It took me a few seconds to realize that I wasn't imagining it. Slowly, I turned my head to the source of the voice. Blake freaking Andrew leaned on the kitchen counter behind me with the signature smirk plastered on his face. He was still in his work attire: a grey dress shirt and black pants. His long sleeves were pulled up, just right below his elbows.
"You came," I blurted in a high-pitched voice. Had I just squealed like a girl spotting an ice-cream booth in dreadfully hot summer? I could punch myself now.
"Have you been expecting me?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. I mean, no. I mean, you're Garry's cousin. It makes sense that I expected to see you at this party too, right?"
"True." He nodded as he glanced at the backyard through the wall. "Too bad I couldn't manage to get here earlier. Seems like I've missed all the fun."
I followed his line of sight and saw people laughing, screaming, and dancing, having the time of their lives. The party was getting even crazier. "Nah, you haven't missed that much. I believe they won't stop partying until dawn."
"I believe so, too," he said. "But I'm not in the best shape to party tonight. I won't last that long."
"Because you're that old?"
Blake barked a laugh. "You can say that." His laughter was infectious, urging me to smile, almost grinning. He looked indeed tired but it didn't make him any less hot.
Darn alcohol. I smacked myself inwardly. "Heavy day at work, huh?"
"Sort of. Also, the traffic was awful. I almost decided to drive back home." Blake smiled and heaven knew how hard it was to prevent my eyes from staring at his lips; the lips I devoured last week...
Not wanting to embarrass myself by shamelessly gawking at him, I turned around to turn on the faucet. "Why didn't you just go back and get some rest then?" I asked before drinking the water slowly.
"Then I wouldn't be here, talking to you."
I choked, and it wasn't a mild one. I coughed vigorously while gasping for air. The next thing I knew, Blake was next to me and patted my back firmly yet gently. Once I managed to catch my breath, he rubbed my back up and down.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," I answered once I could find my voice again. Realizing how close we were now standing, and that his hand was still on my back, I scooted away until my butt hit the kitchen island. He seemed to notice what I was doing since he also moved back to his previous spot.
Did he just imply he came here to talk to me? I shook my head. Before my head started to over-analyze his every word, I settled on one logical explanation. He needed to talk to me and clear up our situation since his career and his relationship was probably on the line.
"Right. Actually, I'd been wanting to talk to you, too," I replied, biting my lower lip. "That night in your car, I shouldn't have–"
"Blake," a female voice came from the front door, followed by the sight of a blonde woman I'd grown to dislike. "We still need to grab the rest from your car."
Daphne stood by the door with a gigantic gift box in her hands. She was also still in her formal work outfit and with a pair of ridiculously high stilettos. Once she saw me, she smiled widely. "Hi! We meet again! Ginny, right?"
"It's Jenny. Hi, Daphne." I forced a smile.
"Oh, sorry! So, how's the party?" She strode to us and placed the box on the kitchen island.
"It's great," I replied, pretending to look interested in her gift box. To be truthful, I just couldn't look her straight in the eye without replaying the scene at the bar a week ago. "Such a gift you've got there."
"I know, it's huge! I wanted to surprise Garry," Daphne chirped before sighing, "I don't know when I will see that kid again."
"That's very sweet of you." I still fixed my eyes on the box which was wrapped in purple. Wasn't it the color of death?
Blake cleared his throat before saying, "I'm going to get the rest."
With that, he headed to the front door, leaving me alone with Daphne who was staring at the innocent gift. None of us struck up any conversation, and my dear brain decided to bail on me just when I needed it the most.
I cleared my throat and put my empty glass next to the sink. "I'm going to go back there, my friends are probably wondering where I am now. I see you around, Daphne."
"See you around, Jenny." She nodded, smiling.
I breathed out a sigh of relief once I slid the door closed behind me. Being in the same room alone with Daphne was suffocating. Jealousy seemed to start putting its claws on me while thinking about kissing Blake gave me the queasy feeling from the guilt. To make it worse, all these mixed feelings didn't help me feel less attracted to him.
