I didn't know exactly what compelled me to pick up the phone and text Renee's roommate, Carly.
Actually, that was a lie. I knew exactly what it was. It was a nice ass and stunning ruby hair. That's what it was.
"Where are you going?" Aaron had called. He was studying in the living room, long neck craned so he could glare suspiciously at me from his place on the couch.
"Going to see Carly," I told him, running a hand through my hair. Matt had come out of the kitchen that moment, flicking water off his hands from the sink.
"So, what you really mean is, you're going to try and hit it off with Renee Lyon."
"What makes you think that, Big Man?" I'd winked and offered a fist to Matt, who didn't return the bump. On the couch, Aaron was frowning. For such a self-proclaimed genius, he had difficulty putting two and two together.
"You might as well film what happens," Matt said, folding his arms to lean against the doorway. "I'll need something funny to watch later on."
"Fuck you, man."
"Hard pass," Aaron yelled from the living room. "And besides, Matt, we won't need video proof. We already know how tonight will go. Renee wants nothing whatsoever to do with him. She made that plenty clear."
I had bitten back a petty retort and kicked Aaron's shoes out of my path, wanting to punch a wall instead or maybe my friend's pretty face.
"Bet on me and lose, fuckers," I'd said, opening the front door. "I am gonna get some tonight."
"Of course, you will," Matt said as I slowly retreated. "Just not with Renee."
And now, here I was, standing on Renee Lyon's front porch steps, breathless at the mere sight of this woman in front of me, a fucking rose-haired goddess. Her emerald eyes lock with mine. The mouth that had seconds ago been smiling, carefree and excited dropped, melting into a scowl, and I watched as the muscles in her jaw twitched with distaste.
"Hey again," I said, giving her my best chin nod. Seeing this woman in front of me made me hard, so I tried to focus on anything besides Renee's soft, plump lips curling in disgust.
"It was for you," she called to Carly, stepping aside just enough to let me through. A car behind me pulled into the driveway as I approached to come through the open door. I glanced back, hardly curious, but when a man stepped out of the car and walked up to the door, smiling like a dumbass, I was suddenly set on edge.
Wary. Jealous.
I recognized him, the guy who stole Renee away from Aaron earlier. The guy smiled at me like some preppy douchebag and shoved his glasses onto his nose to keep them from falling off. I wasn't even over the threshold yet as he held out his hand for me to shake.
"You must be Carly's friend," he said. For a split second, I considered ignoring the hand and punching him in the face instead, but a last-minute thought warned me that that won't exactly earn me points. Instead, I plastered on my best fake smile and shook the guy's hand, hoping that if I applied enough pressure, bones would break. I was mildly disappointed when he took his hand back with a pained look but no cracked bones.
"Um, come on in, both of you," Renee said, finally finding her voice, and she stepped aside so we could slip in.
"I'm Jason," the dude said to me, but his eyes were on Renee, scanning her outfit from head to toe, and a jealous rage rose in my stomach like bile. I wanted to gouge his eyes out. "I'm Renee's, um—"
"Friend," Renee said quickly, but it was a second too late as Jason said, "Date."
Renee's face went red, cheeks tinted with color, and I had to look away from her to keep from busting through the front of my pants.
"What's up, Renee's Friend?" I said, relishing in the storm cloud that passed over his face. "I'm here for Carly."
"Yes," Renee said, taking a breath. "You are here for Carly." The way she said it was funny, as though she was trying to convince herself that it was true. As I followed Renee and Doucheboy into the kitchen, I noticed with a hint of glee as Renee subtly brushed Jason off as he tried to take her hand.
I fucking loved it.
"Baby!" Carly shouted as I stepped into the kitchen. I couldn't even begin to tell you what this girl was like sober. She was sloshed, precisely how she was the last time I saw her.
"Hey." I resisted the urge to push her away as Carly threw her arms around me, forcing my chin down so she could kiss me on the lips. She tasted like wine and bubblegum lip-gloss, and I was already getting hard, but it was certainly not because of her. As Carly showered kisses over my face, I looked over her shoulder, pinned on Renee. She was leaning against the kitchen counter next to Jami, who didn't seem to care one way or the other who was in the house as long as she didn't have to deal with them.
What surprised me most as Carly kissed me was that Renee was already looking at me by the time I focused my gaze on hers, and it was a full ten seconds or so before she finally tore her gaze away. Jason, who seemed oblivious to everything in life, was now standing on the other side of Jami, chatting about something I didn't give a flying fuck about. Jami was nodding patiently, smiling when appropriate, and I wondered why in the fuck Jason hadn't decided to get into her pants.
