I nibbled my lip, my teeth digging deeper into the skin the more the thoughts ran through my mind. Tonight she was going to the frat party. I was nervous as hell, only because I had a good idea what drunken college guys were like and I couldn't be there to look out for her.
I could hear her moving around the room getting herself ready and I wanted time to move as slowly as possible before I had to drive her there.
The knocks at the door broke me out of my thoughts and I got to my feet and paced the apartment to open it. I was greeted by a tiny little redhead girl and a bleached blonde guy who grinned at me as I pulled open the door.
'Cal?' the guy said with a smirk. 'Heard so much about you!'
'Yeah, cool, come in,' I said before I paced away from the door and they entered as I headed to the bedroom and popped my head in.
'Your friends are here,' I told her.
'Great,' she replied, her back to me as she finished styling her hair in the mirror. 'I'll be right out.'
I gave a nod and headed back towards the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and pulling out two bottles.
'Beers?' I asked them as they shifted nervously on the spot.
'I'm not usually a beer drinker,' the guy said, his mannerisms telling me that I didn't need to worry about him hitting on Bethan.
'Georgie,' the girl scolded him. 'Thank you.'
She smiled brightly and grabbed the bottles, handing one to the guy.
'I'm Penny,' she told me. 'This diva is Georgie.'
'Nice to meet you guys,' I said as I forced myself to be pleasant knowing these were her new friends and I didn't want to seem like a total jackass and give them something to talk about behind her back.
'We've heard so much about you,' Georgie repeated. 'You're hotter than I pictured.'
Penny's head turned quickly to look at him and she frowned and nudged his arm.
'What?' he hissed. 'I'm just being honest.'
'It's cool,' I said, smirking to myself. 'Thanks for the compliment.'
'Is she almost ready?' Penny asked.
'Yeah,' I replied. 'I'll go hurry her up.'
I moved back the bedroom just to get out of the awkward situation and my eyes widened a little as I closed the door and looked up at Bethan. She was wearing the tightest, tiniest black dress; reaching the middle of her thighs and with a very cupped bust, pushing her breasts right up. My voice seemed caught in my throat and as much as I dreaded the fact that a lot of guys would be looking at her tonight, she did look fucking incredible.
Her hair had been styled so it was in thick waves and her face was very made-up, which was something she hardly ever did.
'You look amazing,' I practically growled.
'Thank you,' she said as she blushed. 'I'm ready to go.'
She pulled her bag over her shoulder as she smiled at me and I took the chance to talk to her while I had her alone.
'Bethan, hold on.' I headed over to her and she studied my face as I popped her bag open and pulled the pepper spray I'd bought from my back pocket and held it up before slipping it in her bag.
'You're kidding,' she chuckled.
'Absolutely not,' I told her seriously, placing my hands on her shoulders.
'It's just a frat party,' she said, reassuringly.
'Exactly,' I said. 'The guys in that house will be fucking assholes so you use that if anyone tries anything then call me right away.'
'Okay,' she laughed, trying to move away but I gripped her in place.
'I'm serious, Bethan,' I said.
I knew she would know how serious I was just by using her name like that.
'Cal, it's going to be fine,' she said. 'I'm going to be with a lot of friends.'
'I don't care,' I told her. 'I need you to be serious and promise you'll call me if anything goes wrong.'
'I will,' she said, gripping the sides of my mouth and squeezing gently. 'You know I'm not stupid.'
'It's not you I'm worried about it's those fucking frat boys,' I said. 'Believe me, if they so much as look at you the wrong way you call me and I'll be straight there.'
'It's not going to happen but okay, I promise,' she said and moved up onto her toes to kiss me.
'Good, then let's go,' I said, marching away from her. I just needed to get in the car and drop them off before I changed my mind and locked her in.
'Lets go guys,' she squealed as she stepped into the lounge. 'Oh, you both look amazing!'
'Oh, Bethan you look fabulous,' Penny replied.
'Hot as fuck,' Georgie told her. 'The guys in there tonight will-.'
I cleared my throat loudly and silenced him and all three of them glanced at me awkwardly. I raised my eyebrow at him and pushed my lips out slowly and he pressed his together and blushed a little.
'What I was going to say was the guys in there tonight will be staying the fuck away from you and I'll make sure of it,' he continued, giving me a smug smile.
I gave him a wink and headed out the door, hearing the redhead hissing at him again.
