"Mari, you didn't mean to. It was an accident."
"A hilarious accident." Luke chimes in while Lexi is trying to comfort me after my angry attack on Summer's face.
I was sitting on one of the beach chairs that Luke brought while drinking a White Claw, my fifth White Claw.
After I practically spiked Summer in the face with a volleyball, the game pretty much ended in a tie. Mason grumbled on how he should have won because I injured one of his teammates, not that he even cares about Summer.
He just wanted an excuse to win.
And honestly, I would have given it to him if Luke didn't insist that it be declared a tie. I just didn't care anymore.
Not after he looked at me like that.
Aiden helped Summer off the sand and kept a warm comforting hand on her back as he walked her to one of the beach chairs.
She was still crying.
It's barely bruised, girl. Come on.
I knew deep down that she was being dramatic, but who am I to tell her how she feels.
And Aiden seemed to believe her pain. He stayed by her side for the next couple of hours, making her laugh, bringing her drinks, and bringing some ice for her nose.
He's being really nice to someone who cheated on him. But, I guess that's just who he is.
"Well, whether you did it on purpose or not, the bitch is fine and needs to woman-up," Lexi states as she crosses her legs and sips from her drink, which I believe is Henny and coke.
I follow her gaze to Summer who is now inspecting her nose in a small compact mirror.
As if feeling eyes on her, Summer turns her head in our direction and glares at me. I have definitely made an enemy out of her.
Lucky me.
I sigh deeply and avert my eyes, not letting myself get into a staredown with the girl I already hit in the face.
The sun is starting to set at this point. A beautiful mixture of orange and yellow were attacking my senses, glowing brightly onto the beach. For a few seconds, I felt myself calm looking at the scene in front of me in a haze.
I could feel the warmth of the setting sun hitting my face as the cooler breeze of the night whirled by me, the combination settling me.
But it didn't last long.
I heard a giggle from in front of me and looked back to where Summer was sitting, now joined by Aiden.
To make matters worse, the orange glow of the sunset was illuminating every indent on his body made by his muscles, making him look like a Greek god descending on Earth to grace us with his beauty.
Ugh, that sounds so cringy.
I need another drink.
I stand from my beach chair, ignoring Lexi's questions about where I'm going and making my way to the little makeshift bar we set up from a run down picnic table.
Sick of drinking White Claws and in need of something stronger, I decided to mix myself some patron and sprite.
More like, patron and a dash of sprite.
I take a big gulp of the drink, enjoying the burn that flows from the back of my throat to my stomach.
It hits me hard.
I let out a big smile, finally feeling my spirits lifting.
The smell of fire filled my senses and I looked to my right to see a couple of guy's setting up a big fire pit, for what I'm guessing is the bonfire Mason was talking about.
"What are you drinking, Brown-eyes?"
I divert my eyes from the fire and set them on Chase instead, who is smiling at my side with his own solo cup in hand.
I look back down to my cup, momentarily forgetting what I just gulped down, "Patron and sprite," I tell him once I remember, dragging my eyes back to his.
Gosh, he has really nice eyes.
His eyes lift slightly in surprise, "Wow, Mari. After everything you already drank tonight, you should be careful. Wouldn't want anyone taking advantage of you if you get too drunk," he looks at me with a sympathetic smile.
Bitch. Are you my dad or something?
I scoff at his comment, slightly ticked off at his suggestion, "Thanks, Chase. But I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."
I drown the rest of my drink before slamming the cup back onto the table and looking back at him.
He puts his arms up in surrender and a smile comes onto his face, "You're right. I'm sorry. Can we start this conversation over?" He asks hopefully.
Shifting my eyes over his shoulder quickly, I see Aiden and Summer making their way to the bonfire before Aiden turns to look in my direction.
I quickly look away and give Chase a smile, feeling the alcohol burning through my veins and heightening my need for attention.
I get flirty when I'm drunk. It's a scary sight.
"Sure! Wanna dance?" I ask Chase and before he can answer I grab his hand and pull us toward the center of the drunken college students messily grinding on the sand.
Once we make it to the middle of the sweating students, I turn to face Chase again as DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love by Usher plays on the large speaker some blonde guy brought earlier.
I give him a smile as I start swaying back and forth to the beat of the music.
God, there is something about dancing when you're drunk that is just so freeing.
I close my eyes as I move my arms over my head. I can feel the huge smile on my face from the amazing feeling coursing through me.
I feel hands come in contact with my hips and lightly pull forward. I open my eyes to see that I'm a bit closer to Chase than before.
And I don't mind it at all.
