Always Been You | Tom Holland

TWENTY-FIVE

Tom

Ben's schoolmates literally won't leave Y/N alone. I'm trying my hardest to not be visibly bothered, but I can tell they're boring her to death. I mean, I know I said no other guys, but I didn't actually think she'd be fighting off men all night. And, of course, because I haven't told Ben about anything between us, he doesn't see any issue with it. I'm slowly losing my mind. I don't want to be like, protective and weird, but I just don't want her trapped in these weird conversations about finance and business and blah, blah, blah.

I go back to the bar to avoid clawing my eyes out watching Y/N talk to 5 guys at once. Becky sees me coming and has my drink ready for me by the time I get up there. She's the best. I lean against the bar and run my finger on the rim of my glass, watching the ice clink around in the dark liquid. I wonder how long I can wait up here before the stress of another man trying to flirt with Y/N takes over and stops my heart. I'm thinking, not long.

"Hey, Becky?" She looks up from the drink she's making and smiles at me. "Can you make sure Y/N's drinks are on my tab?" She lets out a small chuckle.

"You are so predictable. I've already been doing that." She winks.

"Thanks, darling." I smile and sip my whiskey. "Can I get her a vodka soda, please?"

I walk back outside and see one of Ben's mates, Frankie, standing over Y/N and talking at her. Not talking to her. Talking at her. She's looking into her empty glass and nodding her head slowly. I can tell from her body language that she is way over the conversation and far too sober to listen to him talk about his law firm's newest summer associates. To be fair, it's literally the most boring story in the world. She looks up, sees me, and her eyes widen. I take the cue and walk over to the two of them.

"Hey, Frankie, I just heard someone inside saying that summer associates don't get benefits." Frankie's face gets red and he stands up straight.

"What? That's just not true. Excuse me." He rushes inside and Y/N breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. I was seconds away from blood coming out of my ear," I sit down next to her and hand her the refreshed drink I ordered her. "Thanks."

"I was starting to feel the same about all of Ben's mates flirting with you," I chuckle.

"They were not flirting with me! All they talked about was their stupid jobs."

"Y/N, did it ever occur to you that that's just how they flirt?" 

She's quiet for a minute. "Wow, they're really bad at flirting."

"Yeah, they are," I laugh.

She looks really pretty today. I love when she wears her hair down like this. She keeps flicking one side over her shoulder as she talks, and each time she does it I get a whiff of her hair product. I feel drunk. And it's not just from my whiskey. She's talking to me, but I can't concentrate on what she's saying because her neck is exposed and I can't stop thinking about my lips being on her skin. I said we'd be just friends tonight, but I'm not doing a great job of it.

"Tom?" I love hearing her say my name. Oh, shit. What did she say? "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry." Just thinking about kissing your neck. Possibly more. "Lost in, uh, thought." I chug my whiskey and hope she moves on.

"Lost in thought, huh?" She smiles. "Did you hear what I said?"

"No, sorry, what were you saying?" She laughs.

"I asked if you were enjoying your night."

"Oh, yes I am. Enjoying it more now that you're not surrounded by finance bros." We both laugh. I never noticed how nice her teeth are. Seriously, my head feels heavy.