The Best Man. Jaymie Wright
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.
Chapter Four
You’re pinned against the passenger door of the car and starting to panic as you try to push him away from you. You finally find the door handle and push the door open. You fall to your back, hitting the ground hard.
Fuck!
When you look up, you see Brian crawling out of your side of the car after you, and in a split second he is being pulled back through to the other side of the car and to the ground.
You raise up to see what is going on, but all you can see is someone on top of Brian beating the crap out of him. You bring yourself to your feet and make your way around the car to get a better look. Once you get there, you are thrown back when you see that it’s Chase beating the crap out of Brian.
Chase! Oh my god. Where the hell did he come from?
You try to yell out to him to get his attention, but he’s flooded with rage and doesn’t hear you. You run over to him and grab his fist as it’s in the air, and he looks back at you.
“Chase!”
He stops and looks at you, with anger flooding his eyes.
“It’s not worth it. He’s not worth it. Just take me home. Please?”
Chase gets up from Brian. Dusting himself off, he looks down at Brian and says, “Don’t you ever come near her again. If you do the next time, you’ll be in the hospital. Do you understand?”
Brian lays there on the ground, groaning and nodding his head, barely able to move. Chase turns and guides you back to his car. Once you both get in the car, Chase starts lecturing you, “I swear if I even see him look your way, he’s done! Why would you even go out with that douchebag? Come on, Alex. You can do so much better…”
While he’s yelling at you, Chase looks over at you and then falls quiet when he sees how shaken up you are. Your head is down looking at the floorboard of the car. You’re still reeling in what just happened, trying to make sense of it all.
I can’t believe that just happened. Brian. And then Chase. Thank God he showed up when he did. How could I let this happen?
He stops and lifts your chin up and looks at you with his crisp blue eyes and asks, “Are you okay?”
As you wipe the tears falling from your eyes, you pull yourself together and say, “Yeah, I’ll be fine… Thanks for…you know…back there.”
Looking at you with worry in his caring eyes, he replies, “I’ve always got your back, Alex. I’m just sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”
Suddenly confused, you ask, “Find me? What do you mean find me? You were out looking for me?”
Your heart flutters with hope at the thought of Chase showing you that he cares for you as more than just Nick’s little sister.
“Yeah, Nick told me you were on a date with that idiot, and I had a bad feeling. So I came to see if everything was okay and to make sure you got home safe.”
Shocked at what you’re hearing, you ask, “How did you even know where I was?”
“Let’s just say that your pal Brian is a creature of habit. I made it to the party just as the two of you were leaving, so I followed you to make sure.”
“Well, thank you… It seems like you’re always rescuing me.”
“I guess you can say that I’m used to it by now.”
He gives you that gorgeous smile, and you get goose bumps up your arms and butterflies in your stomach. The two of you sit there in comfortable silence as you make it back to your dorm.
“Thanks again, Chase”
As you go to get out of the car, he grabs your arm, sending chills up your spine. You look over at him as a lump forms in your throat, and he says, “Hey, the grand opening to the club is in a few weeks. You’re coming, right?”
You smile, trying not to show how excited his touch makes you.
“Well, I guess I kind of owe you now. So…yeah, I’ll be there.”
He laughs a low chuckle and says, “Good. It’s a date.”
You jokingly roll your eyes at him as you get out of the car and start making your way up to your room. As you go up the stairs, you keep replaying what he said in your head: It’s a date… He wasn’t being serious…or was he?
You finally make it to your room, still pondering over those words: “It’s a date.” You change out of your dress and into the shirt that Chase gave you, back in high school when you spilled punch all over yourself