Unintended Consequences

Chapter 18

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"So anyway!" Emmett waved his hands in the air to draw our attention back to him. "That was when I realized I had gotten into the wrong car, and ended up in some stranger's house. But it worked out! His mom made me pancakes!" We all roared with laughter at Emmett's ridiculous story. Even Archer let out a deep, small chuckle as he shook his head.

Our group had been playing drinking games for the last hour, swapping stories and having a great time. Brit, Kayla, and Emmett were doing shots and already showing signs of being pretty drunk. Archer and James weren't too far behind them as they'd been sipping whiskey straight from glasses. Madeline was right about sparkling wine. We'd both drank a few glasses now and I was feeling it. My smile was more permanent on my face currently, and the quiet music in the background made me wiggle and bob more than I normally would. But I still felt in control.

Archer kept his arm around my shoulders as we played. He'd give me a little squeeze or shoulder rub occasionally to make me look up at him and smile. Every time I did, his lips would lift slightly and his eyes would glint with something I couldn't quite recognize. Looking around the room at all of my friends laughing, I couldn't help but feel like this was what college was about.

Brit and Kayla both seemed to be fitting in well. I noticed that they were giving Emmett and James a lot of attention, and hadn't spoken to Mads as much since the guys showed up. I knew they got a little boy crazy but I wanted to keep the fun, friendly vibes going so I made sure to bring Madeline into every conversation. James and Emmett also didn't seem interested in getting paired off. They were polite and having fun, but neither was returning the girls' obvious advances directly. I figured once we got to the party Brit and Kayla would move on to the abundance of college boys.

"We should probably head out!" James shouted as he stood and wobbled on his feet. "Tyler just texted me that things are picking up."

"Let's go bitches! Quick bathroom selfie before we go!" Kayla sprang up, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hallway. We landed in front of the bathroom mirror just as Brit and Madeline came in as well closing the door behind them. The four of us had to squeeze to all get in the shot, but a few clicks later we had some really cute pictures of us hugging and laughing.

"Alright, before we head back out. Lotty are you banging Archer?! What the fuck!" Brit stared at me with accusatory eyes.

"What? No! I've told you we're just friends. He just gets touchy when he's drunk."

"Hmmm I'll have to remember that," Kayla said with a slow smirk. Something in her words made my stomach tighten.

"Archer is always touchy with Charlotte," Madeline said as her hand gently pressed into my spine. "With everyone else, he's like a cactus."

"Well, either way. There's no shortage of hot boys around here. I'm going to have Emmett eating out of my palm by the end of the night." Brit spoke as she fluffed her hair in the mirror.

This whole conversation was ruining the happy mood I'd had all evening so I pushed open the door and led the girls out before any more could be said. The boys were all waiting for us at the front door. We grabbed our purses and I locked up on our way out as we all set off to walk to the football house.

I ended up walking between Archer and Madeline as we tailed behind the rest. Brit had looped her arm through Emmett's as they walked in front. She kept pulling him down to whisper in his ear, he'd smile and say something back before straightening and continuing forward. James and Kayla walked directly in front of us, chatting easily. I noticed that Kayla swung her hips fairly dramatically and would occasionally peek over her should to give us a smirk. The uneasiness that began in the bathroom wasn't going away. But I was determined to enjoy tonight.