Chapter 5
Well,I guess the college life apparently consists of me uncomfortably sitting at a table.
All the while Addy and her friends are out dancing on the dance floor to the cover band playing whatever it is they are playing.
So far, this is not my scene.
Now, a karaoke bar? Sign me up. I will sing all night and put on a Rory concert. Especially in a dive bar.
Honestly, her friends are nice. They were at least welcoming to me hanging with them, but I still feel like the odd man out. If I had my way, I would be back in my dorm room, reading.
Yeah, what a totally exciting life I lead.
Instead, I’m here. Sitting at a table, waiting for the four of them to come back from dancing. I slowly sip my Bloody Mary, trying to drag it out. I truly do not want to get wasted tonight.
It turns out a couple of friends of Addy’s are seniors in the Architecture program. Jason and Scarlett are set to graduate from the program this year, and then they are both attending the University of Washington in Seattle for their master’s. Jason and Scarlett are also a “thing” and have been dating since high school.
Not gonna lie, it’s kinda cute that they’re going through this together. I may be slightly jealous. Slightly. And that’s only because dating hasn’t always worked out for me.
After my dad died, friendships were hard for me to maintain. It took time and the patience of those who were truly my friends to stick by me. Eventually, I came back out of my shell. I found my strength and spunk again. I started dating and going out with guys.
Honestly, dating was interesting. I had always imagined marrying a guy like my father. Ambitious, intelligent, family man, and heart the size of, well, Texas.
But I don’t know if his absence made it more apparent that none of the guys I was with would ever be the one.
I was just more aware of the fact that they weren’t.
Now, I’m not saying they were bad guys, they just couldn’t be what I needed at the time.
And I still have my moments where I am reserved.
Just like now, I’m not hopping on the dance floor and shaking my rump all around. It’s just not me. I mean, I’m trying, hence why I’m here. But it doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable.
As I look over the railing, I can see Addy and Morgan, another junior in the program, jumping around and singing to the song being blasted over the speakers.
They look so lost in their own world.
I’m not sure how long they were down there, but when I look up from scrolling Instagram, the four of them slide up into their seats, completely out of breath.
Jason takes a pull from his beer as the three girls fan themselves and sip their concoctions.
“You sure you don’t want to come down there?” Jason asks me.
“No. I’m just fine up here. Besides, someone has to watch the table and your drinks.” I shrug.
“Well you could go down there with the girls, and I can stay up here and be the drink guard.” Jason offers.
“Thanks for the offer, but you look to be having fun and I am fine up here.” I smile.
“Okay, here.” Addy hands me a shot glass. “This is the Black Dragon shot. It’s tradition. You can’t come here
without taking at least one.”
“Um, I don’t know.” I look uneasily at the black concoction.
“Shot! Shot! Shot!” the four of them yell over the music playing.
Looking down at the shot, I let out a long breath. I guess one won’t hurt. Picking up the drink, I hold it up to the cheers from them around me. Then I knock it back.
The second it hits my tongue, peppermint consumes my tastebuds. A strong alcoholic burn runs down my throat.
“Wow, that was … I don’t even know.” I cough and take a sip of my other drink to wash down the sting.
Addy laughs and knocks back her shot. “You get used to it. Okay! Are we ready to dance more?”
Just as they are getting up, .30-06 by Hardy is being covered by the band. I watch Addy’s eyes go wide.
“Oh my God! I love this fucking song! Let’s go!” She grabs Morgan’s hand, while Jason and Scarlett follow them.
Sitting there, I watch them run down to the floor and jump around. I am so lost in watching them have fun that I don’t see anyone come up to the table.
“Aw, look it’s the fatty all alone.” My head jerks to the voice yelling over the music.
Standing there, hanging off of my stepbrother, is that brown-haired bitch from the guest house. I look at the group now circling my table. The redhead guy has one of the girls holding onto his arm, and then the giant man-o-sexy has two girls rubbing up against him.
“What’s the matter? Large Marge too big to dance?” one of the blonde girls says that’s rubbing herself all over the brooding tank asks.
I watch as my stepbrother laughs at her evil words.
“Oh, come on, sis. Learn to take a joke. I mean, you have probably been the butt of so many, you should know how to take them by now.” Xayden’s lips turn up.
“Yeah, probably as well as all these whores take your dick. But just like your sex life, your jokes are amateurish at best.”
“Are you jealous that I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole?” Xayden yells over the music.
“Keep your diseased pole away from me, thanks.”
“Go home, Aurora. Save yourself the embarrassment of being the fat girl in public. Go cry about how your mom abandoned you here, while she is out living a new life with my dad. You are the last piece she needed to get rid of so she could have her freedom.”
