"What in God's name are you wearing?"
Hailey glanced up at me with eyebrows raised. "What do you mean? I was going for the whole 'Cali vibe'. Like a palm tree...beach babe...type...thing?"
"How do I say this...You look like a piece of asparagus."
Her face fell to a look of feigned hatred, and I couldn't help but laugh. Within seconds, she joined in. Even when our bubbling laughter settled, the smile on my face remained glued to my lips. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed being able to joke with a friend without having to watch for knives in my back.
But even still, a knife to the back seemed less painful than guttural loneliness. Well, sometimes.
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that. Dramatic ass. Are you ready?"
I glanced down at my tank top and jeans. Frowning, I turned my eyes back to Hailey. "When you said to get dressed, I didn't realize you meant to look actually decent. Do I have to change?"
She rolled her eyes and looped her arm through mine, dragging me with gusto towards the door. "Your outfit won't matter when it's on the floor later."
"On the—What? What'd you do?"
"Nothing! Let's go."
I dug the heels of my shoes into the floor. "Hailey," I warned.
"Seriously, Rach. I haven't, I promise." She held her hand up. "Scout's honor."
"You weren't a scout."
"God, stop overthinking and get your sexy ass out the door! I need bread to soak up all the wine before it hits me like a bus."
_
"This is the best bread I've ever fucking tasted in my entire life."
Hailey moaned and her eyes rolled back in her head. She gripped tight to the roll in her fist and leaned her forehead down, resting it on the edge of the table. Every few moments, her hand would disappear and would return with a large chunk taken off the bread. When it was gone, she kept her head down and blindly fumbled around until her hand landed in the basket and she snagged the last roll.
The waiter returned with eyebrows raised. "Alright! Are we ready to order?"
When Hailey's posture didn't falter, he turned to me. "Is she okay?"
I closed my eyes and nodded, reaching for my glass and frowning in disappointment when I lifted it to my mouth and found it empty. "She's having a moment with the bread. Can I have another, please?" I saw her drink mimicking mine. "Actually, can you make that two?"
With a quick nod, he jotted the additions onto his notepad and left. I looked around for my phone, but it wasn't on the table where I thought I'd left it.
"Dammit," I growled, looking around the floor with no prize in sight.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't find my—"
As I sat up, my eyes met with Hailey's as they bored back at me. She had a wicked gleam in her gaze, and when I looked to the far end of the table, my phone sat face down.
"—phone." I glared over at her with an unspoken accusation blaring from my face.
"I wanna go dance!"
"Hailey, what did you—" my friend shot away from the table and flounced away towards the dancefloor. "Oh, goddammit."
I groaned and folded my forearms on the smooth surface of the table. Leaning down, I dropped my forehead to rest on them, willing the uneasy flutters in my stomach away. When the sound of a glass hitting the table sounded and it shook slightly under my arms, I jolted back upright. In my peripheral vision, I caught sight of the waiter's back, and the two new drinks we'd just asked for were sitting there in front of me, waiting to be consumed. The poor guy looked at me concerned, probably wondering what in hell was wrong with the two of us.
I gave an awkward smile of reassurance and reached for my glass, sipping at it rapidly. Sighing, I reached over for my phone.
"What in hell did you do, Hails?"
The moment I opened it, I wished I hadn't. I wanted to sink through the floor and die in the shell of embarrassment clawing its way through my skin.
Sitting on the screen at the top of my messages was a text to Caleb and our location pin dropped in the thread. And I sure as shit hadn't sent either. I was drunk, sure, but not that drunk. No, this had Hailey written all over it.
Me: Come here! I rhink we're gonna beed a ride hhome. I'll thank uou when we get to your bed. I miss you.
Me: *house. Not bed. Whoops
The winking emoji and water droplets followed up her feigned typo correction had me wide eyed and locking my phone immediately.
I'm gonna kill her. I'm actually gonna kill her.