Once we were all in the car, I followed directions from Penny and eventually we made it to the neighbourhood of the party. I could hear the music from down the street and as I turned the corner I spotted the drunken teens already scattered all over the grass of the house.
'Oh yeah!' Georgie cried.
I pulled up outside the house and turned to face her two friends in the back.
'Okay, jump out you two while I quickly talk to Bethan,' I said.
They nodded and thanked me before jumping out and waited on the kerb for her.
'Cal,' she whined as I turned to look at her in the passenger seat.
'I'm not going to lecture you,' I told her, taking her hand. 'Please, please, please...just be safe. Watch your drink and stay with your friends.'
'I will, please do not worry about me,' she sighed.
'Well that's never going to happen, I'm going to be fucking losing my mind all night but my phone is ready at hand if you need me so make sure you call if you do,' I said.
'I already promised,' she giggled.
'I know,' I said. 'So, besides all of the rules I just forced on you, have fun.'
'I'll try,' she said, sarcastically and chuckled.
I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in to kiss me and savoured the moment before she pulled away and reached for the door.
'Bye,' she said with a tiny smile.
'Bye, baby,' I sighed with a nod and she got out and shut the door.
I didn't hang around to watch her go inside; I headed right down the street and out of sight of that fucking house. I wanted her to have fun and enjoy herself so badly but I just prayed that no one would try and fuck with her. It would give me no choice but to go back to some of the ways that I used to be long before I met her and I wanted anything but for that person to come out again.
...
I stepped into the shabby, dim-lit bar and ignored the few turns of the men sat by the door, checking me out. Sometimes I was glad that my overall appearance came across as threatening because it meant people didn't try and talk to me so much.
'Give me a bud,' I told the barmaid and dropped a bill onto the bar as she handed it over.
As I took a sip and waited for my change, I glanced around and spotted an all too familiar face that made me groan a little to myself. I quickly spun around and headed for the far corner of the bar to avoid contact with Tori and as I moved, I stopped dead as I almost collided with someone.
'Sorry, dude,' he said, before stepping back to look at me. 'Shitttt, what are you doing here, man?'
Charlie's cheesy grin lit up on his face and I grasped his hand as it swung towards mine and forced a smile.
'I'm just here for one beer, Charlie,' I told him.
'No way, man, come sit with us!' Charlie demanded.
'Fuck that,' I said as I shook my head. 'I'm only having the one. I'm driving.'
'Come on,' Charlie said and he patted my back hard forcing me forward. 'I won't take no for an answer.'
'Fine,' I muttered and followed him over.
I dropped down into the booth where Tori's smile grew wide as her eyes laid on me. She was sat next to another inked up girl with short, pink hair and far too much makeup.
'Boss!' she cried. 'Oh, Sadie, this is my boss Cal. The guy who gave me the job and saved my ass.'
'Nice to meet you, Cal,' Sadie said.
'Likewise,' I said and I gave her a nod.
'So what are you doing here all alone, man?' Charlie asked. 'If I'd known you were alone tonight I would have called and invited you.'
'Don't worry about it,' I told him. 'I'm just here for one drink then heading home.'
'Where's Bethan?' Tori asked, studying me carefully. 'Everything okay?' You look a little...down.'
'What the fuck are you talking about?' I said as I immediately scowled at her. 'Of course everything's okay. She's just with her friends.'
'Oh shit,' Charlie said. 'She's at that frat party isn't she?'
'Yeah,' I replied, really not wanting to get into it with these guys.
'Oh yeah!' Tori said, before turning to her friend. 'Cal's girlfriend is a freshman at Columbia and she's at her first frat party tonight.'
'Shit, that's why you look like you could kill someone right now,' Sadie chuckled.
'I'm fine,' I muttered.
'She seems a good girl,' Tori said. 'You have nothing to worry about.'
'You don't need to tell me that,' I said. 'I know I have nothing to worry about.'
'So, why do you look worried?' Charlie asked with a small laugh. 'Honestly, man, you're tense as fuck.'
'It's those fucking frat boys,' I told them. 'I just can't stop thinking what could happen if one gets a little too drunk and tries to fucking mess with her and I'm not there to stop it.'
'That's adorable,' Sadie chuckled.
'It's not,' I replied with a click of my tongue. 'It's fucking stressful.'
'She's with friends right?' Tori asked.
'Yeah, she said there'd be like six of them altogether,' I said.
'Then she'll be fine!' Tori cried.