Tears start to well up in my eyes, and I can feel that knot in my throat get bigger. I push away from the table and grab my purse. I need to get the hell out of here.
The alcohol has me swaying on my feet a bit as I start to walk away from them.
“Look out! Semi coming through!” one of the girls cackles. I have no idea why they have such an issue with me, but I don’t want to stick around to find out.
Running down the stairs, the music pounds around me. I squeeze through the crowd and try to keep any tears from falling. Once I hit the doors, I head out into the muggy air. And that’s when the moisture in the corner of my eyes breaks free.
I start to walk down the sidewalk toward campus. It’s not a far walk, but it really sucks to walk in this heat this late at night.
Why is this even happening to me? I don’t even want to be here. Does he hate that my mom married his father? Or maybe Xayden just hates that he has to be related to me by marriage now?
Taking my phone out of my back pocket, I shoot Addy a quick message that I went back to the dorm and not to worry about me. That I would text her when I got inside.
As I make my way toward the dorms, a voice calls out my name.
“Hey! Rory! Wait up.”
I turn and see the redhead heartthrob jogging my way.
“Go away.” I turn back and keep walking.
“Stop, please,” he says as he reaches me. “Hey. Wait, just stop.”
“What, come back to make more jokes? Think of something else after I left?” I stop and pivot toward him. Even at night, his golden eyes shimmer in the moonlight. Damn him for being one of the beautiful people.
He lets out a sigh. “Okay, that’s probably what you should think. But that’s not why I came out here.” He holds out his hand to me. “My name is Seven. Seven Reed.”
My brows pull together in confusion. Is he … introducing himself?
“What are you doing?” I demand.
His lips curve up into a smile. “Well, I’m holding out my hand and trying to introduce myself. Usually, that would mean you would take my hand and shake it. Here, let me show you.” He grabs my hand and places it in his.
The warmth of his touch shocks me. My breath hitches the instant our hands touch. I hurriedly pull back from him.
“Okay, well, now you can go back to the hyenas and the other two assholes.”
He lets out a laugh and hooks his fingers in his belt loops on his jeans. “Look, they may be assholes, but I’m not.”
“Birds of a feather …” I shrug.
“True, but I’m a gentleman.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “That’s extremely hard to believe.”
“Would a gentleman let you walk home alone? Let’s go.” He nods toward the campus. “I’ll walk you back. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t make sure you got back okay.”
“Whatever.” I turn and storm off. Seven quickly catches up to me. “What’s with your name?”
“My name?” he repeats.
“Yeah. Seven. It’s an unusual name.”
“I was born on July seventh.” He shrugs. “At seven in the morning. So my mother thought that was a sign that my name needed to be Seven.”
I pause. “Okay, that’s actually … interesting.”
“What about you? Aurora. Where did that come from?”
“That’s kinda personal.”
“Well, I told you mine …”
“What are we, in kindergarten? You show me yours and I show you mine?”
Seven’s hand flies to his chest. “I would never! I’m a gentleman, remember?” he teases.
I shake my head at him and sigh. “My mom has always been fascinated by the Aurora Borealis. My father, when they were just dating, had to go to Iceland. Something to do with work out there.” I take a deep, shuddering breath. “He brought my mother out there. And one night, he took her to where the Northern Lights were strongest. And then he asked her to marry him, right under the light of the sky.”
Seven whistles, impressed. “Wow.”
I nod. “So when they found out they were pregnant with me, my mother and father instantly knew they wanted to name me after the Northern Lights. So, Aurora it was.”
“That’s so much better than my story.” He laughs.
The rest of the walk is pretty silent. When we get to the dorm, he stops and grins at me.
“Well, I can sleep knowing I got you home safe.”
“Yeah, well, if your posse wasn’t being such assholes, I would still be at the bar with my friends.”
He sighs. “Yeah, that may be true. But I’m kinda glad it worked out this way.” He leans in and kisses my cheek. Instantly, my skin feels like it’s on fire. “Goodnight, Aurora.”
Before I can respond, he jogs off back toward the way we came from. My hand reaches up and touches the spot his lips were and holy fuck.
I should not have liked that.
Damn that sexy-as-fuck ginger. Well, this night turned out to be insanely strange.
What’s that saying? Everything’s crazier in Texas? Even with the sobering walk, I still feel like the effects of the shot are messing with me.
Sleep. I need sleep. And then maybe tomorrow everything will right itself.
And maybe Seven will forget all about walking me home.
Even though I probably never will.