Chapter 21 Sasha
TWENTY-ONE
SASHA
“Well, look who it is,” Addison said as I approached the group at Rivermen’s Tropical Getaway.
The place was neither tropical nor a getaway.
It was nothing more than a small bar near campus where everyone went for cheap drinks.
String lights were hanging from the ceiling, and neon paper palm trees were taped to the walls.
“I thought you were done with us?” Parker asked when I flopped down in the booth beside her.
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t say that I was done hanging with you guys. I just meant that I was done drinking with you guys,” I clarified.
“Oh, so you’re not drinking tonight?” Addison confirmed.
I grinned and rolled my eyes.
“Well, not that much,” I replied, already reaching for the pitcher of beer in the center of the table. I promised myself I’d socially drink and not get wasted again.
The three of us laughed.
“So, where are the guys?” I brought my glass to my lips and took a sip of the lukewarm beer.
“Trevor and Lance are supposed to meet us here soon,” Addison answered, glancing toward Parker.
I turned my head to look at her. “And what about your football star?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Eww, I’m so done with him. On to bigger and better things.” She grinned, and Addison cheered.
I figured there was a story there somewhere, but I didn’t want to pry, so I just took another sip, figuring she’d volunteer information if I didn’t ask for it.
She didn’t.
“So,” Addison said, getting both of our attention as she dug something from her purse that was in the seat beside her. She pulled out a hardback notebook and flipped it open. “We need to start planning our New Year’s Eve. Don’t you think?”
“New Year’s? That’s months away.” I couldn’t believe that anyone wanted to start planning a New Year’s party before it was even Halloween.
“Exactly. Only a few months. You can’t have an epic party without planning it. We need entertainment, food, drinks, theme,” she said, ticking the items off on her fingers.
“Isn’t New Year’s a theme all on its own?” I asked, confused.
“I mean… it can be. But it would be so much more fun if we had a theme.”
“Like?”
“Like, toga party,” Addison said. “Or we could do an old money night, where everyone has to be dressed like someone rich from the turn of the century. We could do a luau?” She lifted her brows as her eyes moved back and forth between Parker and me.
“Wear a grass skirt and coconut bra in the dead of winter? No thanks. Plus, everyone will be dry and pasty. Ewww.” Parks snorted and shook her head like that was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard.
“What are we talking about?” Trevor asked as he and Lance approached. Trevor slid into the booth once Addison scooted down, and Lance pulled a chair up at the end.
“Your crazy girlfriend is already trying to plan a New Year’s Eve party,” I told him.
“Oh, right. Did you figure out the theme yet?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her.
“Not yet. That’s what I was trying to do,” she told him.
He leaned in, kissing her, obviously not caring too much about the party’s theme.
I looked over at Lance. He was smiling at his friend and girlfriend, as if he were happy to see them so happy. The smile fell from his lips when he realized I was watching.
He leaned in a little. “For the record, I told both of them that it was way too early to plan this party.”
I laughed. “I’m glad someone can be the voice of reason. Not that it’s done any good,” I said, motioning toward them.
Trevor pulled away from Addison. “I want this party to be the best party our house has ever hosted. And I’m talking biggest in every way.”
Lance nodded. “Whatever you want,” he agreed.
I looked over at him. “Are you two in a frat?”
Lance smirked like he didn’t realize that I didn’t know this information. “Yeah. Didn’t you know?”
I shook my head. “No. You never mentioned it.”
He chuckled. “Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind.”
“So, you’re planning a frat party? Keg in the back yard, kitchen island littered with Solo cups and all the liquor you can get your hands on.”
Everyone laughed.
“Not exactly,” Trevor said. He leaned in a little, resting his arms on the table between us.
“Normally, that is a typical frat party, but we have the biggest and best frat on campus, so we do things on a grander scale.” He shook his head.
“We don’t invite the entire college campus into our house to trash.
