Baby Steps

Vodka Shots

"Seriously, like fuckable good," Sam said. "You might be the only woman to turn me straight." 

Nikki sat beside him in silence. I slightly worried that I had overdone it on her birthday night, and briefly considered changing into something more simple. But she gave me a small, reassuring smile, and I decided to stick with what I had on. 

Once everyone got dressed, we stood in front of the mirror to admire all of our beauty. We took turns taking pictures with the birthday girl in front of the decorations Emma had set up in her room. 

Nikki's dress was a beautiful shade of dark blue, bringing out her deep blue eyes. Her pale blonde locks were curled and fell loosely around her face, reminding me of aquamarine. 

Emma was wearing a black sequin bodycon dress, simple but sexy. That's Emma. Her bronzed skin could glow in any color she wore.

Sam was dressed in black dress pants and a cheetah print button down, with all the buttons undone. His makeup was simple but beautiful, and his rich black hair was roughed up just enough.

Together, we made quite an attractive group.

***

I made everyone take a few shots with me before we got in the Uber, which I was starting to regret. I have a decently high tolerance for hard alcohol, but my roommates (namely Nikki) were not on the same page. I hadn't meant to get her too drunk on her birthday, but she was eager to go shot for shot with me, so what's a girl to do?

She laid on Emma's lap in the backseat, while Sam and I sat in the middle row. She was still conscious and playing TikTok's out loud, making us crack up with the out-of-context sounds.

Once we got to the club, we piled out and headed to the front of the line. Nikki had pulled some strings in advance to get us in easy, and lucky for us, it worked. I'm not the most patient person on the planet, I will admit.

The strobe lights hit me hard once we entered. Music blared throughout the club, making it almost impossible to see or hear anything. Nikki, having gained her energy, grabbed Emma's hand and dragged her to the dance floor, who in turn dragged Sam and myself behind her.

We were surrounded by sweaty strangers dancing to bad EDM, and I came to the conclusion that I was not nearly drunk enough for this. Emma and Nikki seemed to have landed on the same page, both swaying with the music and giggling.

Sam had gotten pulled away by an older, but attractive, man, and they were currently chatting on the side. He glanced over and gave me a thumbs up, indicating that he was fine. So much for no conquests tonight, I thought, rolling my eyes.

"I'm gonna go grab another drink," I yelled to Nikki and Emma over the music. "Stay here?"

They nodded back, and continued dancing. I took that as my queue to leave.

I weaved my way through the crowd and to the bar in the back of the club. I pushed my way to the front, leaning slightly over the counter to catch the bartenders attention. 

It was a few minutes of waiting before I heard a voice behind me. 

"Goddamn, I didn't know they made asses this nice around here," a deep, rich voice chuckled. 

I whirled around in anger, ready to chew out whatever creep was hitting on me. But to my surprise, I found myself staring back at a very familiar pair of brown eyes.

"Oh, you again," I groaned at Colton. I rolled my eyes and turned back around, hopefully quick enough to hide the blush that had risen to my cheeks. I may not like the man, but I couldn't deny that he was hot. The alcohol in my system wasn't helping with that.