'Yeah course she will,' Charlie agreed. 'As long as they all stay together and the rest don't get wasted and split up and leave her alone. Or let her go to the bathroom alone and she wanders into some guy's room instead or something. Or if-.'
'Charlie!' Tori cried.
I was glaring right at my good friend right now, ready to punch him right in his face. I hadn't thought of those exact things happening but now I was.
'Fuck this,' I hissed, pulling the cigarette box from my inside pocket and sparking up.
'You can't do that in here,' Sadie said, her eyes wide.
'I don't give a fuck,' I told her.
'Dude, I'm sorry,' Charlie said. 'She's a responsible girl; that's not going to happen.'
'Okay, how about we just drive down there?' Tori suggested and I sniggered at hearing the most stupid idea in the fucking world.
'What?' I asked.
'Like spy on her?' Charlie asked. 'That's not cool.'
'Well, just to keep an eye on her,' Tori said. 'She'll never know.'
'That's not the kind of relationship we have,' I told her.
'You trust her right?' she asked.
'Of course,' I replied. 'There's no fucking question about it.'
'So, it's not as if you're spying because you don't trust her,' she said. 'We'll just linger over the street incase shit goes down and at least we'll be right there if it does.'
'No fucking way,' I said, laughing at her. 'You're fucking crazy.'
'I'm not, it's a good idea!' Tori said, turning to Sadie. 'Isn't it a good idea?'
'Well, she would never know?' Sadie said to me.
'No, I'm not spying on her for fucks sake,' I told them.
'Dude, put out your cigarette right now please,' one of the bar staff called from behind the bar and turned back to his customer.
'Fuck you,' I muttered, turning around and bringing it back to my mouth.
'You're going to get us kicked out,' Sadie said.
'Couldn't give a shit,' I responded, flatly. 'I'm stressed to fuck.'
'Excuse me?!' His voice came again. 'Cigarette or I'm going to have to ask you to leave!'
'Shut the fuck up, man, I'm almost done!' I called to him and he shook his head and paced away.
'Dude, put it out,' Sadie said.
'Fuck him,' I sighed. 'I'll put it out when I'm done.'
The three of them eyeballed me not saying another word as I continued to puff, not giving a fuck who I pissed off.
'Okay, big guy, put the cigarette out or I'm escorting you out.' I looked up to see a broad, bald guy glaring down at me. I frowned as I glanced at the whiney little barman watching from behind him.
'What a fucking little bitch,' I retorted to him.
'Alright let's go,' the big guy said, reaching to grasp my arm.
'Don't fucking touch me!' I cried, jumping to my feet. 'Fine, look! There you fucking go!'
I stubbed my cigarette out on the table and flicked it in the direction of the barman, currently shitting himself.
'You're out of here,' the big guy tried to grab me again and I slammed my hands against his chest and shoved him hard.
'I already said don't fucking touch me!' I growled.
'Come on, let's just go,' Tori said as she jumped to her feet.
'You fucking son of a bitch,' the guy said as he glared at me.
'We're going!' Tori cried to him. 'Fucking chill!'
They all scurried out of the booth and all eyes were on us as we moved to leave. I passed by the big guy, not taking my eyes from his as I moved before turning to the little bitch of a barman who dropped his eyes to the floor as I passed him.
'Fucking pussy,' I spat.
We exited the bar and I sighed, wiping my face aggressively as I stood stressed out in the street.
'You need to calm down, boss,' Tori said, placing a hand on my shoulder. 'Bethan is going to be fine but I really think you'd feel better if you knew for sure.'
'We can go down there if you want to, man,' Charlie said. 'No judgements from us and we would never say anything.'
'Just for your peace of mind,' Tori said. 'Otherwise you'll just be sitting in your apartment stressed to fuck when you could just be sitting in your car nearby incase she needs you.'
I looked up and saw all three of them looking at me and I could see the idea was no longer an amusing joke around the table. They were serious and they were trying to come together to help make me feel better and make sure that Bethan was fine. It was a tough choice; betray her trust by spying on her but be reassured that she was okay or simply trust that she'd be careful and call me if she needed me.
It was one debate I couldn't settle on as the three of them waited and I eyed up my car down the street. The most important thing to me was that Bethan was safe but I knew that if she saw me there that would be it for her trust in me. It could possibly break us.
Tori took a step forward and tilted her head as she studied my expression. 'Well? Have you decided what you want to do, Boss?'