Thank God, he hadn’t dragged me with him.
“Need another drink?” Alex tipped her head to the keg off to the side of the house. “We leave that one in the shadows so we don’t have to wait on line inside.”
“Sure.” I finished off the rest of my first drink as she pulled me over to the keg. “So how come you’re sitting out here. Isn’t this your house?” I asked as I filled our cups.
“Yeah, but I had a late study session tonight. I’d rather just chill by the fire.”
“What are you studying?” I hadn’t declared a major, yet. There was no point, really. Since I was only going to be there until May, I could figure out the rest of my life later. But I still knew the rules. Meet another college student, ask them what they’re studying. It was a rule encoded in a college student’s DNA; I was sure.
“I’m actually going to be a nurse. I finish my undergrad program in December and then I’m off to grad school in the spring.” She was obviously proud of her career choice; her enthusiasm bled through each and every one of her words.
As we got our drinks, the group of her friends made their way over to the ridiculously outrageous wet T-shirt contest. I couldn’t help but stare – not for the boobs, obviously. I was simply transfixed, watching a group of people laugh and have a good time. It had been so long since I’d been around that kind of scene, that I’d kind of missed it.
And of course, it was just my luck that Alex mistook my distraction as a guy staring at tits than for what it actually was.
Her fingers snapping in my face roused me out of my silent staring. “Did you hearanyof what I just said?” Her tone was more joking than angry which helped me relax back into the conversation.
“Sorry. Yeah, I heard parts of it,” I answered honestly. “Sorry to hear about your parents.”
She rolled her shoulders and took a large swig of her drink. “Thanks, but it’s better that he’s gone. Even though I wasn’t home much, it was a shitty place to live. They were always fighting and screaming. My mom was miserable, so now maybe she can be a little happier.” She took another sip. “You probably don’t want to hear it, though. Not the most lighthearted of conversations for a party, huh?” She scoffed, at herself more than what she thought I was interested in.
“My parents are the same.” The look on her face suggested my confession shocked her a little. “They aren’t divorced, but they should be.” I leaned back in the Adirondack chair, stretching my legs out in front of me, letting the dancing and flickering flames relax me. “What did you wish for on your tenth birthday?”
She choked on her beer, obviously surprised my question. “I’m sorry, what?” she laughed.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “No, seriously, what did you wish for?”
Alex pulled her legs up on the chair and hugged them close to her chest. “Okay, then. Let’s see.” She absentmindedly played with a piece of her hair as she thought. “I was big into horse riding back then, so probably something to do with that. Or Nurse Barbie. I pretty much wished for that every year.” She paused, letting herself get lost in the memory for a brief moment, before asking, “You?”
“Me?” I swallowed the rest of my beer. “I wished for my dad to leave and never come back.” She looked at me, her eyes wide, but not out of shock so much as sympathy.
“That sucks.” Our chairs were close enough together that she reached out for my arm and gently placed her hand there. Her eyes softened and she began tracing her fingers up and down my forearm.
Shit. She was definitely misreading me. I pulled my arm away from her and she wrapped hers back around her legs. “So Scott told me you play ball.” I was happy she wasn’t hurt, and talking about baseball was easy enough.
“My whole life actually.” That thought saddened me. It was the one thing that brought me happiness when I was a kid, stress as a teenager and pure contentment because it brought me to Dylan. I thought coming to the party would help distract me, but instead, it did the opposite. Sitting here talking ball with Alex, who was pretty – no man, gay or straight, could deny that – and who was obviously interested in me – if even just for conversation – just made me miss him even more.
I would much rather be sitting in front of a campfire, talking about the playoffs and whether Boston would actually make it into the series, with Dylan curled up by my side than Alex.
But as the night went on, Alex began to grow on me. She was fun to hang around, knew her baseball, and made me laugh more than a few times.
We both looked over to the car at the exact second Scott stumbled. He righted himself and then stumbled again as he tried to get the key into the door.
“He probably shouldn’t drive, huh?” she asked.
“Uh, no. Definitely not. I would drive, but if my dad sees me in someone else’s car, it wouldn’t be pretty.”
“I got it.” She walked past me and I followed behind, laughing at how easily she bossed around her younger but much bigger brother.
“I’m fiiine, Alex. I can totally drive,” Scott slurred.
She snatched the keys from the ground and dangled them in front of his face. “Yeah? And how are you gonna manage that without these?” she quipped and opened the back door for him. “Get in, Scotty. You’re drunk.” The second his ass hit the seat, he flopped over and passed out.
We pulled away from the party and I told her where I lived. A few minutes into the drive, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and a warm feeling bloomed in my chest as Dylan’s name popped up on the screen. “Hey,” I was consciously trying to keep my voice even, to hide my excitement. Dylan had been so busy with classes and his fall baseball league that we hadn’t talked much since he left.
“Hi, babe.” The term of endearment caught me off-guard, but I loved it.
We were still about ten minutes from home, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk. “Let me call you back in a few minutes, okay?”
