Читать книгу The Best Man - Jaymie Wright - Страница 7

Chapter Three

After you finally finish getting ready, you meet Brian at the brewery for your date. He waits for you outside. And when he notices you, he says, “Hey, there you are. You look great.”

You give him a bashful grin. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

He smiles back at you and directs your way inside.

As the two of you head inside, you can’t help but think that it’s a little strange to come to an old brewery for a first date, but you try not to overthink it and keep an open mind. You take your seats in the oversized booth, trying to enjoy yourself and begin looking at the menu.

You sit there trying to figure out what to get. You don’t want to get drunk, but you don’t want to be a prude either. Brian notices you studying the menu and says, “If you are not sure what to get, they have different samplers you can choose from… Beer, whiskey, cocktails, whatever you want.”

You think it over but just order a beer, not wanting to overdo it.

After sitting in awkward silence for a few minutes, Brian strikes up a conversation.

“So. Did you hear that there is a new club opening up a couple blocks from campus?”

You instantly start thinking about Chase, yet again.

No, Alex. You’re not going there. You’re here with Brian. Just keep the conversation going. It will get better.

“Yeah, Chase just bought it. I guess it’s moving along pretty quick.”

“Wait. You know Chase? Chase Mathews?”

“Yeah, I’ve known him pretty much my whole life.”

Brian begins to go on and on about Chase and how he’s his ideal. You sit there listening and nodding your head, thinking to yourself, I came on this date to get my mind off Chase, and he ends up being the topic of discussion. This cannot be happening. I’m going to need more than just a beer.

As Brian continues to sing Chase’s praise, you wave over the waitress. The waitress comes right over.

“Is everything okay? Do you need something else?”

“Everything’s great. I was just wondering. Could I go ahead and get that whiskey sampler please?”

“Yeah, I’ll get right on it.”

“Thank you.”

You continue to listen to Brian as he compares himself to Chase. The waitress makes her way back with your drinks, and you barely even give her time to set them down before you take a shot. And another. And another. Brian smiles and asks if everything’s okay, and you just smile and say, “Yep, everything great.” But in your head you’re thinking, No. Everything is not okay. You won’t shut up about the guy that I like, and that could possibly be the worst thing you could do since I only really agreed to this date to get over him.

Just then Brian’s phone goes off. He takes a look at it and then asks, “Hey, would you want to stop by a party on campus?”

You’re pretty well over this date and don’t really want to go.

“I don’t really do parties on campus.”

“I don’t either, but my friends keep bugging me about it, so if you’re okay with it, we could just make an appearance and then leave?”

How bad could it be? We show up, say hi, and leave. Maybe he’ll talk about something other than Chase, and there will still be a chance to redeem tonight.

You agree to go to the party, and Brian gets the check. Once he pays, the two of you leave. Brian leads you over to his car and opens the door for you as you get in. The two of you are in Brian’s car, and you make your way to the party when you finally turn the conversation to something other than Chase.

“So you said that you’re from Virginia. What part?”

“It’s a small town called Toms Brook.”

“That’s like clear on the other side of Virginia, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. You ever been there?”

“No, but remember seeing on the map toward a few of the colleges I looked at.”

Things are finally going okay, but you can hardly hear anything Brian’s saying because now the thought of Chase is stuck in your head. His beautiful smile, gorgeous eyes, and muscles—for days.

‘God… Why does he have to be so perfect? I don’t know if I’m ever going to get over him.

You snap out of your thoughts and notice that Brian is silent. You look over at him and see that he’s giving you a flirty grin.

A slight shade of pink washes over your face as you notice him taking you in. Brian pulls up in front of the party, and you automatically feel uneasy about being there. You try not to think about it too much, but Brian noticed that you seem uncomfortable.

“We’ll only be here a few minutes.” He takes your hand, trying to give you some comfort.

What the hell I’m I doing here? I should have just gone back to my dorm.

With that, the two of you head inside against your better judgement. As soon as you get through the door, Brian is rushed by his friends who are more than halfway gone already. They give him high fives and fist bumps, and you stand there not really knowing what to do. Brian puts his hand on your back and leads you through the crowd, in the direction of the kitchen where it’s a little less hectic.

Once you can actually hear yourself think, you see a girl carrying a tray of drinks and she comes over and offers you guys some Jell-O shots. Brian takes one and puts it down with ease and he offers you one.

‘I’ve never had one of those. I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I don’t want to have to drink too much. I had quite a bit back at the brewery.’

You give him an unsure look because you’ve never had one and because you were just putting shots away back at the brewery. So you ask, “Don’t those have a lot of alcohol in them?”

He takes another one and says, “They aren’t bad, just try one.”

You take it and put it down and as the taste hits your mouth, you can’t believe you’ve never had one.

‘I can’t believe I’ve never had these before. You can’t even taste the alcohol in them.’

Brian looks around and then says, “I can’t seem to find my friend Danny. I’m going to go look for him real quick. Are you okay here for a few minutes?”

You give him a nod as you take shot after shot.

You sit in the kitchen, enjoying the music waiting for Brian to return. Realizing that it’s been more than a few minutes since he left. You stand up to go find him and the room begins to move a little too much. You realize that you might have had one to many of those Jell-O shots, especially after the shots at the brewery.

You gather yourself and think, It’s definitely time to go. I better go find Brian.

Making your way through the crowd, you spot Brian out on the back deck. You finally make it to him. He grabs your hand, pulling you close, and introduces you to a few friends. You say hello and then ask Brian if he could take you home.

Brian says, “Yeah, no problem. Let’s get outta here.”

He nods and tells his friends bye and leads you back through the crowded party and out to his car. He helps you get in the car and gets in on the driver’s side.

Knowing that you’ve both been drinking, you ask, “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

He laughs under his breath and says, “Yeah, I’m good… Let’s get out of here”

You make it a couple of blocks from the party, and you can feel the alcohol setting in. Brian pulls the car over and puts it in park. You look at him with confusion and ask, “Is everything okay?”

I hope he isn’t about to throw up. If he does, I won’t be able to hold mine down.

He looks over at you and gives you a mischievous grin and leans over to you and says, “I can’t wait to get back to your dorm to give you a kiss.”

As he gets closer, you turn your head and tell him, “Hey. Slow down.”

He continues more persistently, so you say, “Just take me home, Brian, please?”

He ignores your cry of rejection and grabs you tightly by the thigh, making it hard to get away from him, and says, “Just relax, you’re going to love what I give you.”

Shit… He’s not taking no for an answer. I have to get out of here.