Arizona Sunsets - Sam Hubbard

XIV

After the others had also returned to Sam and Liz from the line dance, the group decided to sign up for the beer drinking contest. Mia was quite happy that Sam would fill in for her, and the others weren't mad that Mia would sit out either. Of course, no one said it out loud, but she was by far the one who drank the slowest and therefore usually spoiled their victory.

It took a few minutes for Ava and James, arguing loudly, to agree on the order of the group, while Liz talked down to Sam and told him that he was under no pressure, even if the group thought they could finally win with him.

Unfortunately, they were not so lucky with their choice of opponents. There would have been an opportunity to go up against a group of tourists that they would have won against with ease, but instead they were pitted against a group of men from the Scottsdale Fire Department, to whom, in addition to putting out fires, drinking beer was part of their job duties.

"We can do this, guys. Just don't let them intimidate you" Ava, who would be starting off, gave the group a pep talk as she gave a thumbs up, then clutched the beer glass that was in front of her and gave her opponent quite the evil eye.

The referee counted down from three and immediately Ava and her opposite put the glasses to their lips and tipped the beer down their throats. Both teams cheered loudly for their members and the two finished their glasses at pretty much the same time.

It was a pretty even race, although Ben, who was second, had lost the connection briefly and Sam couldn't catch up with his opponent either, James got pretty close to his counterpart again.

It was all up to Liz now, who with just a few sips behind put the glass to her lips and let the contents flow into her mouth. She closed her eyes, blanked out her counterpart, and focused on her team's cheers.

As soon as the glass was empty, she slammed it down on the table in front of her with full force and only a brief moment before her opponent. Ava jumped up squealing. "Won, we won!" she clapped her hands, while Liz was immediately pulled into a hug by James and Ben pulled Mia, who had been cheering along behind them the whole time, to press a wet, beer-tasting kiss to her lips.

"Not bad. That officially makes you part of the friend group" Ava moved to stand behind Sam and patted him on the back with a grin, but he only had eyes for Liz, who was now beaming all over her face as she accepted the firefighters' congratulations.

"She was impressive, wasn't she?" Ava, noticing Sam's look, smirked in amusement. Sam cleared his throat. "Yeah, pretty much. Was a good one" he replied. "That's right. And let me tell you, beer isn't the only thing she swallows" she winked at him as she patted him on the shoulder again and pushed past him, grinning.

After collecting their prize, a round of tequila shots, the group made their way back to their table. They started casual conversation again, and James got to ask Sam a few more of his questions.

Suddenly, Mia's head shot up. "Oh my god. I love that song. That almost became our wedding song!" she squealed as she grabbed Ben by the arm. "Come on. We have to go dance" she pulled him behind her.

Grinning, Liz looked behind the two as Luke Combs was singing the first lyrics to forever after all. When she turned back to round, Sam smiled at her and reached out his hand to her. "do you feel like dancing too?" he asked her.

Liz looked at him in surprise before looking at Ava, who gave her a beaming look and formed the words "fucking go" with her mouth. Smiling, Liz turned back to Sam and reached for his hand. "I'd love to" she replied as they both got up from the table.

As they walked toward the dance floor, Liz turned back to the table once more. Ava clapped her hands in delight, a huge grin on her face. James just gave both thumbs up with a smirk.

"What are the chances we're actually fueling the rumors even more right now?" Sam asked with a smile as Liz wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her a little closer by the waist.

Laughing, Liz rested her forehead against Sam's chest as they moved slowly together to the music. "I imagine we might even be married starting tomorrow" Liz grinned.

"Married? I thought you were still married to James" Sam looked at her with a grin. "Flash divorce" Liz shrugged her shoulders. Sam laughed out before looking at Liz seriously, releasing a hand from her waist to brush a strand of hair from her face.

Liz's whole body grew warm as Sam smiled lovingly at her and placed his hand back on her waist. "I'm sorry I'm causing such trouble" he screwed up his face as Liz giggled and ran her thumbs over his neck.

"You're not causing any problems. Let people talk all they want, I don't care. Besides, maybe I don't think the idea of people thinking you're my boyfriend is so bad" Liz noticed the blush coming to her face as she grew quieter and quieter.

Immediately she cleared her throat. "Besides, we need to give people something to talk about, otherwise they'll all die of boredom here" she added. Sam laughed out loud. "Of course. We're just doing all this for the people of Scottsdale" Nodding in agreement, Liz grinned.

"You know, I don't think Scottsdale is as boring and dull as you describe it" Sam clarified. "Oh, really? Because of the beautiful scenery?" Liz smirked. "Not only" he smiled at her. "The people here are pretty awesome too. Especially the ones who make me coffee every morning" he winked at her while Liz lowered her head so as not to show Sam how red she had just blushed.

All too soon the song ends and let the four of them head back to their table. Unlike the other times, Liz and Sam moved pretty close this time and after a few minutes of not even being able to look at each other, Liz gasped in shock as Sam very gently placed his hand on her thigh under the table.

Sam grinned as she took a deep breath and leaned against his arm in relief. They didn't even notice the happy grinning looks of the others at the table, who could literally see the sparks that flew between them as fireworks. Right now they only had eyes for each other.

The empty beer bottles were being cleared from the group's table when the DJ started a new song and suddenly a loud "naw" went through the whole club. To Sam's amazement, the whole group also suddenly jumped up without warning and ran to the dance floor.

Liz, who had grabbed Sam's hand along the way and pulled him behind her, suddenly stopped in front of him at the edge of the dance floor and leaned slightly backwards against his back. Still confused by the whole action, as well as the streams of all the guests squeezing onto the dance floor, Sam put his arm around Liz's waist, who immediately looked up at him with a smile before placing her hand on his.

Girl, since you left me
Been tryin' to forget we
Ever became what we were

Sam almost shocked when Morgan Wallen sang the first lines of his song bandaid on a bullet hole and the whole club chanted along to the lines. countless cell phone flashlights were held aloft while the DJ dimmed the spotlights.

It was a breathtaking feeling, the atomsphere with the low light while the countless voice of the guests mingled together singing the lyrics of the slow song.

It's like tryna put a bandaid on a bullet hole
Tryna tell a cowboy to slow down

He felt Liz's hand clasp around his as he swayed them both along slightly to the beat. She had leaned slightly over to Ava, who was theatrically clutching her heart as the two best friends sang the lines of the chorus to each other.

Sam was still not completely out of his astonishment when the song ended and everyone turned off their flashlights again to applaud briefly before everyone went back to their tables.

The group of friends still hadn't exchanged a word as everyone grabbed their stuff and slowly walked towards the exit, which the whole club was just crowding towards. "did i...did i miss something?" Sam, who had taken Liz's hands again, looked around in confusion.

"what, oh no" Liz had to laugh. "Sorry. Totally forgot to tell you. We have a song every year that is played last and sung by everyone together before we all leave. A goodbye song" she explained. "This year it has become bandaid on a bullet hole".

"I see" Sam mumbled. "You guys have some weird traditions you know" he stated. Liz had to grin. "Welcome to Scottsdale" she winked at him.

They both got quite close 🤫

WHO DEY🧡