Hey y'all. It's very important to me that you guys read this before you start on the story below. But don't worry, there will be a one shot down below. I won't leave you guys on just a AN.
So as you can see I've been putting out a bunch of these oneshots in the last couple of weeks. That's because during the time that I was away, I was still writing drafts to put out. So in my drafts right now are a bunch of half written or fully written chapters that just need to be edited before published.
Also, I'm trying to finish up this one shot book. So I'm publishing them as soon as I'm finishing them. I'm not waiting for a specific day or time. Literally as soon as I finished the last word, I hit publish.
My point to this is that I'm doing my best to finish up all my stories that I have, not just this one. But I want to focus on one story at a time, which this one will be first and then I'll set to finishing all the others. So if you read my other stories, that's why I haven't been publishing any of those.
I have about 35ish more one shots I think for this before I'm done with it? Which does seem kind of a lot still, but I hope to be done with it fairly soon. I got an 8-5 job with weekends off. So I'm hoping to have more time to be able to sit down and write.
Thank you for taking the time to read my rant. Now onto the story.
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"What's your name anyway?" One guy asked as he brought his beer up to his lips. Josh politely denied a beer being handed to him before sitting back in his chair and turning to the guy.
"Josh Matthew's." He said. The guy raised an eyebrow, a slow smile coming onto his lips.
"Matthew's." He repeated. "That would mean you're related to that freshman, right?" He asked. Josh tensed. "Riley Matthews. Sister?"
"Niece." Josh corrected.
"Damn, Matthew's. Your parents were getting in on!" Another guy exclaimed. Some of the guys in the group slowly chuckled. Josh shifted uncomfortably.
"So that would mean you're pretty close with her and her friends?" The guy continued to push.
"Not particularly." Josh stated. "We might be close in age, but we grew up apart. Her here in New York, me in Philadelphia." He told them. "Her friends aren't really mine." He hesitated a little, it felt weird to say that. He wasn't particularly friends with her friends, but it's not like he hadn't hung out with them occasionally.
"But you know of them." The guy stated.
"Why so curious?" Josh asked, his eyebrows narrowing. "If you're trying to get to know my niece then you can find her on campus and talk to her yourself." He said. "Although, you would be out of luck. She has a boyfriend."
"Oh I'm not interested in your niece." The guy said, taking another sip of his beer. Josh watched him closely. "I'm more interested in that blond girl that she's always with. What's her name? Millie? Mally?"
"Maya." Josh deadpanned. His mood changing drastically.
"Right." The guy smirked. "She's hot."
"She's three years younger than you." Josh told him. His voice cold. Andrew shifted beside him and nudged his shoulder, but Josh didn't pay any attention to him.
"So? Three years ain't nothing compared to what a lot of guys our age are into."
"Sebastian." Andrew warned. Sebastian rolled his eyes.
"Don't tell me you're more protective over her than you are of your own niece." Sebastian said. "Or does she have a boyfriend as well?"
"Maybe she does." Josh said. Andrew's eyes widened as he stared at him.
"Well boyfriend doesn't mean married." Sebastian smirked. "I don't care if she is three years younger than me, you don't let someone that gorgeous walk by and not try to snatch her."
Josh stood up from his chair, his cold gaze on Sebastian. Andrew stood with him and put a hand on his chest. "Why don't we walk away." He said. "Go somewhere else."
"You have a thing for her, Matthew's?" Sebastian asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you do, I can respect that. It's all you had to say instead of making some lame ass excuse."
"She's just a really good friend of his." Andrew said as he still had his hand on Josh's chest, as if he expected him to do something if he took it away.
"I thought he wasn't friends with his Niece's friends." Sebastian said with a smirk.
"Hey Josh!" A voice called. The group turned their heads to see Riley walking into the living room of the house where the main party was being held. And of course, standing right beside her was Maya.
They didn't wait to for Josh's reply greeting as they walked further into the living room and started talking to random people. Sebastian cleared his throat and stood up.
"I think I'll take my moment." He said with a wink toward Josh's direction before walking off to where the girls were standing. Josh's shoulders tensed up, and Andrew put more pressure on his chest. He watched as Sebastian made his way to Maya and introduced himself.
