Please listen to Turn Around - Conor Maynard for this chapter
* * *
Truth be told, I would have preferred to just stay on the bike with Jaxon and go out for something simple and quiet like ice-cream. However, I made my bed so I now have to lay in it.
I had messaged Nikki to let her know I was going to this party held by someone by the name of Nick and was praying that this was the same party she was referring to, turns out this town of students don't like to have more than one party on the same night so they don't miss out.
'Oh the priorities in this town'
So, you can only imagine Nikki's squeal of excitement when she found out I was going to be at the same party. She had also mumbled a complaint about "No good looking guys at this party" which only encouraged me to then message Isaac and ask, well demand that he showed up because I wanted to introduce him to Nikki. Of course he was more than happy to oblige by my request when he found that out, claiming "Nikki is a hot name, I'll be there 30 minutes tops."
To be honest I didn't have to do much, as soon as I had introduced Nikki to Isaac, they both just instantly hit it off and started to talk. Isaac turned his charm on and had Nikki swooning. I had to admit that I'm a tad bit proud of my little matchmaking skills.
When we had entered the party, Jaxon reached for my hand to take, which I happily obliged because the last thing I wanted was to get lost in this mansion they called a house. Also, If I'm being honest, I liked how my hand felt in his. After introducing Nikki and Isaac, Jaxon had led me to the kitchen which was already occupied by Drew and Lucas.
"Do you drink beer?" Jaxon had asked me as soon as I jumped up on the counter to sit on it.
"Yes please! I haven't had a good beer in months."
"Whys that?" Drew asked.
I looked into Drew's eyes, something deep down inside of me wanted to tell him everything. All my reasons as to why I haven't done anything normal in the last four months, why I've run away with Alena, why I'm hung up on his name and has me tongue tide every time. However, I just shook my head and brushed it all off with a simple "No reason" response.
Jaxon had given me my beer and then leaned against the countertop directly in front of me. He lifted his bottle midair to say cheers before taking a big sip from it. I wasn't quite ready to drink mine just yet, I always preferred to let the lemon get soaked in the corona before drinking it, it's something that Noah had me hooked on doing.
I turned my head to take in the environment around me, I noticed what little clothing some of these girls had on, how sleepy the guys became when they were drunk, how confident the quiet ones became when a good song came on. Then I noticed the girl in the tight fitted black dress with her burgundy hair up in a messy bun just staring at me, staring wasn't even the word. She looked familiar but I couldn't figure it out but she was looking at me like I was Satan's daughter.
The inner bitch came out as I stared at her dead on. If this girl thought for a second that I'm one to get scared of a death stare, then she clearly doesn't know me to well. She mouthed the words "He's mine" and at that point it all made sense to me. I looked from her to Jaxon before smiling at him and drinking from my beer, he was completely oblivious to the situation.
This was going to be an interesting night.
* * *
"I can't believe you would do that to me!" Lucas yelled in shock.
Drew and I chuckled at his reaction as we took sips from our beers and waited on Jaxon. Jaxon smiled triumphantly, "All is fair in Love and Uno bro. I wasn't going to let that Draw 4 go to waste"
"Bullshit! You could have used it on Avery before the reverse" Lucas pointed at me.
"Where's the fun in that?" Drew pitched in.
I shook my head laughing before taking a swing at my beer.
"Hey do you guys know who that girl was last night? She totally wanted me!" Lucas enquired with the guys.
As soon as I heard the words, my throat closed up while I was drinking which caused me to cough obnoxiously. I patted my chest to try and calm the coughing down. Jaxon was about to get up to help but I shook my head and waving my hand to dismiss the idea. After a few coughs I managed to control it down to a minimum.
Jaxon gave me a once over to make sure I was ok before redirecting his smirk to Lucas "She slapped you like a little bitch, she did not want you."
"She can ride my bike any day" he replied.
"Do you have a bike?" I asked out of curiosity, this only caused all three guys to laugh while shaking their heads. I can't believe I almost fell for that one, especially when Lucas had said the words. At that point I knew exactly what he was referring to and I just had to laugh. "You're an idiot" I said as I stood up.
"Where you going?" All three asked in unison. Both my eyebrows raised in shock, "Just going to go check up on Nikki and Isaac."
Jaxon placed his cards down, "Do you need me to come with you?" The idea of dragging Jaxon away from everyone was very appealing to me but I wasn't prepared to do that, so I shook my head and told them I'd be back in a minute.
I made my way through the crowd, including the small push and shoves I was receiving here and there, until I made my way towards the lounge room where I saw Isaac and Nikki talking in the corner of the room. I didn't want to interrupt them but I was hoping they were hitting it off, I knew they would be perfect for each other. Nikki turned her head and made eye contact with me before giving me a discrete thumbs up and then turning her attention back to Isaac.
Making my way back around I spotted the rest of the group playing beer pong, not resisting the urge I made my way towards them, as soon as they saw me they all cheered embarrassingly loud. "Avery! Come have a shot!" Mason yelled from across the table, I let out a chuckle as I made my way around the table.
"Give me your best shot!" Peter cockily said as he stood in front of me. With a playful wink, I threw the ball and landed in the cup, everyone around us cheered loudly and started to chant Peter's name to drink the shot. I playfully slapped Masons back as I made my way towards the kitchen. As I made my way in the kitchen, the first thing I noticed was Jaxon leaning against the counter with him arms folded against his chest as he spoke with that girl in the black dress. Now I knew why she looked so familiar, she was the girl he went out on a date with weeks back.
"AVERY!" Drew screamed over the music. Jaxon turned his head instantly to look at me at the call of my name, I looked between him and the girl until I turned to go sit with Drew. I sat down slowly as I noticed Drew sitting there with a smirk stuck to his face, I chuckled and titled my head playfully at him.
He leaned forward to whisper "I know your secret."
"What secret is that?" I asked with humour in my eyes. It wasn't until he looked at Jaxon and then looked at me that I knew exactly where this conversation was going.
"You like him" he said. I just shook my head slowly while chuckling before getting up to get a beer and return to my seat. As I was about to return to my seat I looked over at Jaxon who was making no attempts to hide the fact that he was bored, he looked at me and mouthed the words "Help me."
With a smirk attached to my lips, I made my way towards them. It wasn't until I was standing right next to this girl that I looked at Jaxon, "Are you going to ask me to dance or do I have to dance alone?" I asked seductively.
He gave me a side smirk before grabbing both of our bottles to place them on the table top. With that done he grabbed my hand and led us to the dance floor, just in time for the next track that just started to play; Turn Around by Conor Maynard. As soon as we reached our destination he spun me around twice which made me laugh out loud, before finally placing my back against his chest as we swayed to the beat of the song. I was enjoying this time I was having with him, both of us in sync with each other and the beat of the song, feeling relaxed for the first time, I leaned my head against his shoulder.
He leaned his head into my neck, as he whispered the lyrics in my ear alongside the song "Together, nothing can stop us now." My body had a mind of its own as it involuntarily turned around to face him, my arms moving to wrap around his neck as he placed a firm grip around my waist. This was a very dangerous situation I was putting myself through, it felt right being in his arms like this, the feel of his strong arms wrapped around my frame.
For the first time in a really long time I was enjoying the company of the opposite sex, I felt safe with Jaxon, I had no fears and was completely comfortable being me around him.
That's the part that scared me the most.
* * *
A/N: Please don't forget to leave a vote before you go!
Next Chapter: Drew opens up about his family and Avery has a little run in with someone.
* * *
If anyone likes to create banners or Book covers, PM me! I'd love to see what you could create for A Quarter Mile Away!