"Where do we go?" I ask, very loudly to whoever will answer me.
Kayla hums. "Let's try upstairs. It might be a little calmer. I'm surprised it's so busy," she yells and points to the stairs.
I know she's been here before, so I follow her lead. I've only ever passed this bar and I think picked my roommates up here once. I don't know much about this bar. Kayla actually chose this one to go to tonight.
As we go through one of the doors, I hear a chorus of people scream. "Happy birthday!"
I jump backwards directly into Chance who thankfully stops my fall. I make eye contact with every Lynch and I am already on the verge of crying.
"Oh my god," I whisper, my hands covering my mouth. I stand there in shock before I snap out of it and literally sprint over to the tall blonde with the face I absolutely adore. I wrap my arms around his neck, his arms going around my waist immediately as he lifts me up from the impact of my running jump. "What the fuck, Ross?" I whisper, my arms tight around his neck. The tears are pooling at the bottom of my eyelids.
Thankfully this part of the club is a lot quieter so I can actually hear everything going on especially the sigh of relief that came out of his lips once I attacked him. My heart is pounding out of my chest and I feel like I'm going to cry from happiness because I genuinely didn't have any idea that he'd be here.
"I would never miss your birthday," he says, squeezing me tighter into him. He leans back and sets me gently onto my feet. "Oh no, baby, don't cry," he smiles, his hands sliding onto my cheeks.
I pout. "I'm so happy you're here," I say. I don't wait another second before I lean up and push my lips onto his. His one hand slides to the back of my head as he kisses me several times. His touch brings flames to my body and the anxiety from earlier calms drastically.
"Happy birthday," he mumbles and pulls back. I feel safe in his arms and I temporarily regret never fighting harder for him to stay here.
I pout and blink several times to let the random tears come out. "You really surprised me, I can't believe you're here," I say. I turn and look at everyone else. "That everyone is here..."
"Oh my god, are you crying?" Kayla loudly yells making everyone turn and glance at me once again.
I shake my head, my lip still pouted. "No," I say and quickly wipe the loose tears attempting to keep my makeup intact. "I don't want to be rude so I'm going to say hi to the rest of your siblings, but I am coming back for you. Very soon because I missed you very much," I say to Ross, leaning up and kissing him again.
He smiles and walks over to Chance. I run over to Rydel and quickly wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my grasp. "Happy birthday!" She squeals, squeezing me tightly.
"Thank you, I missed you!" I say. "Also, I love your dress."
She giggles. "I missed you more. I'm so happy we pulled this off. That little reunion shit was so cute."
I laugh as we disconnect from one another. "It made me so happy. Like I could go into the bathroom and continue crying from how happy it made me to see all of you." I glance back over at Ross who is making his way over to Max. "I'll be back!"
I quickly speed walk over in that direction. I know Ross can be a hard ass sometimes, so I need to make sure he keeps his comments to himself. "What's up, bro?" He says to Ellington who is in the middle of talking to Rocky.
"Hey, how fucking crazy is this?" Ellington replies, hugging Ross.
I wrap my hand around Ross' upper arm once they disconnect. He looks down at me and smiles. "Ross, this is Max." I say, moving my other hand to lightly touch my fellow coworker and friend.
"Hey, I heard a lot about you, man. How are you doing?" Ross asks, his hand doing their little handshake shit that the whole male species do to one another.
Ross kind of towers over Max since he's a giant, but Max smiles and responds calmly. There's no reason for any tension. "I'm great. I didn't think you were coming today; I was a bit bummed. I heard lots about you too. Hayley quite honestly never stops talking about you," he responds, laughing.
I feel my cheeks burn a bit. Ross smiles down at me, wrapping his arm around my neck and squeezing my shoulder. "I'm glad to hear that," he replies. "I'll be nice, baby, you don't have to hover. I promise. You can continue making your rounds," he says to me, kissing the top of my head. "I'll introduce him to my siblings."
Bitch, I can hover wherever I want to especially because I don't trust either of you now. Since Max threw me under the bus about how much I gush about Ross, I am even more nervous. Why must people embarrass me?
I nod and pull my hand away from his arm, walking only a few short feet to Rocky and Ellington. I glance around to find Liv since I'm very surprised she isn't right on top of Rocky, but she's in conversation with Chance, Kayla and Rydel.
"Hi Rocky," I say, hugging him quickly. "I don't want to interrupt your conversation, but I just wanted to make sure I said hi," I lamely chime in.
He smiles. "Happy birthday! You look great," he compliments.
"Thank you," I say, squeezing his arm gently then glancing around to where I should go next. Their dad of course didn't come and I guess Ryland didn't either. That makes sense since he isn't 21 yet. I still don't know if Riker likes me, but I walk over to him as he walks away from Ross and Max. "Hi, Riker."
He glances down at me. "Hey! Happy birthday," he says, leaning down to hug me first.
I smile and stand on my toes to hug him. "Thank you. I'm glad you guys were able to come."
