Drowning

Chapter 14:

Anna and I continued listening to the set and dancing. I toned down my dancing for the rest of the set. I didn't want to chance JD seeing me acting "inappropriately." Pantea's Garden played for about forty-five minutes. Anna and I were drenched in sweat by the time the lights came on. I was actually impressed with the way they played tonight. Of course, it didn't hurt that Ezra was the best guitarist they had ever had. I couldn't get enough of watching his long fingers skillfully glide over the neck of the guitar. Every girl in this bar was probably thinking the same thing.

I was actually having fun tonight.

Anna and I walked back up to the bar area and I grabbed two bottles of water. I opened Anna's for her. She was sobering up, but she still needed a little assistance. She walked off to go find JD.  I gulped down about half of my bottle, spilling some of it out the side of my mouth as I swallowed. I sat the bottle back down on the bar and ran my hands across my head to wipe the sweat from my face. I placed both of my hands back on the bar, trying to catch my breath.

Electricity buzzed around me and I felt a shadow creep up on the bar from behind me. An arm reached around the side of my hip and underneath my arm. I could feel the heat radiating off the body behind me. I was about to turn around and face the creep when I recognized the long fingers and immediately knew it was Ezra.

He wrapped his fingers around my bottle of water on the bar and started to bring it back between my arm and hip. He grazed my hip with the cold condensation of the bottle and pressed it to me just enough for his fingertips to lightly brush my skin. A shiver shot down my spine and goosebumps rose across my stomach. I spun around to see him pressing the bottle to his lips while he finished every drop. It felt intimate like he had his lips on me. I wanted to moan from the dirty thoughts going through my mind.

Ezra lowered the bottle from his lips and moved closer towards me until I had my back pressed up against the bar. I was pinned between two stools with nowhere to go. He positioned himself inches from me and brought his hand towards my stomach. His fingertips gently brushed against the skin just above the button of my jeans. I looked up into his eyes and then back down to the space between us.

"You looked like you were enjoying yourself," Ezra said, twisting the button of my jeans between his fingers.  I looked up at him and swallowed. He leaned into my ear and moved his body closer to mine. 

"It was... umm..." I couldn't form a thought as I watched his fingertip dance lightly over the fabric of my jeans.

"So, you like watching me play?" He cooed and leaned down close to my mouth. 

I went rigid when I saw JD walking towards us. I pushed him back away from me and pulled at the bottom of my shirt to try to cover myself.

"You guys were so good," Anna exclaimed loudly as they all came closer. Ezra jumped back even further the closer they got.  I was in shock and panting. The air was too thick and I was frozen in place.

"What did you think of the show?" Aiden slid over to my side and wrapped his arm around my waist to pull me closer to him.

"You guys sounded great," I said, caught off guard, still trying to calm my body down. I looked over at Ezra and he was breathing too heavily as he watched Aiden's arm around me.  "The first song was my favorite."

"That's my favorite too." He said, smiling. "Ezra wrote it last week."

"It sounded great," I said stupidly, repeating myself with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. Ezra threw me off balance and I was having trouble thinking with him still watching me. I wanted to be able to give Aiden my full attention, but Ezra invaded every inch of me.

"Riley, are you coming back to the house? We invited some people over." JD asked me as he was wiping sweat off his face with his shirt.

"I packed a bag."

When I got back to the house, I could see that "some" people turned out to be half the bar. There were so many cars there. I didn't know where I was going to park. I eventually found a spot about a quarter-mile down from the house. Luckily, this neighborhood was mainly comprised of college students. There was always a ton of people party hopping and there were never any cops called for noise complaints.

I had taken a few "me" moments out in the car to catch my breath before deciding to go into the party.

I walked up the sidewalk, slowly counting the steps to the house.  I wasn't sure what happened with Ezra tonight.  I wasn't looking for anything like that to happen, but I kept finding myself thinking about his fingers on my skin.  It wasn't right for me to think about him that way.  He was JD's friend, which meant he was completely off-limits. 

When I got to the porch, I realized I was one of the last people to arrive. JD was holding Anna to him and was surrounded by a group of people I didn't know.  He was talking excitedly to the group about the show. 

"You made it!" Anna said when she saw me. She had another drink in her hand; at least this time she decided to mix it with something.

"Lil Bit, you know where the drinks are. Tell Aiden he's on duty." JD said, taking a sip from his beer bottle. He turned back to the group to finish telling his story.

I nodded as I walked past them into the house. Mark was in the living room, playing another movie for anyone who would listen to him. He was talking excitedly to a group who were all sitting on the floor in front of the TV next to him. They all had their eyes glued to the movie as Mark excitedly explained the cinematic evolution of the modern dramatic comedy.

Aiden was sitting back on the couch next to a pretty brunette. She was totally wrapped up in every word he said to her. She was leaning close to him and he was laughing at her. His hand went to her knee and she started blushing.

JD wanted me to tell Aiden he was on duty, but there was no way I was going to interrupt his night.  He would have felt obligated to push the girl away and turn his attention to watching me.  Aiden should be able to enjoy the party, just like everyone else.  He shouldn't be stuck hanging out with me all night.

The boys all looked like they were having a great time. I felt a little out of place. No one had really even noticed that I was there. I didn't know anyone who was here tonight other than the guys. Another downside to constantly being monitored by them was I never really got introduced to anyone at the parties.  I was always nervous about meeting new people anyway. I was probably better off finding a place to hang out by myself the rest of the night.

I scanned the room one last time, trying to figure out my next move. I decided I was going to go upstairs and hang out in Aiden's room.  He had a TV up there I could put on something to watch until I fell asleep. I would probably end up in there anyway unless he ended up taking that girl upstairs. 

I began to walk towards the stairs with my bag still on my shoulder when I saw a flash of bright purple hair blocking my path.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I whispered to myself.

Sitting on the stairs was Ezra and he had the purple-haired girl from the bar kneeling between his legs. He was leaning back like a king on his elbows as her palms were sliding up and down his stomach.  She moved them over the top of his jeans and bent down to rub her chest against his lap.  She might as well have been giving him a lap dance in front of everyone. His eyes were closed and he had his head tilted back as she moved against him.

I stormed past the stairs and went straight into the kitchen. After what did or did not happen between us at the show, I was not prepared to see her touching him. I must have misread the whole situation. He was just picking at me again and was probably laughing with her about how stupid I was.