The Love Risk [boyxboy]

Chapter Four

"An', mate, we're eighteen. The legal drinkin' age is eighteen. We can get dead drunk an' not hafta worry 'bout tomorrow, eh? It'd knock ye out col'." He agreed, making Mark's eyes widen. I glared at Mark, putting a fist on my hip.

"Mark, you stopped drinking."

"But it's legal now!"

"You were practically an alcoholic before."

"A beer a day is not alcoholism."

"You're right," I paused, watching Mark glare at me suspiciously before I snorted, "It's the path to alcoholism." Slade rolled his eyes and sauntered over to my side, draping an arm around my shoulders, making me study him uneasily as he sighed wistfully.

"Come on, mate, we ain't doin' nofin' illegal anyway. Come wif Mark an' I. It'll be great! Music, booze, a break from all this hellish shit tha' keeps followin' us." He added, shrugging his shoulders as he looked into my face. I studied his expression, frowning as I debated the offer.

I hadn't been able to party at all really, even at Amber's place. Mary-Kay wasn't a fan of alcohol in her apartment and Amber enforced that rule. Not to mention, it was an apartment and loud music was prohibited.

But what about Vladimir? Now that I thought about it, maybe it wasn't Vladimir or Luca. What if it was just part of the jet lag experience? Was that why I felt so irritable lately? I couldn't tell if I was trying to convince myself or something else, but either way, I'd done it so I sighed at last.

"Fine, fine. But I have nothing to wear." I added, glancing at Slade, who grinned.

"Ain't it a good fing tha' we's the same size?" He asked giddily, then grabbed my wrist, making me yelp as he tore me toward the room he shared with Zander. Mark came right up along behind me, grinning from ear to ear excitedly as we shut the bedroom door, pulling the chain lock over before Slade rushed to one of his many suitcases, digging and throwing out clothes. Mark yelped as Slade threw a silky shirt on his head, making him throw it onto Zander's bed, which was neatly made while Slade's was just a massive pile of blankets and pillows.

"Aha!" Slade declared, then turned to me and threw me a shirt. I caught it, holding it up to study the layered collar that fell around the neckline with sleeves cut off just at the center of the bicep. I glanced back at Slade as he went to find me a pair of pants. I sighed and reluctantly pulled my shirt off, dropping it on the bed. I felt Mark's eyes on me, making me glance up at him curiously before he snapped his head to look the other way.

"Something wrong?" I asked him, wondering if I was teasing him or truly interested in why he was staring at me. He folded his arms over his chest and just gave me a shrug, making me look at Slade, who was looking back at me, confused before he held up a pair of black skinny jeans with a glittery stripe down the side. I gave him a sour look.

"You're so flamboyantly gay that it makes us look straight." I deadpanned, making Slade snort as he threw the pants at my face.

"I'm not one to label people anyway." He replied, shrugging his shoulders sassily, making Mark snort.

"You label us as vampies." He pointed out, making Slade grin as he leaned back on the bed, kicking a foot up cutely.

"Cuz there's a difference between labels and species." He answered, making Mark roll his eyes. I sighed, but didn't argue with Slade's fashion choice as I dropped my pants, making Slade harrumph. I looked up, frowning as Slade glanced away innocently.

"What now?" I asked flatly. Slade shrugged, peeking out the corner of his eye at me before looking away again, his lips a pout.

"Ye expect to go to a rock concert wearin' those kinds of undies?" He asked me boredly. I felt my cheeks flame as I held the shirt in front of myself, looking at him pointedly.