I can see his eyes start to hood over as our hips start rolling into each other with only a small space between them.
I lay my arms over his shoulder, smile sweetly at him and laugh. He smiles back at me and mirrors my laugh.
I feel his cup behind my waist and knowing I would love another drink, I take one of my arms and run it down the side of his arm until I reach the hand that holds the cup.
I grip the side of the cup, still swaying my hips from side to side, as he releases it into my hold.
I smile before bringing the cup to my lips and drowning all that's inside it.
Vodka. Straight vodka.
The familiar burn excites me as I finish the drink and throw the arm around him again, this time grinding my hips a bit harder into him before moving downward slightly.
He seems to like it.
His eyes follow my movement, his breathing picks up and I can feel him getting excited against my thigh.
Gosh, I'm thirsty.
I immediately release myself from his hold, craving another drink even though I know I'm already passed drunk and entered white-girl wasted.
I almost trip trying to move back from his arms, "I'm gonna get another drink!!" I say pointing over my shoulder in the direction of the alcohol.
He looks a bit disappointed but ultimately drops his arms from my waist, "Want me to come?"
I shake my head at him, feeling dizzy from the harsh movement, "Nope! I'll be fast, promise!!"
He chuckles, "Okay. Hurry back, Brown-eyes."
With that, I stumble myself toward the picnic table, having a harder time getting there than I originally thought I would.
I feel random people trying to get a quick grope in as I pass by, but every time someone gets close I swat their hand away and almost lose my balance each time.
But it works!
I finally make it to the table and smile in excitement.
I decided to make myself a vodka soda since the burn of the vodka felt so amazing a couple of minutes ago.
"What the hell are you doing, Torres."
I squeal and jump in surprise, not expecting someone to be so close to me.
Especially not Aiden.
I turn to look at him with wide eyes, "Gosh, don't sneak up on me like that! You almost made me drop my vodka, Jerk!" I stared angrily at him before inspecting him closer.
His jaw is tense and his greenish-gray eyes look darker. There are no sparkles like usual. His arms are crossed over his chest, making the bulge of his muscles more obvious.
All in all, he looks mad.
Mad at me.
"I think you've had enough, Mariana"
Ouch, I haven't heard him call me by my name since the night we talked in the kitchen. I didn't expect it to hurt so much.
I pout my lips and immediately feel myself getting visibly upset, "Mariana? What happened to Torres? Are you mad at me?" I ask him.
He lets out a deep sigh before rolling his eyes and dropping his arms from his chest.
No, he can't be mad at me. Him being mad at me would be the biggest blow to my ego yet.
Getting more scared at his lack of reply to my question and feeling the alcohol corrupt my vision and bit more, I grab his hand and wrap it around my waist before stuffing my head into his neck causing him to visibly tense up.
"Please don't be mad at me. You mean way too much to me, Grey. More than you know," I mumble against his shoulder before tilting my nose closer to his neck and taking a deep breath in. He smells sooo good...
I can feel his heart beating faster in his chest as I drag the tip of my nose a bit higher on his neck, "Hmm. Mint and pine. Do you know you smell like mint and pine? It's an amazing combination," I breathe softly against him as I whisper in his ear.
I feel the arm that's around my waist tighten slightly.
My drunk self takes that as a sign and continues exploring his neck while my other hand lays itself flat against his chest.
Feeling brave I lay a small kiss below his ear, receiving a breathy sound from him in return. I lower my lips and lay a harder kiss, biting the spot lightly.
Immediately, Aiden moves his head back and moans before moving his arm to my hips, pushing him off me. What a beautiful sound!
Once I'm facing him again I let out a giggle and lay my head on his chest in exhaustion, "I love hanging out with you, Grey."
I hear him take a sharp inhale, "We'll hang out tomorrow, but right now I'm gonna take you home to get some sleep. Okay, Torres?"
Ahh. He said Torres.
I bring my head up from his chest and smile widely, "You called me Torres! Does that mean you aren't mad at me for hitting Summer with a volleyball??" I ask hopefully.
He rolls his eyes at me before grabbing my arm and dragging me somewhere; I don't really know where but I'm laughing as we move because I keep tripping on the sand.
What I think is a couple of minutes later, we arrive at Aiden's familiar red BMW, "Your car is so sexy, Grey." I yell out as if I've never seen the car before. To be fair, It looks different somehow! Or maybe I'm just seeing things at this point...
Aiden looks at me with amusement before opening the passenger seat door, "Get in."
❀❀❀
"Look! I'm like a dog!!! I feel so freeee!!"
