping myself from thinking about it further, I leaned forward on the table and grabbed a peanut from the bucket in the center of the table and cracked it open.

As soon as our drinks came out, the waiter took our order for the food.

"Large plate of the mango habanero traditional wings with a side of loaded tots," Bates told him. "And a plate of nachos...."