"Me too. I was put on the first round of shots so I'll be back," Riker smiles and walks over to the bar in the other room.
I stand to the side and observe everyone in the room. With everyone deep in conversation, hands are swinging everywhere to emphasize points and heads are tilted back with laughter, I feel complete. I feel so beyond happy I don't have words.
I thought this was going to be a night of dancing with the few friends that were able to come. Instead, we have a whole group of people who seem to be enjoying themselves already without any alcohol in their system.
I turn to face Ross as he walks over to me, a concerned look across his face. "You okay?" He asked, his hand extended out to me.
I nod. "Yeah, I'm just really happy everyone is here," I reply. His hand slides around my waist as he moves in front of me.
His other hand moves to my face, tilting my chin up to look at him. "I think everyone is really happy to be here and celebrate you too," he says.
"It feels so much longer than two weeks since I saw you," I confess, my hands on his arms.
My head is tilted back against the wall as I look up into his eyes. "I know. We weren't able to talk much so it dragged on," he agrees with me. "With all of that stuff going on, I was debating telling you so many times that I was coming. I felt horrible. But I'll be here all weekend. Max was telling me how you were bitching that you weren't put on for the weekend like you usually do. I asked Kayla and Liv if someone can reach Mike and I guess they did."
I smile up at him. "I don't know how I got so lucky."
"Me either, babe. I forgot to tell you again, but you look so good tonight. My offer still stands where I offer to rip off this dress even though you look so, so good in it," he mumbles, his head leaning down closer to mine. His mouth is centimeters from my ear and it's giving me chills.
He still gives me butterflies and they are going wild right now.
I tilt my head a bit so I can extend further on my toes to kiss him. He makes an 'uh-uh' noise, his lips tilting back further from me. "What?" I whisper, breathlessly.
He laughs lightly, his face still way too close to me and it's making me crave him even more. "We're in public, baby," he whispers.
"I don't care. There are definitely strangers down there, dry humping and making out for the first time ever." I reply, bluntly. "Kiss me, please."
Shit, I'm not trying to make out with you, but dragging this on is going to make me more sexually frustrated than I already am.
I move my eyes away from his and down to his lips. He smiles and leans his chin inward, gently pushing his lips on me finally.
"I got shots!" Riker yells.
Ross hums against my lips from our quick kiss, leaning back way too soon. "Shots," he smiles, pulling away and dragging my hand with him.
"You're an asshole," I murmur just so he can hear it.
He turns back to smirk at me then walks over to Riker. "Wait, is this little section ours or are we migrating downstairs soon?" Liv asks once we all form a big circle.
"Yeah, this section is ours. I also got bottle service so that's where Riker is coming from," Ross explains.
I quickly snap my head to the side to look at him. "Wait, what the fuck did you just say?" I ask.
"I got us a VIP section that includes bottle service," he replies again.
I furrow my eyebrows as I continue to stare at him as though he's speaking a completely different language. "Can I talk to you quickly?"
"Yeah, after we take these shots," he smiles and grabs one, handing it to me. I take the shot out of his hand as everyone grabs one from the plate. "To Hayley on her 21st," he says loudly, holding the shot in the air so everyone can make a toast.
Once everyone repeats it and clinks glasses, everyone takes the shot back. I can taste immediately that it wasn't bottom shelf vodka. It was way too smooth. We place the glasses back on the plate then set it down on the small table.
"Let's go dance!" Kayla says, grabbing onto Chance.
I nod. "We'll be down in less than 5," I smile. "I promise!"
I make eye contact with Max and he nods, beginning the line downstairs to where its busier and closer to the DJ. Ross sits down on the couch that we have. It's not huge, it can probably fit four people, five if we pushed it.
I sit beside him, glancing around at the VIP tables around us. Ours is definitely the most secluded.
I adjust my body so I can face him. "Don't, babe," he warns in a light voice, his head leaning against the sofa.
"Why? Why'd you have to spend so much?" I ask, my hands sliding across my thighs to reach his hands. "First you bought my dress and sent flowers. That was absolutely more than enough! You didn't have to do all this. I don't want you wasting your money."
He shakes his head. "I wanted to surprise you. I know you grew up hating your birthday and shying away from anything that even mentioned your birthday. I know you hardly got anything for your birthday until you moved out. I wanted this to be a memorable one especially all of the shit going on lately. Don't be mad," he replies.
"I'm not mad at all. I just don't think you had to get bottle service, bub," I reply, standing up so I can move closer to him. I sit sideways on his lap, my arms going around his neck. "Isn't that like $300 for a bottle?" I ask.
Ross wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me a bit closer. "I know people," he smiles. "I want you to enjoy this day so it doesn't matter cost. My siblings and I split the cost so don't worry. With the amount of alcohol we'll consume, it makes sense regardless. Okay?"
I nod. "Okay. Thank you though for everything. I appreciate you so much. And I love you more than I can even try to describe. I wouldn't have enjoyed my birthday half as much if you weren't here."
