Alexis' POV

"I can't believe we made it," Harper screamed over the loud music, a very wide grin etched on her face, dripping with joy and happiness.

Yes, we were finally done with college. It was an eventful journey but now, all we'll have of it are the memories of the good and the bad times. As soon as we were done with our final papers, my roommates, Harper and Iris began planning the perfect way to celebrate our success and that perfect plan, as they'd put it, ended up being partying in the latest club in town.

"You know the perfect way to honor our success?" Iris asked no one in particular, bobbing her head to the rhythm of the song playing. "A round of Tequila shots and thereafter, some strong spirit!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, trying hard to beat the blasting music but we barely heard her.

Harper clapped her hands together like a little girl, clearly in support of Iris's idea while I remained seated on one of the bar stools, smiling sheepishly. Truly, the club was the last place I wanted to be but with friends like Harper and Iris, that was impossible. They wouldn't have had a problem dragging me by my hair just to get me to party with them. Thus, here we are, with me feeling less enthusiastic than I should, but putting on a fake smile and counting down the minutes until I could be home in my bed.

"Come on, Alexis, it's fun time," Harper announced like it wasn't obvious.

"A time to get wasted," Iris added, taking the half glass of Margarita I'd been sipping from my hold and pushing it towards the bartender who had an amused smile on his face while staring at us. "We'll have two rounds of shots for now," Iris told him, giving him a sultry smile. I saw his lips curve in a smirk before he turned away to get our drinks ready.

"Looks like someone's night is gonna end better than planned," Harper announced, sending a wink to Iris, whose smile widened.

A few minutes later, the bartender turned to them, pushing a tray containing six little glasses, each topped with a slice of lime, their way. He also added one with salt for them to take the shots. His eyes zeroed in on Iris, and he discreetly sent her a wink, but Harper and I were quick to catch on to it. Just when we were about to turn away from him, he slid her a card and she reached for it, sliding her perfectly manicured fingers against his, allowing them to linger for a bit before taking the card from his hold and sliding it into her pause. Harper cleared her throat, disrupting their moment.

"Someone has it hot," she mouthed to me, and I couldn't help but laugh. One glance at Iris and I knew Harper was right. She was still eyeing the bartender. But then, I couldn't blame her, I mean, he was kind of hot in a bad boy way with his messy blonde hair and midnight blue eyes. If I didn't have a boyfriend, I might have seen him as a catch, but then again, I no longer do bad boys_not because they weren't a turn-on, but I simply couldn't keep up with their adrenaline rush.

"So, on the count of three, we'll each chug down two glasses of shots," Harper said, sliding the tray closer to us, and settling better into the barstool she was seated on. "One," her eyes drifted to mine, and then to Iris's to see we were both waiting on her. With a satisfied smile, she continued. "Two, three, go!" as soon as the count went off, we reached for the glass of salt, pinched out of it, and licked it off our fingers before downing the first round and thereafter, biting into the lime. My eyes squeezed shut, from the sour taste of the lime, a shiver wracking my entire body, just as a burning sensation came to life in my lower stomach.

"I've missed that awesome feeling," Iris said, laughing. "Next round, yeah?" We quickly nodded our heads. For me, I needed to quickly get done with it and have a proper drink or maybe even water, to rinse and dilute whatever the after-effects would be. I couldn't let myself get drunk. After another countdown, we repeated the process, downing the second round of shots. By now, the heat in my tummy was so much I felt the tinge of discomfort and the fear of getting wasted creeping in. I needed water.

"That was awesome, we should do more," Iris suggested, but I was shaking my head in disagreement even before she could complete the sentence. "It's okay, Alexis, we'll take it slow. Maybe we should hit the dance floor later and return for more when we're dehydrated. Remember we're here to get wasted," she wiggled her brows, draping an arm around my shoulder.

My eyes drifted to the dancefloor on hearing her words and a shudder wracked my body. Grinding on sweaty bodies reeking of alcohol and smoke wasn't exactly my next line of action.

"I think I'll sit here for a few minutes and let the tequila settle down. I feel a bit dizzy from how fast we chugged them down,"

"That's fine, Lexi, take your time," Harper patted my shoulder. "Please get her a bottle of water," she informed the bartender and I gave her a small, grateful nod. She was always so understanding. With that, they both sashayed towards the dancefloor, swaying their hips to the sound of the music. My eyes trailed them until they got lost in the crowd.

"Here's your water," the deep voice of the bartender called my attention and I turned to him with a smile on my face.

"Thank you,"

"You need a glass, or…"

"It's fine. I'll quickly gulp it down," I waved him off with a smile he returned.

"I see you're the less wild one of the group, huh?"

"Um… you could say that I mean someone's gotta take care of them in case they get wasted and let's just say I've been blessed with those responsibilities today," I shrugged, still holding my smile in place.