I didn't know how to handle this. I needed air.
I found Lea and Josh sitting on a love seat at the other end of the backyard, bickering about heaven knows what. I plopped down between those two. They scooted to the sides, giving me room without even bothering to stop the argument.
"Loser," Lea barked.
"I am not."
"You are."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Kids. Quit quarreling!" I interrupted. "Now, you two, tell me what the plan is tomorrow? Are we going to drive home in the morning? Or have you found someone I can hitchhike?"
"Don't worry, we'll find someone. The guys from the afternoon shift are almost here. You'll have plenty of choices," Josh replied before propping himself up. "Gonna grab another beer."
As Josh left, I scooted to his spot and leaned back to the sofa, sighing with a noticeable huff.
"What's with the face?" Lea asked.
I shrugged. "Tired, I guess."
"It's only eleven."
"It's already eleven," I corrected her. "You can stay, but I'm going to bed soon. Do you know where our room is?"
"It should be somewhere near the garden. If you follow that way down," Lea said, pointing at a stone path along the side of the swimming pool, "it will lead you to a little garden. You should be able to see the guestrooms on the other side of the garden. Need to ask Garry which one is prepared for us exactly."
"Damn. They even have separated bungalows by the garden?" I shook my head. "These peeps are freaking–"
"They're here."
"Who?" I followed Lea's eyes.
Blake stood by the door, observing the party and Daphne was close next to him. I held my breath when his eyes almost reached the point where we were sitting, but a voice shouted, "Blake, you made it, man! Get your ass down here! We've been waiting long enough!"
Blake's head snapped and the man grinned before making his way to the group who just shouted his name. After some greetings and hugs, they made a spot for Daphne to sit while Blake remained standing next to her.
That was how I knew that my plan of having some closure with him was aborted. Of course he would be spending the rest of the night with the group which happened to be his relatives. He wasn't Bailey's team member after all. As much as I wanted to get him alone to talk, I was not walking there and asking if I could borrow him for five minutes. It would have raised questions, and I didn't want that.
"I heard they were engaged."
It took me a couple of seconds before Lea's words reached my brain. "What did you say?"
"Blake and Daphne. They were engaged."
"Oh?" I pushed myself up to sit straight, fully paying attention to my roommate's voice. "How did you know? Who told you?"
"Garry, of course." Lea rolled her eyes. "They were engaged back when they were in university, but they broke it off after a year or so."
"Why did they break it off?"
"Nobody knows why, but Garry said Blake once mentioned it was what Daphne wanted."
"Oh." I glanced back at the group which now was focusing on one guy who was enthusiastically talking. Blake still stood next to Daphne, one hand holding a beer and the other one resting on the top rail of her chair. I could only see the side of his face, but if I kept staring at him, he would eventually sense someone was watching. I shifted my gaze back to Lea. "They seemed to be on good terms now. Do you think they're trying to get back together?"
"I honestly have no idea." Lea shrugged before jerking up. "Wait, I saw Garry in the kitchen. I'll go ask him about our room."
Once she left, my mind went spiraling from the information I'd just heard. I still couldn't wrap my head around the news Lea had just broken to me about Blake and Daphne. They weren't engaged right now, but were they still in some sort of relationship? I still remembered that night in the club, he didn't deny that he and Daphne had kissed. Though he mentioned that they were good friends. What did he mean by good friends? What was actually happening?
Okay, stop there, Jen! This was not your business. What mattered the most was that I didn't seduce anyone's fiancé and I should have been feeling relieved right now.
My seat shifted when someone plopped down next to me. "Penny for your thoughts?"
I smiled. "Hi, Brad. You guys finally made it."
"I know it's crazy to drive here straight from work, but we wouldn't miss this for the world." Brad leaned back on the sofa while straightening up his legs forward. Then he turned his head to me, studying my face. "You don't look so enthusiastic."