We book a venue. Usually, this huge cabin on the lake that you can rent out. ”
“He says cabin, but it’s basically a mansion,” Parker clarified.
“Yeah,” Addison jumped in. “This is a three-story cabin with a dozen bedrooms, a full kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a game room, and a hot tub. There are multi-level balconies that overlook the lake, and it’s located way out of the city, practically in the middle of nowhere.”
I looked back at Trevor, and he carried on.
“It used to be a regular family cabin, but then it was sold, and at some point, someone decided to expand, wanting to make it some rustic B&B. Apparently, it only operated for a handful of years before it was finally shut down and resold. Now, it’s owned by a travel agent who rents it out for private vacations, parties, and all kinds of events.
And, we have a standing reservation for every New Year. ”
“Wow, that has to be expensive. Who pays for that?”
“We do,” Lance said, reaching out and grabbing a handful of pretzels from the small bowl on the table.
Trevor nodded. “Yeah, we have different events throughout the year, and we charge people to get into our parties. Anyone who wants to stay in the cabin must pay for their room, too. Others are stuck sleeping in their cars or pitching a tent on the property.”
“Camping? In the winter?” I questioned.
Trevor nodded and smirked. “Yeah, I mean, there’s a fire pit to keep warm and… Well, almost everyone has someone sleeping with them to stay warm.” His smirk didn’t fall away as he looked at Addison, who was still tucked to his side.
Her cheeks burned hot, and she rolled her eyes. “Stop it.”
Trevor laughed.
“What? What did I miss?”
Parker bumped her shoulder against mine. “That party in our freshman year is how these two met.”
“Oh, that’s sweet. So New Year’s is your anniversary?” It was starting to make sense why they went all out.
“Not exactly,” Addi said. “That’s when we met, but we didn’t become official until several months later.”
“Not from lack of trying on my part,” Trevor said.
She smacked his chest with the back of her hand. “Shut up.”
He chuckled and moved in to kiss her.
We spent the next hour laughing and talking. Addison had slipped away to the restroom, and Lance and Trevor were up doing something, so I turned to Parker.
“What was up with Trevor and Addison? Why did she keep telling him to shut up when he was talking about how they met?”
Parker grinned and looked around. “OK, but if I tell you, you have to keep it quiet.”
“Of course,” I agreed.
“So, Trevor was camping at the lake house for the party. He wasn’t high enough up the hierarchy to get a room back then.
He went to the party with one girl whom he planned on scoring with, but she got drunk and ended up getting sick.
She bunked with one of her friends, leaving him high and dry.
So, he got shitfaced drunk and went to his tent alone that night.
” She paused for a moment before continuing.
“Addison and I went to the party with a group of girlfriends. We all pitched in to pay for a single room. There were way too many girls in the room, but it took all of us to afford it. We’d heard about how epic this party is, and didn’t want to miss it.
So anyway, we all partied and got shit face, had a blast. We all wandered into the room at different times that night—everyone but Addison.
Turns out, she was so hammered, she couldn’t find the room, so she just picked a tent at random.
That tent was Trevor’s. She swears up and down that they didn’t do anything, and Trevor would never disagree with her.
However, he continued to look for her for months afterward.
You can’t tell me nothing happened for a guy to look that long for a single girl. ”
I smiled. “Wait. So was she gone before he woke up or something?”
Parker nodded. “Yep, and he was so hammered that he didn’t know who she was. All he knew was what color her hair was and the memory of her perfume.”
I laughed at the mental image of Trevor running around, sniffing every girl like a bloodhound. “Wow, that is some story. Why doesn’t Addison want him to talk about it?”
“She says that she doesn’t want people to know that she was so drunk that she crawled into a tent with a guy she didn’t know, but that’s another reason I think something more happened.” She shrugged. “I’ll guess we’ll never know.”
“Never know what?” Addison asked, dropping back into the booth.