"That's nice, take care of them and yourself," I nodded at him, before he moved on to a new customer, while my attention returned to the dancefloor, in a bid to find my friends but it was all a hopeless attempt because the place was so crowded, that I couldn't even see past the people closest to me. Seeing the couples grinding against each other with the thick cloud of smokes floating in the air and looking past the private booths, with different couples making out, reminded me of the life I once lived, throwing caution to the wind and living like my reckless actions had no consequences. A sad smile took over my face but I quickly shook my head, not wanting to fall back into those memories that have been locked deep in my heart for the past three years. While my eyes were still trailing the four corners of the club, I felt my phone vibrate in my pants pocket. I fished it out of my pocket to see the caller was Ted, my boyfriend. A bright smile took over my features, at thoughts of him coming to whisk me away from my current location, and honestly, that'll be a pleasure.

"Hey, babe," his deep voice sailed into my ears, quickly warming me and feeling me with deep feelings of calm.

"Hey…" I responded, drawling with a smile etched on my face.

Whenever I was with him, the world felt a lot better, and talking to him was no different. All I wanted to do was cuddle with him in bed, and ignore all thoughts of clubbing with Harper and Iris.

"I hope it's not too late for me to steal you away from your friends? I know you're not enjoying that place and would much rather be in my arms. Wanna play save the princess?" I could hear the smile dripping from his words and my heart did a little twirl.

"Yes, please. I'll appreciate that a lot," I responded, my words sounding needy like my life depended on being hijacked from my current predicament.

"Very well, then. Your knight in shining armor is coming to the rescue but there's a tiny problem…" he drawled the last part.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry but I have to clear out some work so you can have me all to yourself for the duration of your stay so I wouldn't be able to come to get you. How about you order a Lyft? I'm so sorry, babe and I promise I'll make it up to you?"

I rolled my eyes at his sweetness, my heart swelling some more.

"It's fine. Take care of whatever you need to, and I'll be on my way,"

"I love you,"

"I love you more," the line went dead after that. With a sigh of relief, I gulped down a fair amount of the water before gathering my pause and heading for the dancefloor to locate my friends. It took me a few minutes of warding off unwanted dance offers before finally seeing them and I was not the least bit surprised to see them both grinding against some dudes I couldn't recognize.

"Come on Lexi, join us," Iris screamed at the top of her lungs and I chuckled in response.

"Guys, I have to leave. Ted is stealing me away and I'll be spending the night at his place. Please take care of yourselves while I'm gone?" I screamed over the music and they gave me affirmative nods.

"Have fun girl," Harper mouthed to me, still swaying to the song that was currently playing. Blowing her a kiss, I left the club, after ordering a Lyft to Ted's apartment.

All through the car ride, I couldn't keep the smile off my face, happy for how my night had turned out and how it'd end. Ted and I have been dating for the past six months and he was a nice guy and also very lovable. I think he was the best gift I'd gotten in a while. Moments later, we arrived at his apartment building and the cab pulled to a halt. After settling my fare, I pulled my jacket tightly over my torso, releasing a breath before strutting towards the door. With a single ring of the doorbell, it opened up, and a strong arm latched onto mine, pulling me in through the door, and pushing me against it as soon as the door closed. A giggle escaped my lips, a hard body pressing into mine and pinning me to the wall. The familiar citrus scent of Ted's cologne sailed into my nostrils.

"I've missed you," he growled out, nuzzling against my neck and breathing me in before pulling away. I was all smiles by the time our eyes met, the dim lights in the living room adding to the tension in the air. I ran my free hand through his messy hair and he sighed, sagging against me for a few seconds before sweeping me into his arms.

"You saw me just this morning," I finally responded, wrapping my legs around his waist, with my arms wounded around his neck, his body heat sipping into me from our close proximity.

"I can't get enough of you, baby. I always want you around me. It makes everything better," he pouted and I couldn't stop myself from sealing my lips to his, after his simple heartfelt confession.

"You say the sweetest things,"

"It comes naturally with you," he winked at me, leaning in for another kiss, but he barely brushed his lips over mine, finding his way to my neck and sucking on my soft spot. A little whimper escaped my lips. "Fuck… you're just so sexy," he murmured, walking us towards the bedroom with his forehead resting against mine, his soft brown eyes staring deeply into my baby blue orbs. As soon as he walked through the door, his lips latched onto mine, kissing me passionately like his life depended on it. In a blur, our clothes were gone, and I was on my back on his bed, with him thrusting into my warm heat, causing soft moans of pleasure to erupt from my lips from his ministrations. I fell asleep that night, with a smile on my face, with Ted's arms wrapped around me.

A loud velvety feminine voice drifted into my ears, waking me from my peaceful slumber.

"You've been saying that for the past two months," the voice yelled out. A frown marred my face, just as a yawn escaped. Ignoring the voice, I stretched in the now-empty bed, memories of the previous night claiming my thoughts. A coy smile claimed my lips, but that was until I heard the words that were meant to be a whisper.

"Shhhh… She's here. We can't wake her up,"