Chapter 7
I never thought I'd end up here again, but the holiday season is coming up so I suppose it was bound to happen. Some people are swaying to the beat that's filling the room, others are chatting in groups, and one couples already getting it on against the wall.
"What are you thinking about?"
I tear my eyes away from the couple and focus my gaze on Zack. "That I have two papers due this week and yet I'm here instead of in my dorm room."
He laughs before tipping back the red plastic cup in his hand. "So I guess that's why I haven't seen you here in awhile," he says after swallowing and I nod. "Trent will be happy to see you, though." I slyly ignore the comment by going back to surveying the scene around us. I haven't seen Trent yet, but I'm kind of hoping I won't. For some reason I've been trying to avoid him lately and I don't know what that reason even is.
"Do you guys come to the frat house every weekend?" I ask turning my attention back over to Zack and he shrugs.
"Mostly."
"Trent said it's because you guys are friends with a few guys that live here." Once the words are out I immediately want to take them back. One minute I say I'm avoiding him and then the next minute I'm bringing him into the conversation.
"We're good friends with two of them. You see over there behind the bar is Josh." I follow his gaze across the room spotting a guy with spiked up brown hair and dark carmel skin that seems to be glowing under the minimal lights hanging over the bar as he pours shots for a few girls. "And then that guy over there, surrounded by the mob of girls, is Asher." He head nods to the other back corner and I nod catching sight of the guy he's referring to. Even from across the room I find myself noticing just how structured his jawline is and I bet that's key reason as to why he's being stared at like a zoo animal. "Then the other guys we hang out with are Brad, Dave, Kyle," Zack continues while pointing around the room. "Tyler." He points back to the couple making out against the wall and I have no idea who he's talking about, but absorb the information nonetheless.
"Here." Stephanie comes out of a opening in the crowd and shoves a cup in my hand while pulling a piece of pink hair out of her mouth.
I shake my head and go to give it back to her. "I don't want—"
"Oh come' on! Live a little," she deadpans before tipping her cup back.
"Yeah, peas, you might as well enjoy it while you're here." Zack nods towards the cup in my hand and my lips part again as nerves curve around my spine.
"But I—"
"Lacie," Stephanie sighs. "Have you ever gotten drunk before?"
"Yes."
"Well, then—wait you have?" Both Stephanie and Zack throw me curious gazes and I shrink a little under their stares.
"I've had a wine cooler at some family gatherings..."
Zack shakes his head and taps my cup with his. "That's not the same, just try a little."
"Yeah, I won't even drink, so I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you." Stephanie hands her cup off to a complete stranger as they pass and I laugh at the look the guy throws her a look in response.
"Now you see, that's a good friend." Zack nods again before tipping the rest of his cup back.
"Please?" Stephanie pulls a puppy dog face and I raise my brow at both of them.
"You guys know you are both exhibiting peer pressure, right?" They both give me a hard look and I bring my hands up in surrender. "Alright, one cup, but only because you two are actually agreeing on something." I send a wary glance between them before my eyes land back on Stephanie. "And you're not going to drink?" She shakes her head crisscrossing a finger over her chest.
I sigh and look up at the ceiling shaking my head. I'm so going to regret this. Then I bring the cup up to my lips.
****
"Oh, excuse me," I say bumping into someone before running my hand over a cool flat surface. That's when I realize I just said 'excuse me' to a fridge and I giggle in response. Making my way to the front of it, I roll up the sleeves of my cream colored sweater, and lean back against it, finding the cool metal soothing against my hot skin.
"Lacie?" I look up only to see Trent leaning his back against the counter in front of me.
"Oh, hi, Tent," I smile, but then giggle because I just called him a camping appliance.
His eyebrows immediately pull down in worry. "Are you okay?"
"Mmmhmm," I nod taking in his appearance.
His black sweatpants hang low on his hips and his grey v-neck t-shirt loosely hangs around his abdomen, but gets tighter around his chest. I meet his gaze again and involuntarily lick my lips. His eyebrows raise a little bit in surprise before a small grin stretches across his face.
"Alright," he folds his arms across his chest, "how much did you have to drink?"
"Only like two cups," I quickly defend myself while holding up four fingers, but then giggle because I said two and held up four. Trent lets out a laugh, dropping his arms. "Stephanie made me do it though." I grip the fridge handle behind me and his brow rises again.
"She did?"
"Yep," I nod, but then my head starts to throb a little with the motion. I bring my hands up to my temples and rub them a little. "Tent, do you think you can do me a favor?"
"Sure," he nods.
"Next time you see me, can you remind me to never drink again."
He chuckles. "Will do."
I sigh dropping my arms back down to my sides. I grip the fridge handle again and sway forward before leaning back against it. I do this a few more times, swaying forward and back, before the fridge door pops open with my motions making me stumble forward.
"Whoops," I giggle to myself and turn around to close the door only to have a few guys come barging into the room, practically shoving me away, and making me stumble back a few steps.
My shoulder falls into Trent's chest and his hands wrap around my waist as the guys maneuver around the small kitchen, grunting and grabbing what they need, before leaving just as quick as them came. Staring at a left open cabinet, I feel the warm brush of Trent's finger tips against my bare hip, and glancing down I see that my sweater seemed to have ridden up. The heat from them burns into my own skin and I slowly turn around not sure if I want to rid of the sensation of it.
"Hi," I say sheepishly meeting Trent's eyes.
