Chapter Nine
Matt
I couldn’t believe my fucking eyes.
Leave it to Jade fucking Gallagher to find a way to make it into a bar.
I had not a single clue as to who the girls were that she was sitting with, but all three of them stared at me like deers in headlights as I made my way over, walking up behind Jade.
Gripping the back of her arm, I tugged her out of the chair.
“Ah!” she shrieked, free hand up like she was about to swing. When she realized it was me, she dropped it, allowing me to escort her out of ear shot from the table.
She refused to share her location with me and then ended up at the same bar as me? I didn’t hold back the vitriol in my voice. “What are you doing here?”
Completely unaffected by my tone, Jade peered up at me like I was dumb. “Drinking?”
“Yeah. I see that. How and why?”
She crossed her arms. “To get drunk.”
No shit.
Avoiding giving any actual answers was a typical Jade move.
“Jade,” I sneered lightly. “How did you get in? Because I know you don’t have a fake ID.”
Her guard began crumbling, her tough exterior turning sheepish.
I sighed. “You used my name, didn’t you?”
Refusing to look me in the eye now, she said, “Possibly.”
Sighing again, I ran a hand through my hair, gazing off for a moment. “You need to leave. Go to a freshman party or something.”
Now, she was the one sneering at me. “Why?”
I leaned down slightly, even though no amount of leaning could bring us to eye level. The height difference was far too drastic. “Because you’re my little sister. If you’re here, I need to keep an eye on you.”
“I’ll be fine. I can handle myself,” she shrugged.
Shaking my head, I motioned a hand to the table I pulled her from. “Who are these girls you’re with?”
“Connie, Geralyn, and Mimi,” she answered before her face turned sour. “I think they have a thing for you.”
Fucking fantastic.
“Where did you meet them?”
“At the dining hall.”
“When?”
“Today.”
I buried my face into my hands.
Of course, I wanted my sister to have fun. Especially during Welcome Week. But to go to a bar at eighteen with three girls she’d just met today? Stupid.
I didn’t even know if these girls were old enough to be here either. Not to mention, BiblioBar was the farthest bar from Jade’s dorm.
Every answer I was getting was making me hate all of this more and more.
When it came to drinking, Jade wasn’t old enough to know her own limits. She should’ve been at a freshman party right now, making new friends and slowly easing her way into college. Instead, she jumped the gun for reasons that I still didn’t understand.
I continued to question her. “How’d you even get here?”
“Mimi drove. She’s not drinking.”
Glancing over Jade, I saw one girl with nothing but a tall glass of water in front of her.
I probably would’ve stood here, interrogating her all night, if El hadn’t appeared beside me. “Everything alright?”
Jade’s eyes narrowed at El, her arms crossing again. “Traitor.”
El tipped her head. “Hey now,” she scolded. “I’m not a traitor.”
I stood my ground. “You shouldn’t be here, Jade.”
El’s hands raised gently, one in my direction and one in Jade’s. “Alright, let’s all calm down. Jade, Matt’s probably right. You probably shouldn’t be here. However, Matt, she’s an adult now. You’ve gotta cut her some slack and let her figure things out on her own.”
I sighed. “But—”
“Matt,” El’s voice grew firmer.
Taking a step back, I blew out a breath of steam towards the ceiling. When I looked back ahead, Jade stood there with a teeny tiny grin, weight leaning into her hip, a brow raised like she’d just won the battle.
“El, I really—”
“Matt,” she cut me off again, and this time, her hand found its way to my forearm, steadying me. My head lulled to glance at her, and immediately, the sight calmed me.
With soft eyes, she watched me, waiting to see what my next move was going to be.
“Alright,” I muttered. “Whatever. Just—” I pointed a finger at Jade, “don’t get into any trouble.”
“Mhm, I won’t,” she loosely agreed, causing all my bad feelings about this to come running back, just seconds after El had managed to diminish them.
When we left Jade and went back to our table, I caught myself glancing over to check on her every few minutes. It felt like I was watching a dog that was off their leash for the first time, and I was trying to make sure they didn’t bolt.
I knew when Jade committed to Cedar that I’d feel as though I was on babysitting duty. I just didn’t expect it to happen literally one day after she moved in.
After a few more hours of hanging out and drinking, as well as some time spent on the dance floor to make El happy, we were ready to call it a night.
A couple of the guys were staying back, still with no desire to quit drinking after doing it for the past twelve hours.
El waited at the front while I strode towards Jade. Instead of interrupting the table again, I slyly made eye contact with her, signaling for her to come over.
With my hands buried into my pockets, all I could think about was keeping myself calm and composed.
“I’m leaving,” I said.
Carelessly, she responded, “Okay.”
“Call me if you need me. A few of the guys are staying here, so if you need anything, go find one of them. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Alright,” I murmured before pulling her in for a hug. My baby sister only made it up to my mid-chest as I squeezed her against me, and I couldn’t fucking believe I was about to leave her at a bar.
Have some faith in her, I told myself as I walked off.
But regardless of how much I tried to talk myself through it, I didn’t like this.
I didn’t like this at all.