"Oooh, what's this? Has someone come out to play?" Carly said, her fingers sliding down my abdomen and towards my hard-on.
"Holy shit," Jami said, averting her attention from Jason and over to Carly and me. The cuss word sounded ridiculous coming from between her lips. Unnatural. She just wasn't that person. "Get a room, guys."
I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, Renee cleared her throat, and her eyes fell to the floor. "Jason," she said. "Are you ready to go?"
He nodded and started to say something, but before he could find the words, Carly spoke up again, cutting him off.
"Oh my God, you guys, we should go on a double date."
Silence settled over the kitchen. Even Jami looked appropriately horrified.
"Um, Carly," Renee said softly, but she was cut off once more as Carly jumped and clapped her hands excitedly, as though this random idea was the cleverest thing she had ever thought of. I saw Jason glance quickly at Renee, whose eyes were now on me. When I shrugged, Jason forced the weakest smile I'd ever seen and nodded.
"That sounds fun," he said, unconvinced, and then looked to Renee for validation. For a second, I thought she would turn Carly down flat. Not that I would have blamed her, but instead, she smiled again, fake this time, and nodded.
"The more, the merrier."
Yeah, right.
"I was going to take Renee to the Mexican restaurant a few blocks down," Jason explained. "Their margaritas and chicken tacos are to die for."
"Oh good," Carly moaned, stepping around me to find her shoes by the front door. "I was starving and thirsty."
I opened my mouth to say something - anything, but nothing came out. I felt utterly speechless for one of the first times in my life. How could I go on this double date with Carly and pretend to be interested in anyone other than Renee?
"Wow, guys, have fun," Jami said, following us into the living room, where I had to steady Carly as she tried to pull on her boots drunkenly. When I glanced over at her, she had an amused smirk playing on her lips. "What a blast."
"Wanna come?" Jason asked her, and I silently hoped she said yes, even if it was just to ease the tension, but Jami shook her head so quickly I was afraid it might fling off her shoulders and soar across the room.
"Raincheck? You guys have fun, okay?"
I looked at Renee, who was scowling at Jami's back as her friend retreated to her bedroom, probably thrilled to be as far away as possible from this shit show of awkwardness.
"Ready?" Jason asked Renee, and she took the arm he offered her. Another twinge of jealousy fluttered through my chest, but I averted my gaze to Carly, who was humming something under her breath, hardly coherent, it seemed. I sighed. My true feelings might be for the stunning redhead standing next to me, but that wasn't an excuse not to be halfway decent to Carly. Aaron kept telling me I had to stop being such a douchebag because, apparently, it was a turnoff for some girls.
"You look great," I said, kissing Carly's ear. She giggled, raising her shoulders like I'd tickled her neck, and took my hand. I sneaked a glance at Renee. She pretended not to notice, but somewhere under that fake, plastic smile was something like … resentment?
Good. Now we're getting somewhere.
"We could take my car," said Jason as we all followed him outside. "Does that work?"
Like I had a choice. Plastering on my best bullshit smile, I opened the back door to Jason's tacky sports car, and Carly slid in, nearly ripping her pants on the sharp edge of the door. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and winked at her, jogging to the other side to slide next to her. Renee was still silent, fuming, probably, and she was making it a point not to make eye contact with me.
The drive to the restaurant was short but awkward. Jason talked a lot, which was both obnoxious and relieving at the same time. If he didn't speak, nobody would, and then this fuck up of a date would be screwed before it even started. Even Carly, who was sipping off a small flask of what smelled like tequila, couldn't get a word in edge-wise.
The best part? Jason couldn't stop talking about himself.
The first thing Carly ordered when we sat down at a booth in the corner was an enormous margarita with an extra shot of tequila poured in there. Renee ordered a glass of wine—classy, I know—and Jason ordered a sweet tea because, apparently, he was a bigger Douche Boy than I thought. I ordered a beer and finished it within five seconds of delivery, then ordered another to help me get through this date.
"So," Carly said, supporting herself by her elbows on the table. Her gaze was bloodshot, eyes glassy, and I knew I wasn't the only one who could smell the booze seeping from her pores. That smell took me back for a moment, and I suddenly saw my dad's face in front of me. I focused on his drunk eyes, the smell of booze on his breath as he screamed at me, yelling, shouting, punching the walls, and breaking the dishes …
"Carly, maybe you should slow down on the liquor?" Renee said softly, dropping her tone. "I really don't want you to be sick."