"Hey," he chuckles again and the sound seems to vibrate from his chest and through mine. I bring my hands up ready to take a step back and put some distance between us, but he moves his arms around me completely locking me in his grip. The heat already in my cheeks burns even more and I glance back down at my hands that are still resting on his chest as they move up and down with his breathing. I pout when I can't think of anywhere else to put them.
I look back up at Trent only to see that his green eyes are dancing in amusement. The little gold specks in them are now visible at this proximity and with the alcohol in me, I find myself bringing my hand up to his face. My forefinger goes on the outside of his right eye and my thumb rests on top of his cheek.
"I like your eyes," I whisper, voicing my thoughts out loud.
"You do?" He matches my tone.
"Yeah," I nod still mesmerized by the green orbs and he chuckles in response, making me move my gaze away from his eyes and down to his chest. "And I like these." I trace my finger along the v-neck of his t-shirt.
"My t-shirts?" He questions, curiosity running across his face, and I nod. "What else?" My head snaps back up to his face.
"What?" I ask the alcohol making me ditzy and a grin splits across his face.
"What else do you like?"
"Oh! Starbursts!" I exclaim and a he barks out a laugh before shaking it away with a few shakes of his head.
"No, I mean... about me?"
"Oh." My mouth remains in the shape of the letter as I try to conjure up a response. Under normal circumstances I would give him a witty remark about how obnoxious he is, but since my decision making brain cells are a little out of whack at the moment, I find myself actually considering the question. "Well," I look back up into his eyes before reaching up and lightly touching his hair. "I like your hair."
"Yeah?" His grin reappears, but I only continue to nod.
"Yeah, I like how it's a little shorter in the back and then you keep it spiked up in the front." I lightly run my fingers up the spike before dropping my hand. It knocks against his arm and I instinctively find myself tracing a finger along his bicep. "And I like your arms." He chuckles and adjusts his grip around me, making the muscles move underneath my finger tip. He's not overly built like a macho man with his veins bulging out of his arms, but he's perfectly chiseled in just the right amount. I look back up at his face. "And I like your nose," I lightly tap it with my finger making a regular smile spread across his lips and I drag my finger down his cheek. "And I like your smile... and your lips." I lightly graze my finger over them and find myself wondering how lips are automatically pink opposed to the color of out skin. I move my finger over to the side of his face and lightly trace down his jaw, then back down his chest until my finger lands in the center. "I like your..." I start, but stop when as my cheeks begin to burn again and Trent stands up a little straighter.
"What?" He inquires, leaning his head down towards me, and I tap his chest with my finger a few times.
"I like your... abs." I slowly drag my eyes back up to his and watch as a grin stretches across his lips.
"You do?" He raises his brow again and I nod biting my lip.
"Well..." He tilts his head to the side. "Do you want to feel them?" He doesn't give me time to reply before he places his hand on top of my left one and slowly drags them down his stomach. When they reach the hem of his t-shirt he slips both our hands underneath it, moving them up a little until I feel the bottom of his muscles.
Embarrassment flushes my entire body as the logical part of me is beginning to realize the reality of the situation while the irrational, alcohol infused part of me only makes the realization that my hand feels so cold against his skin.
"Whoop!" My head whips over my shoulder as a guy walks into the kitchen. He walks over to the sink and picks up a bag of tortilla chips that were left on the counter. He turns around leaning his back against the counter and head nods to Trent. "Hey man."
"Hey," Trent replies, but his gaze never wavers from mine.
Silence wraps around us and the only thing I can think about is the fact that my hand is still under Trent's shirt while the seemingly obvious guy is using his hand to eat chips.
"Well," Chip guy finally says before crunching into another chip. "I'm going to go dance." With that he tosses the bag back onto the counter, wipes his hands on his pants, and heads out. Once he passes through the doorway I count to three before leaning my head on Trent's chest and bursting into laughter.
Our hands fall away from in between us as Trent follows suit, placing his shaking hands on the side of my hips. My laughter soon becomes drunken giggles and last a little too long considering the situation was only comical not hilarious.
I finally straighten back up trying to remove the smile from my face, but the muscles don't budge.
"Are you okay?" Trent asks more in amusement than concern and I nod all the while biting down on my lip to contain the smile there.
"Lacie!" Stephanie gasps and I turn my head to find her in the doorway. "There you are."
"Stephanie!" I shout like a little kid and she shakes her head.
"Come' on, let's go." She grabs my arm and pulls me out of Trent's grip.
"Do you want me to take her back?" Trent asks watching me with wary eyes as I stumble into Stephanie.
"No, it's okay, I got her." Stephanie wraps an arm around me. "Thanks for being such a gentlemen though. Most guys I know would have been assholes and already taken advantage of her by now. Not that all guys are assholes, I just know that most are, I mean not every guy is," she stops her ramble and looks back up at Trent, "I'm not drunk I swear." He gives her an amused look, raising both of his eyebrows and she groans. "Ugh goodbye, Trent." She sings with a wave of her hand and starts walking away, dragging me with her.
"Bye, Tent!" I call over my shoulder.
"Bye, Vanilla," he murmurs as if only for my ears and when I look back over my shoulder, meeting his gaze, he winks, leaving me to whip my head back around. I lean my head on Stephanie's shoulder with a content sigh as she leads us out of the house and back to our dorm.
I am definitely going to regret this tomorrow.