"I arrived here like seven hours ago and you expect me to be that cheery and bouncy?"
Brad chuckled. "Fair point."
"Guess I'm going to resign soon."
"Already? But we just arrived."
"Sorry. I need my sleep. The saying early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise is true after all." I shrugged.
"Oh, how I miss that phase of life," Brad mumbled before taking a sip from the beer bottle in his hand.
I took in the figure of the guy in front of me. Why did I not want to play along with Lea's match-making game again? He seemed to be a decent guy without a complicated backstory, which I needed right now. The thing was, he was just too intense for a casual dating arrangement.
Lea told me that Brad was a relationship type of guy. When he was into someone, he fell hard. That was something I didn't want to get involved with. Not only because of my plan to leave this city after graduation, but after witnessing how my family was scattered into pieces, I began to question if I wanted a relationship at all. Love and commitment were just one big ball of mess, something I would probably steer clear of.
I just wanted to date to keep my hormones in check. In other words, to keep me from ruining other relationships.
"You're at it again." Brad's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"What?"
"Spacing out." He chuckled. "You're here but your mind is miles away."
"Sorry."
He smiled. "Time for bed then."
"Yeah. I'm just waiting for Lea to get the room key for us." I glanced at the kitchen to see if Lea had finished talking to Garry. It was when from the corners of my eyes, I caught someone watching me. I shifted my gaze and was met with Blake's dark eyes, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.
Before I could pull myself away from our staring contest, Lea stood in front of me, blocking my line of sight. She grinned while dangling a key in front of my face. "A key to your dreamland."
I woke up to the sound of a door slam, thinking it might have been Lea who just got back from her shitty night shift. Then I realized that I wasn't home; I was at Garry's. I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around. Had I missed my alarm?
I took my phone from the nightstand and checked the time. Yep, I'd missed it or I must have killed it in my sleep. Groaning, I got up and made my way to the bathroom to do my morning routine, and got dressed. I hoped I could still have a quick coffee before finding my ride home. Lea told me Garry had had it arranged.
I had no idea what time Lea went in, but judging from how deep she was asleep now, it must have been sometime after three. I glanced at her, smiling while grabbing my tote bag and quietly leaving the room.
The cold breeze caressed my face as I walked across the garden. The rose fragrance was revivifying after spending the evening with a reek of alcohol lingering in the air. But it was dead quiet. Everyone must have been still in their bed, passing out after partying all night long.
To my surprise, the backyard was all clean, with almost no evidence of craziness going on at this very spot just less than six hours ago. Through the glass wall, I caught the glimpse of Garry sitting at a breakfast counter, face buried on an iPad with a gigantic coffee mug on the side.
"Morning," I greeted as I entered the kitchen.
Garry lifted his gaze at me and smiled. "Good morning. Could you get some sleep?"
"Yeah, of course. And how come you're up this early?"
"The after-party cleaning showed up earlier than I expected. Looks like Sam forgot to reschedule it," he replied, brushing his hair with his fingers before picking up his mug. "Coffee is ready by the way. Mugs are in the cupboard under the coffee machine."
"Who is Sam?" I asked while getting myself a cup of coffee.
"Samantha, my sister. Right, you haven't met her. She arrived after midnight."
"Ah, okay." I flopped down on the seat next to him. "Don't you need to go back to bed? You look pretty much...asleep."
Garry chuckled. "Nah, I can't go back to sleep now. Maybe some nap later."
I glanced at the digital clock on the fridge door. 08:48 AM.
"Hey Garry, Lea told me you're going to find someone who can give me a lift." I looked around, noticing that there was still no one else awake except us. "Who is going to take me?"
Before he had a chance to answer, heavy footsteps echoed from the stairs, prompting him to grin as he glanced in the direction behind me. "Just about time. Here's your ride."
"Good morning. Do I still have time for one coffee?"
That voice. I gulped.