I'm yelling out the window as the BMW speeds down the road. I stick my tongue out like a dog would, mainly because I just wanted to understand why.
But once my tongue dried up from the wind, I put it back in my mouth and decided to leave the tongue thing to the dogs.
"Put your head back in the car before you hurt yourself, Torres."
What a party pooper.
We pull into the dorm parking lot and Aiden parks in a spot close to my building. I unbuckle my seatbelt and attempt to open the door, "Your stupid door is broken!!" I say as I struggle.
"It's locked, Torres."
Oh. that makes more sense.
Aiden finally unlocks the car door then opens the driver seat and exits the car. I watch as he makes his way over to my side. I quickly open the door before he can because I don't need no man to open the door for me!
Once the door is open I swing my legs out of the car and quickly stand up.
And just as quickly, I fall down.
"Shit!"
My face is pressed against the grass I fell on top of and I realized I tripped on the curb.
I burst out laughing, "That, haha, really, haha, hurt!!" I manage to choke out while still laughing so hard and of course, snorting. My back was flat against the short cut grass at this point and I had to stop myself from rolling around on it.
Aiden quickly grabs onto my arms and picks me up bridal style, "WOOHOO" I yell out in excitement as my body is flung from the ground to his arms.
Aiden laughs as I wrap my arms around his neck to steady myself in his arms, bringing me face to face with him.
I bite my lip to hold back a grin, "I love your laugh, Grey."
Aiden's smile drops slightly as he gulps harshly, given me a nervous chuckle instead.
After some time, we made it to my dorm room, "Keys?"Aiden asks, looking from me to the keyhole of the door.
I smile mischievously at him, "It's in my back pocket," I reveal to him and move my lips to his ear before whispering, "get it yourself, Grey."
I can see the goosebumps on his neck and his jaw tighten, "Can you get it for me?" he asks.
Well, that wouldn't be any fun.
I shake my head playfully at him and giggle.
He lets out a deep breath, knowing I won't give in before he reaches for the keys.
But Aiden being Aiden, he can't help himself.
He trails his hand from the back of my knee down to my butt slowly, taking his time touching my skin and leaving it burning from his touch.
My breath quickened from his touch and I lay my head on his shoulder while keeping my eyes on his hand.
He reaches his hand into my pocket and pulls out my keys before quickly using them to open the door and walking us inside.
He flicks on the lights and shuts the door with his foot, making his way to what he believes is my bed, since he hasn't been here yet. I'm assuming he knew the number of the room because of Ava.
He guessed the correct bed, but it's easy because the walls are littered with photos of my family and Lexi just like at home.
He lays me down on the bed and I giggle loudly at the rushed movement. He pulls a blanket over me, "You'll be okay, right?" he asks sitting on the edge of the bed.
I throw the blanket off because it's too hot in this room for that, "I'll be okay if you stay," I say with a low seductive voice, batting my eyelashes at him and lifting myself off the bed by my elbows.
He chuckles at me and bites his lip, as if it's taking everything in him to hold back, "I don't think that's a good idea."
I get up from my bed, luckily not falling over, and quickly straddle him on the edge of the bed.
He lays his hand on my hips in surprise and probably on instinct, "What are you doing?"
He seems nervous...
I wrap my arms around him and bring my hips down to meet his own, causing him to groan in frustration before using his hands to stop my hips from moving and closer to him, "Stop, Torres. You're drunk."
I smile sweetly at him, "And?"
I bring my lips back to his neck and continue where I left off, leaving little bite marks along his neck. He instinctively moves his neck to the side to give me more room to continue.
"Fuck," I hear him moan. Gosh, I love that sound.
I smile against his neck, but he sadly snaps out of it and grabs my hips, lifting me off of him and back onto my bed.
He holds me down onto the bed by my hips, "Stay," he commands, his voice huskier than before.
"Woof!" I laugh out after my clever response and roll onto my stomach, suddenly feeling tired.
"Thanks for bringing me home, Grey. You're a great friend. I hope you aren't mad at me anymore"
And then I passed out.
But not before hearing a faint, "I was never mad," coming from Aiden's lips.
Here is chapter EIGHTEEN of "Because Of You"!!!
Mwhaha, I love this chapter!! Mari get's a little handsy and Aiden gotta hold himself back! What a gentleman :(
What do you all think of the chapter? Especially drunk Mariana? And her little dance with Chase?
VOTE AND COMMENT reactions, questions, predictions, anything! Let me hear from you!
Thank you to anyone who is reading and giving this book a chance. Love you!
Back tomorrow with more, get EXCITED!
A million thanks,
Leticia ❀