"Do I look like I'm about to be sick?" Carly snarled, her cheerful, buzzed demeanor replaced with one of fury. It was like the tequila had kicked in; it used to happen to my dad, too.
"Hey," I said, nudging her playfully in the ribs. "It's hard to spend time with you if you're not here."
It wasn't a lie, either. Any family member of an alcoholic would tell you the same thing.
Carly ignored this, reaching for another drink. Jason, for the first time all night, was looking kind of awkward again. His incessant rambling might have saved us this time. Instead, a heavy silence weighed over our table as Carly continued to drink. Finally, when our server arrived at the table to take our orders, I had to help Carly order because she was too drunk to look at the menu.
"Could I also get another one of these?" she asked the waitress, draining her glass. The server nodded and hurried away. When I looked back at the table, Renee was now looking at me. I couldn't read her expression and wasn't sure I wanted to. The night had barely started, and this was already the date from hell.
"So," Jason said, clearing his throat. He peeled the wrapper off his straw, avoiding mine and Carly's faces. Instead, he turned to Renee, pretending the rest of us were no longer there. "The funniest thing happened today in class. So, I was—-"
I was only halfway paying attention because Carly had pushed her empty glass aside next to me and was now sitting back in the seat. The red flush from seconds ago was gone, and now she was pale, ghostly white, and her arms were folded over her stomach like she was trying to keep it all in.
Shit.
"Hey," I whispered to Carly, dropping my tone so Jason couldn't hear us. "Are you okay? Do you want me to take you home?"
Carly shook her head as the server returned with another refill for her and our appetizer. The food seems to have tempted her good mood because she dove into the spicy nachos like a ravenous teenager, moaning in ecstasy. I was a big fan of a girl who could put away good food like that, but I couldn't shake the feeling that everything she was eating now wouldn't stay where it was supposed to.
"So, Daniel, right?" Jason said, finally looking at me. There was a slight smirk on his lips, and my knuckles flexed under the table.
"It was Jake," murmured Renee before I could correct him. Her eyes met mine, but only for a moment before she looked back down, focusing on the plate of nachos Jason dished up for her.
"Jake," I confirmed. "And you're Joseph, right?"
Carly snorted into her drink. At least I could make someone laugh.
"It was Jason, actually."
"Right."
"So, Jake, how do you know Carly and the girls?" Jason asked. He was finally looking at me and seeing his steady gaze was almost impressive. He was not really intimidated by me, it would seem, but I still couldn't figure out what Renee liked in the guy. He came off as superior like he knew he was smarter than the rest of us. He probably was, but there was no need to brag about it.
"We met at O Malley's," Carly piped up with a hiccup. "He actually came to our table and hit on Renee. Funny, huh?" She was giggling, red-faced again, and even though she was sitting down, I was pretty sure she was still swaying a bit.
Jason didn't say anything to this at first, but he looked at Renee, who cast her eyes to the tabletop. That was all the answer he needed, I guess, because for the next ten minutes, it was Carly talking instead of Jason, and nobody else was even trying to get a word in.
I couldn't keep my eyes off Renee as we ate our meal. I knew that would happen, of course, but being near her in such close proximity was something I didn't realize would affect me. Even seated across from her, I could smell that sweet perfume she wore. Her hair was softly curled—Carly's work, probably—and the bit of makeup made her green eyes pop even more than they usually did, and the red-tinted lips were luscious. Even though Carly was sitting practically attached to my hip, I couldn't pay attention to anything else but Renee.
"Excuse me!" Carly turned in her seat in the middle of dinner to flag down the server for another drink. I noticed that Renee's face fell as this happened, and I knew she didn't want Carly to drink anymore. Neither did I, for that matter. Some people could hold their liquor, and some people couldn't. Carly just happened to be the latter.
Then again, she had downed half the restaurant's liquor supply. I was morbidly impressed that she wasn't yet face down in her own vomit in some alleyway, to be honest.
"Babe," I said gently, touching her arm. It didn't feel like a baby moment, but I knew she liked the pet name. Girls like her always did. "I'd like to enjoy the rest of the night with you. Could we get some ice water instead?"
Turning away from the server, Carly turned in my direction, head swiveling like a bobblehead, brows furrowed deep. For a split second, I thought she might punch me out for even making a comment.