I took a long breath and steadied my nerves, shaking my head. Reaching for my glass, I held my breath and downed its contents, shuddering through the burn that trailed down my throat. I reopened my phone and typed out an awkwardly lame, 'my friend had my phone' text, which was promptly read and ignored.
I chewed on the nail of my thumb. When a few minutes had passed and my nail bed was screaming, I checked my phone again. Nothing.
Fuck.
I clicked Caleb's name and hit the call button, lifting my phone to my ear with one hand and Hailey's neglected drink to my lips with the other. The call was picked up, but I couldn't hear a damn thing over the music blaring above.
"Caleb? Hello?!"
A few light muffles were the only response my ears could manage, but nothing made sense.
"I can't hear you!"
"I said," my neck prickled, and I shrieked when his familiar deep voice was at my ear, his lips caressing my skin, "if you drink one more, I might just believe you're the one who sexted me drunkenly."
Goosebumps covered my arms and chest, and the chills made my nipples hard. What a time to skip out on a bra. The tank top I wore had a built-in one—it was shitty, but it was there.
Caleb slipped around the table, his hand skimming along my back to my hip, then down my thigh as he made his way to Hailey's seat. He stared back at me with amusement lining his face. I wanted to throw something at it to wipe the smirk from his lips.
Like a chair. Or myself.
He reached for my drink and took a sip, and when a drop ran down his lip and his tongue peaked out to capture it, I sucked in a breath and sat straighter while my eyes glued onto the movement. I repositioned myself in my own seat. God, did they turn the heat on?
"Your friend seems animated," he noted aloud. "Why does she look like a stalk of asparagus?"
I burst out in grating laughter. "I said the same. She thought I was just being dramatic."
"Well, you are dramatic."
I flipped him off mindlessly and glanced around, searching the overly crowded dance floor. When I found the green bean stalk that was Hailey, I smiled and slid from my chair. She'd come out to see me. It was the least I could do to go out and dance with her, despite the two guys she was taking turns grinding on. She was testing them, I knew, before deciding which to take home. Home being my apartment, for sure.
Oh, god, I groaned. I don't wanna hear that later.
Like he could read my lowering mood, Caleb reached for my hand and held tight. "Have a drink with me."
I turned back to him. "I should go check on her."
"Rach, she pretty much told me to take you home tonight when she sent that text. I'm pretty sure she's fine with this."
I opened my mouth to argue, but I really had no retort. He was right. Damn her for doing what I was avoiding. After our talk earlier, I was too raw with the desire to talk to Caleb, knowing I needed to. And she knew it too. She'd invited him out to serve us our chat on a damned silver platter, even if it was going to be drunken chatter.
"One drink, then I'll even go dance with you so you can check on her."
At that, I got a little of my sassy nature back. I looked at Caleb and cocked a brow. "And what makes you think I want to dance with you? Maybe I want to grind on someone else."
Caleb jerked on my hand, pulling me to him. When I was close enough that my tits were hitting his chest, he lowered his head to whisper in my ear. "If you really want to play that little game and test my jealousy, be my guest, gorgeous. But when you end up bent over the hood of my car for the entire parking lot to see while I paddle your ass for it, don't blame me."
My nipples hardened again, and when they pressed into his chest, I felt his lips curl into a knowing grin.
I shoved my hands against his chest and crossed my arms over my own. "Fine. But you have to chug six drinks first. Get on my level first, Caleb."
"Now, wait, that's not—"
I took that moment to walk to two tables away and grab the closest waiter's attention. "Can I get six shots of Jack, please?"
The man frowned. "We can't do that many at once for one, I'm sorry."
"Oh, no! It isn't for one." That you need to know of. "There are three of us." Technically, I didn't lie there.
I made my way back to the table where Caleb sat glaring. "Rachel, you know I don't drink like that. I don't do shots anymore."
