My phone buzzed. I picked it up hoping to see a text from Andie, but instead it was a text from Baz.
B: Hey mate, fancy a drink or two in town?
I didn’t want to go to town, but maybe that was exactly why I should. Otherwise, I would wallow in my misery and keep overthinking my conversation with Andie. I fired off a quick text to him.
M: Yeah, sounds good. What time?
B: About 5, going over early. Grab some food then a drink after.
“I’m going to make myself a cuppa and get the popcorn on. You coming down for movie night?” my mother asked, getting up from my bed and walking to the door.
“Nah, Baz just texted. I’m going out with him for a few hours. Haven’t seen him much since he moved in with Alice.”
“Ah yeah, that will be nice. Don’t drink too much and be safe,” she said before leaving.
I grabbed whatever came first out of the wardrobe, which turned out to be a dark pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, before heading into the shower.
As I finished getting ready my phone lit up and vibrated on the night table. It was Baz letting me know he was outside.
The quiet hours I had planned with Baz turned out to be not so quiet after all. I was greeted with a minibus full of boys, ready to go to the next town over to a pub or two, before maybe a nightclub or two there.
“Alright boys?” I shouted as I got into the back and sat next to Baz.
“Sorry about them, they texted me, and I said you and I were going out for a quiet few, then there was this.” He gestured to the rest of the minibus.
“That’s okay. Maybe it’ll be more fun.” I patted him on the shoulder.
We entered the first pub we saw and ordered a couple of drinks and food. For me and Baz, it was steak with the full works, most of the others got burgers. I looked around as we waited forour order. It was quiet in the pub, but it was still early and would fill up soon enough.
I thought of Andie, and if she was at work yet. Her nightclub wasn’t far from where we were. Should I go over there, queue for hours to maybe get a glimpse of her? I decided against it. She had said no, and now I needed to leave her alone, for a while anyway.
A few of the boys eyed up a table full of ladies next to us and walked over to chat to them, but I wasn’t interested. We lost a couple of them to that table, taking their food with them.
After we’d eaten, some of us moved on to the next pub, where music played loudly. A few people were already on the dancefloor. It was one of those bars where your feet stuck to the floor as you walked. There was a constant smell of stale alcohol and damp, but the drinks were cheap, and the music was good. The perfect place to start of the evening.
We mostly talked about work and sports. We were men, we didn’t talk about the deep stuff. About an hour later it was just me and Baz at the table, the other boys were either at the bar, the toilet or up dancing.
“So, I did it, I asked Andie out.” I took a long pull of my pint, not looking at him.
“What did she say?” Baz put his pint down and looked at me, he was the only other person besides my parents who knew how I felt about Andie.
“She said no, of course. Why the hell would someone like her want to be with someone like me?” I looked up at him and rolled my eyes.
“Mate, I’ve known you for a long time. You’re a good man. She’s the one missing out.” He clapped me on the back.
“I can’t stop thinking about her. I wish I’d asked to go home with her on New Year’s Eve.” I took another long pull of my drink.
“I can’t believe you didn’t fuck her there in the booth. Especially with how you feel about her.” He shook his head with his eyebrows raised.
“It’s not who I am. I want more than just a quick fuck.” I still hadn’t told him I’d come onto her and she stopped me before it could go any further. If she had let me, I would’ve fucked her in the booth.
“I know mate, you’re one of the good guys.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Come on, drink up. We have some forgetting to do.”
Baz got up and headed to the dancefloor, pointing at me, then at himself before doing the worst dance moves ever. His arms and legs were all over the place. People were dodging out of his way.
I checked my phone again in case she had messaged, but I had nothing from her. I didn’t want to force it and push her further away, so I shoved my phone back into my jeans pocket. I laughed, shaking my head as I downed what was left of my pint and went to join Baz on the dancefloor.
“Hey, I’m Zoe, want to dance?”