"Let it go, Josh." Andrew said. Josh watched as Maya smiled at him and held her hand out for him to shake. Sebastian took her hand in his and leaned in close. Josh felt an unfamiliar burning in the pit of his stomach before he looked away.
"Sit down, Josh. Have a beer." One of the other guys in the group said. Josh sat back down but declined the beer. "You know, nothing ever happens if you don't let it." The guy said as he swung back his head and drank a shot. Josh looked back over to see Maya grinning up at him as they held conversation and Sebastian far closer than he should.
"You know Issac I think that's the smartest thing that you've ever said." Josh stated before he got out of his seat and started toward Maya and Sebastian. Issac looked confused.
"I was talking about the beer." He stated. Andrew rolled his eyes and let out a breath before sitting back in his chair.
Josh politely excused himself as he brushed past people and squeezed in between dancers. He could see Sebastian and Maya talking by the corner of the room where they had somehow gravitated toward. Sebastian had just drank out of a red solo cup before handing it to a reluctant looking Maya.
"Excuse me." Josh said as he got up right behind Maya and stared Sebastian straight in the face. Maya turned and a smile broke out on her face.
"Josh," she said breathlessly, and Josh felt pride in the look of relief that crossed her face at the sight of him.
"Matthew's," Sebastian said his name with a smirk on his face as he leaned against the wall. "It's rude to interrupt."
"You want to get out of here?" Josh asked as he looked down at Maya and smiled. She nodded her head, her grin staying in place.
"You read my mind." She stated. Josh continued to stare at her for a moment before he looked up at Sebastian.
"Excuse us." He said, not waiting for a reply as he gently put a hand on Maya's lower back and guided her to turn around and walk away. Sebastian lifted his cup over his head in a solute toward Josh and Maya as he watched them walk away.
He led her out of the house that the party was being held and down the stairs onto the street. They ignored the catcalls and whistles they got. Including the classics like "Get some, Matthews!" and "Atta boy, Josh!" Maya chuckled as Josh rolled his eyes and they both fell into a rhythm of walking on the road beside each other. That was when Maya realized Josh had somehow linked their hands together and she hadn't realized it. She flushed and kept her face toward the ground hoping he wouldn't notice.
"Thanks for the save back there," She started the conversation off. "I was running out of excuses on why I didn't want to paint him like one of my French dudes." Maya used a terrible imitation of a French accent. Josh snorted.
"He used that line?" He asked amused.
"Oh yes, it was very painful." Maya told him with a laugh. He shrugged his shoulders.
"I had my own selfish reasons for dragging you away." He told her. Maya turned her head toward him with a grin.
"Oh yeah?" She asked. "Any you want to share?" He shook his head.
"Not particularly." He stopped walking and tugged on her hand so that she would turn around and face him. He stepped closer toward her, a small teasing grin on his face. "But I suppose it's time that I did." She raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" He nodded his head. She looked down at their hands that were connected and then back up into his eyes. "Is this happening?" She asked.
"I hope so." He replied. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear with his free hand.
"Hmm." She pretended to think. "You pull me away from a guy who happens to be taking interest in me, hold my hand and drag me out here to walk with me so we're away from other people." He rolled his eyes at her teasing tone. "Joshua Matthews, you wouldn't happen to be jealous, would you?" He grinned and she bit her lip.
"Always the most observant." He stated. She giggled and he pulled her even closer. "Can I kiss you now?" He asked. Instead of answering, she leaned up on her tip toes and met his lips with her own. He leaned further down and wrapped his free arm around her waist while her hand trailed up his neck and into his hair.
As the kiss grew deeper, they pulled their hands away from each other's and wrapped them around one another. Pulling her flush against his chest as he tilted his head to get better access. He ran his tongue over her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, allowing him access. He shuttered as her fingernails scratched his scalp, and when they pulled back, both of them grinning like idiots, he couldn't help but lean back down for one more kiss.
"Let's get out of here." He said. She nodded and he once again took her hand and started pulling her further down the road and back toward campus.
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Sorry it this seemed a bit rush. It's 4am here and I'm exhausted. Thank you for reading!