I looked around like I didn't hear him, tapping my fingers on the table. When Hailey dropped lower on the dancefloor, I started hooting and hollering to egg her on. I started cackling when my friend went crazy.
"Oh my god," I laughed. "She's basically fucking the dude with their clothes on."
I wiped at my eyes and took my drink from Caleb's grasp, frowning when I saw he'd drank it already. A second later, six shots of amber liquid were set on the table between us.
I pushed them towards Caleb with a gleam in my eye. "Bottoms up."
Grimacing, he visibly shuddered but reached for the first. And he tossed it back.
"Good god, I forgot you asked for Jack. Fuck, I'm gonna spank your ass for this." He grabbed the second shot and took it down, hesitating with the third.
"Don't be a pussy," I taunted.
When his eyes narrowed, my core clenched. Because in the back of his gaze, there was a promise of later. And it only made me want to push him more.
He finished the shots and followed them up with a few coughs. Shaking his arms out, he made a noise somewhat between a growl and a groan. Reaching for my hand again, he yanked me into the crook of his legs, holding me tight against him.
"Hmm," he hummed against my neck. "Your friend's going to leave in a second."
"What?" I craned my neck.
Sure enough, she was making out with one of the guys she'd been dancing with, and when he leaned in to say something, she nodded. I flailed my arms around to grab her attention. When she looked over at me and she noticed Caleb, she winked and stuck her tongue out at me. Then her face changed and she glared at me.
Talk to him! she mouthed, running over to snag my key from my pocket and bolting before I could even say a surprised word.
I rolled my eyes but couldn't ignore my pulse as it quickened with mine and Caleb's clear solitude. The alcohol flowing in my veins was just enough to give me courage without heightening my emotions more than they already were.
Caleb bit my neck and I yelped, which had him grinning against my heating skin.
"Behave!"
"Or what?" he challenged, his hands moving down the curves of my ass. "Fuck, I love your ass. How good would it feel to take you here?"
When his hand moved closer to point out what he meant, I jumped and slapped his hands away.
"Caleb!" I hissed.
"Yeah, you screamed that earlier too." I raised a brow and waited for him to continue. "God, what I'd do to bury myself in you right this second. I don't think I could ever have you enough. You know something? I filled that perfect little pussy of yours with my cum earlier. And you fucking screamed for me when you came with me. I think you loved it as much as I did."
I gasped like I'd been pricked with a hot poker. He was right. God, he was always right. The nerve-endings in my body jolted alive, and I was suddenly hyper-aware of his touch on my heated skin. His lips were teasing me, taunting me, and I'd barely have to rock forward to kiss him. To claim him. I took a step back to keep myself doing just that. Caleb chuckled, a low, sexy sound, and encircled his hand around my wrist to keep me from moving too far away.
"Where do you think you're going, little whore of mine?"
My cheeks burst into flames. "Caleb! People can hear you."
"The music's too loud. They can't. And even if they could, let them. Maybe they can learn a thing or two."
"Oh my god." I laughed through my flush, pushing his hand away from mine and backing away. "Get your ass off that seat. Let's go, before you get us thrown out."
His eyes narrowed, but he did as I told him, grabbing too much cash and throwing it down on the tabletop.
"Jesus! That's way too much." I moved to grab some bills, but his hand covered mine.
"If you want my money, I'll give it to you. But you have to dance for me to get it. Give me a little show. My eyes are on you anyway." He turned his head and his glare turned deathly. "And so are his. Hey! Who the fuck are you—"
I clamped a hand over his mouth and started to drag him towards the door. "God, come on, before we really do get thrown out! You're making me feel sober. That hit you so much quicker than I thought it would."
"Hmm," he reached a hand around me and shoved the door open for us to walk through. "That's probably because I don't drink Jack anymore. Not after what happened last time."
"Why not? It used to be your shot of choice. When did you last have it?"
He'd had his hand up to flag down a cab, and when he turned, he frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration and dejection. "Our rehearsal dinner."