"Why? Just because I enjoy a good drink doesn't mean—" she stopped, mouth snapping shut abruptly, and when the color drained once more from her face, I knew what was coming next.
Carly stumbled to her feet before I could help her, shoving past the irritated server, who looked absolutely disgusted at the thought that one of her customers might be sick. I wanted to blame her, really, for giving Carly so many drinks and probably finding it funny at the time, but I couldn't. There was no one to blame now but Carly, and she was in no position to be blamed for it.
"We'll be back," I said to Renee. Jason was staring after Carly slack-jawed as though what was happening now was the worst thing of his existence. I could see the judgment in his eyes, and I wanted to punch him.
He wouldn't understand this.
But I did.
I understand it all too well.
I followed Carly to the women's bathroom because I wasn't comfortable enough to leave her in there by herself. She made it to the toilet with barely a second to spare, falling to her knees and heaving chicken tacos all over the inside of the toilet bowl. I grabbed some paper towels from the dispenser and dampened them in the sink, then kneeled down next to her, gathering bubble-pink hair between my fingers to hold it back for her. Carly was sobbing now, heaving, and I rubbed her back with my free hand, wishing I could do something more for her than just this.
The truth is, I'd been here before. Many times. With someone else I'd cared about deeply.
God damn it, Jake, I said get me another fucking beer, you goddamn little shit.
"Here," I handed Carly one of the damp paper towels, and she wiped her mouth with it, beads of sweat forming on her clammy skin. I was about to help her get to her feet when the bathroom door opened again, and Renee stepped in, taking in the scene around us. Even now, I couldn't read her expression, but she didn't look angry or annoyed. There was pity mixed with something else—-surprise, maybe?
"You okay, lady?" Renee asked Carly, kneeling down on the other side of her. She wouldn't look at me, but that was fine. I was just as focused on her drunk roommate as she was right now.
"Too much to drink, I guess," Carly said weakly. She tried to smile, but it was unsuccessful. She looked like she'd rather fall asleep instead.
"Does she need to go to the hospital or something?" I asked like a dumbass.
Renee smiled a gentle smile and shook her head. "No, she'll be okay. She just needs water and sleep."
"Renee is a doctor, you know," Carly slurred, wiping her mouth again with the back of her hand. I cringed inwardly. "She takes good care of me."
I looked over at Renee, who was flushing red.
"I was an EMT," she explained. "My major is nursing. I want to be an RN."
Whatever I've been feeling for Renee suddenly intensifies tenfold. Of course, she wanted to be a nurse; she was that kind of compassionate fucking person.
I couldn't focus on that, not now, not with the way Carly was. My asshole daddy didn't raise a quitter.
I supported Carly against me, holding one arm. "Could you have Jason start the car?" I asked Renee, who grabbed Carly's other arm so we could pull her to her feet. Her head lolled. She was about to pass out.
"Yeah," Renee said, taking a step back. "We'll meet you out there." With one last puzzled look in my direction, she backed out of the bathroom, letting the door swing shut behind her. Carly moaned and mumbled something incoherent, and I leaned down and picked her up until I was carrying her, allowing her to wrap her arm around my neck for support.
"Hey, man," Jason said as I carried Carly out of the bathroom. "I don't know if I want a drunk chick in my car. What if she hurls again…?"
"Do it," I growled, shoving past him. "Now."
He didn't argue twice. Renee was already outside, holding the car's back door open so I could gently slide Carly in. She mumbled something nobody could understand again, leaned out the window for a split second as though she might vomit again, then passed out across the seat and began to snore.
"I'm sorry about this," I told them as Jason drove. His eyes kept flickering to the rear-view mirror, probably checking to make sure Carly wasn't about to lose the rest of her dinner all over the lovely interior of his stupidly shiny sports car. As soon as he pulled into the girl's driveway, I jumped out and jogged to help Carly, picking her up again to carry her inside. Renee was hot on my heels and passed me to open the front door.
"Um, how could I help?" Jason called after us. I ignored him and carried Carly across the threshold and towards the stairs.
"Actually," I heard Renee say to him at the door. "I think I'm going to hit the hay, too. I'm sorry this date didn't go as planned. Could we try again soon?"
"Oh, um, yeah, of course," Jason said, not sounding pleased. As I climbed the stairs with Carly in my arms, I couldn't keep the satisfied smirk off my face.