I’ve tuned her out at this point. She can get her own ass to the bar. Not my responsibility. Fuck women.
At the bar, I leave Brooke at the front door. Sure, I gave in and let her ride with me, but she’s on her own now. At the bar, I order two shots of whiskey and a beer. All for myself. I watch as a skinny arm reaches past me to grasp one of the shots. I glare down at her. “Mine.” Luckily, Brooke takes the hint and moves away from me. “Time to get drunk,” I mutter before I slam the first shot back.
I guess my angry growling has no effect on this woman because not thirty minutes later, she’s shouting, “Come on,Alex. Let’s have some fun,” all while attempting to pull me out onto the tiny dance floor.
I pull my arm free. “No, thanks. I don’t dance.” And why would I? There’s nothing to dance about.
She stops moving toward the dance floor and comes back to me. Reaching up, she wraps her arms around my neck, and she coos, “Poor Alex. I know just what you need to feel better.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I’m hoping she says she’ll disappear, but that’s nothing close to what she suggests. Nope, she offers me the “best blowie of my life in the bathroom.”
“No, thanks,” I mutter. “Jesus. I just want to hang with the guys. Go talk to Smitty or someone on the defensive line. They’re always looking for head.”
“Oh, well, that’s rude!” She stomps away and directly in the path of none other than Smitty.
I step toward the bar in time to see Hank grabbing a beer. I didn’t even see him come in.
“What the hell are you doing here, man?” Hank asks.
“I needed a drink. No, I needed a shot. Let’s get drunk and forget this day ever happened. Where’s Lily?”
“She’s back at the dorm freshening up. I’m here for one beer before I walk over to get her. She met my parents today, man.”
“Yeah, how did that go?”
“Awesome. They loved her. I mean, what’s not to love?”
Just then Brooke strolls over and hands a shot to me, then one to Hank. “This should cheer you up, babe.”
Ignoring her words, I throw back the shot and slam the short glass back onto the bar. I needed that.
“What the hell are you doing here withher?” he says, pointing at Brooke who’s now dancing all by herself on the makeshift dance floor. “Actually, why are you here at all? You never go out,” Hank asks, concerned.
“She dumped me, man.”
“Who?”
“Stella, she dumped me.”
“No way.” He shakes his head. “That chick was completely into you.”
“Apparently not. I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to drink, heavily.”
“All right. I would probably want to do the same thing. Here, I’ll help you with your quest.” He hands me the shot Brooke just gave him. “I’ve got to warn you though, Alex… that girl, right there,” he says, pointing at Brooke, “is bad news.”
“I know, man. She’s not here with me. She just followed me here.” Damn, I need more to drink. I can’t stop picturing Stella with dickface Bradley. “Yo! Waitress? Shot me again!” I yell.
Chapter Twenty-Three
STELLA
Mom had a good night. I feel comfortable going back to school knowing that she’ll be okay as long as she follows doctor’s orders. The nurse said she’s responding well to the new medications and that they’ve reduced a lot of the fluids that she’d built up around her heart. Things are looking much better.
“Mom, Bradley will be here soon. I’m going to take off now. You going to be okay?” I ask.
“Stella, can I talk to you before you go?”
I nod and smile at her even though I’m a little leery of what’s about to happen. What if she still thinks Bradley and I should get back together?