I looked at Parker, and she looked at me. Even though I was stumbling for an excuse, she let one fall from her lips with ease. “When Lance will finally ask Sasha out.”
My mouth fell open. I knew that Lance had been trying to worm his way in, but I didn’t realize that it was some well-known secret amongst the group.
Addison sprang forward. “Okay, so we’re finally talking about this?” she asked, voice full of excitement. “I hate to be childish and all, but what do you think? Do you like him in that way?” She arched her brows as her eyes widened on me.
Parker smiled and picked up her glass, taking a sip. Obviously happy that she managed to keep Addison from knowing what we were really talking about, but I think, deep down, she was glad the subject was finally being addressed.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
I went to pick up my glass but stopped midway. It was empty, and so was the pitcher.
“What do you mean you don’t know? How do you not know if you like someone?” Parker asked.
“I just haven’t really thought about it.
Obviously, I like him as a friend. I just don’t know if I could like him as anything more.
Not only that, but it would really complicate our friendship.
I mean, what if we dated and broke up? We wouldn’t be able to hang out in a group like this, and I love hanging out with you guys.
” I gave them both a smile, and my charm worked.
They both melted into a puddle of ooey-gooey girl-ness.
I grabbed the pitcher. “Next round is on me.”
I took off before they could stop me.
I stopped at the bar and checked my watch.
I still had plenty of time to hang out for a few drinks and get home before curfew, but suddenly I didn’t know if I wanted to hang out.
I didn’t want to lead Lance on any more than I already had.
It was never my intention to do so, even though I noticed how cute Lance was the first time we met.
I may have even been a little interested then, but I had been carrying around so much baggage that I never let myself really think about going there.
I friend-zoned him without even really meaning to.
I agreed to the no-dating rule because I wasn’t really interested in dating anyway, but things had been changing with Roman.
I didn’t understand them. The things I felt for him didn’t make sense, and I had no idea how to bring them up or address how I was feeling.
All I knew was that whatever was changing might not have been easy to figure out or explain, but it wasn’t hard to feel at all.
The shift between us was sudden, but for some reason, it wasn’t jarring.
I didn’t want to fight against it or deny that it was there.
If anything, I wanted to give in to it. I didn’t know what that said about me, though.
Whatever it said, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t good.
As I waited for the bartender to refill our pitcher of beer, I was punched in the stomach by guilt.
What kind of sister was I?
Chloe was always a good sister. She would’ve died for me.
And I was going to pay her back by going and complicating my relationship with her husband?
Even though I was inexperienced, I knew what I was feeling, and I didn’t know how to turn it off.
It probably didn’t help that I thought he felt the same way about me.
I could feel his excitement as he lay with me, or at least I think I had.
I told myself that he was a man and that any guy would get hard from holding a woman the way he had me.
I told myself I shouldn’t overthink it, but that begs the question.
Why did he get into bed with me? Why did he hold me?
If he didn’t feel the same way I did, why did he do all of that?
He had no problem telling me no at any other time. What made that time different?
When I was given the whole pitcher of beer, I slipped the bartender some cash and made my way back to the table where Trevor and Lance were.
Lance looked up at me, and his eyes lit up as a smile stretched across his handsome face, making my heart flutter in my chest. I quickly took my seat and poured myself another glass of beer.
I chugged back several gulps, hoping the alcohol would help to numb some of the emotions that were taking hold.
I felt guilty, greedy, and dishonest for feeling the way I did about my sister’s husband.
The whole thing with Lance had me worried and scared because I didn’t want to lose my friends by getting involved with him romantically, yet I knew turning him down could cause the same problems. And then there was all the confusion I felt when I thought of Roman.
I didn’t know why my stomach filled with butterflies when I thought of him.
I didn’t understand why a throbbing formed between my legs when I pictured him.
And I didn’t know why I had urges to do things to myself that I’d never done before, but I knew it all stemmed from him.
And that was a very big problem.