He smiles and leans his chin up. "I'm so in love with you," he whispers, his hand moving up my cheek. Ross leans in and pushes his lips against mine softly.
His lips are warm and inviting. His lips are gentle, but his hands say otherwise as they grip at my waist. I smile into the kiss, dragging my lips off his first surprisingly. "I promise you that you will rip this dress off the second we get anywhere near a bed," I whisper, kissing him again. "But for now, will you please dance with me?"
I know he hates to dance so it surprises me when he speaks. "Sure, babe. Let's go," he smiles, squeezing my hip. I stand up and grab his hand, starting to descend down the stairs.
His grip is tight on my hand, making sure that he doesn't slip from my grasp while we weave through the crowd to find the rest of our group. I spot Kayla's hair immediately and head in that direction.
"Yess," Rydel says as she spots us, putting her arms out and shimming her shoulders.
I smile and walk closer to them, copying her movements with her shoulders. Ross stands immediately behind me, his hand on my hip.
Everyone was already dancing. The only two missing from here was Ellington and Rocky who I have no idea where they are. I guess Liv was able to tell my confused expression because she leaned in to talk to me. "They went to the bathroom. I'm still trying to convince Rocky to dance," she laughs.
I nod and glance over at Max who is talking to a girl. Everyone else is dancing already.
I could tell Ross is a bit uncomfortable so I turn my attention more toward him. I grab onto one of his hands and begin to dance myself, pulling his hand along so he snaps out of the uncomfortable phase he is in.
Once he has drinks in him, he loves to dance. He just thinks he looks dumb when sober.
"Relax," I say, leaning up to speak into his ear.
He nods against my cheek. "I really need to get a drink, babe. So do you," he says. "I'll be back, have fun," he says, kissing the top of my head then disappearing into the crowd.
I turn back to the girl's and continue to dance, not allowing the alcohol to have much of an impact. Max joins us shortly later, pulling me closer to him to talk. "That girl gave me her number. What the fuck is going on?" He asks, laughing.
"Yes, Max!" I say, laughing as well.
Rocky and Ellington walk back shortly after. We continue to dance and sing along to the newest songs the DJ was playing.
I'm getting nervous when Ross doesn't return within three songs. "What's wrong?" Liv asks, watching as my eyes wander around the club.
"Ross has been gone a while," I shrug.
She nods. "Want to go look?"
As I'm about to reply while nodding my head, I see him pushing through the crowd. "Never mind," I say to Liv then walk closer to Ross to meet him halfway.
"Hi, sorry that took forever. She wouldn't let me take five shots with me, but I managed to convince her," he says with a smirk on his face.
I glance down at his hands. "There are only four here."
"Yeah, I took one before coming because I couldn't carry them all," he smiles. "Grab two."
I took two of the shots from his hand. "They're both for me?" I question, watching his eyes stare intently at me.
He nods. "Yeah, baby. Gotta get a little fucked up," he smiles. "Ready..." he says directly next to my ear as he leans down.
"Both one after the other?" I question again.
He nods. "1... 2... 3," he counts down then takes both shots back.
I feel it burn as it makes it way down my throat. I shake my head at the feeling as Ross grabs the small cups from my hand and walks over to the bar to put them down. "Fucker didn't one want to get us any?" Rocky asks me.
I shrug. "Guess not," I laugh.
"Let's go get a drink," Liv says, grabbing onto his arm and tugging like a child.
He nods. "We're going to get drinks. Anyone else coming?" Rocky yells to the group as Ross approaches us again. His hands go onto my hips from behind, staring at everyone from above my head.
"Yeah, wanna come?" Ellington asked Max.
He nods. Riker and Rydel join them as well. With Chance and Kayla literally hooking up against the wall feet away from us, I turn around to face Ross.
I wrap my arms around his neck, swaying my hips to the music. "Are you having fun?" I asked him, leaning up on my toes to speak to him easier.
He nods. "Yeah, baby. Are you?"
I nod. "Yes. Can we get dinner after we leave?" I ask.
He squints his eyes at me. "Did you not eat dinner before leaving?" He yells, his hands now tightening slightly on my hips. I simply glance back up into his eyes and don't reply. "Babe, are you serious? You're drinking on an empty stomach?"
"They said I'll get fucked up faster and I wasn't hungry! I was nervous for tonight," I defend myself from his lecture.
He groans. "That's so unhealthy and you could throw-"
I decide to cut him off and push my lips onto him, silencing anymore remarks. He groans against my mouth and I pull away shortly after.
"Let's have fun," I whisper, placing my hands on his cheeks.
He nods. "I am having fun," he replies, his hands still on my hips.
I nod and continue moving my hips to the music, hoping he'll start to join in. With his forehead against mine, his hips slowly start to move along with mine. I feel the liquor coursing through my vines and I am even more amped up with him actually dancing with me.
With a devilish smirk spreading across his face as his hands grip my hips and sway them to the music, I can tell this night will be heated.