"Are you tipsy?" Melissa asks.
"No, I've only had one sip."
"Our V doesn't drink." Victor says with sarcasm and I give him the stink eye which makes him laugh, "Don’t even, you're about as scary as a cute little puppy."
"Did you seriously just compare me to a dog?"
"A puppy, there's a difference."
"Not much," I grumble.
"Hush."
"Anyways..." Chase cuts in, "I wanted to thank you guys for having us this weekend, and for being so accepting. I-” He stops, corrects himself and smiles at me, “We appreciate it."
"Let's do a toast!" Melissa suggests, then picks up her glass. We all follow suit, "To new adventures." She says, then nods to Victor who clears his throat, "To new relationships." He looks at me then to Chase and it warms my heart. "To the future," Chase says, causing my gaze to move to him. He's staring intently at me, the smile still upon my lips. I know he means to our future. It's my turn to say something now, so I raise my glass a little higher, "And to family." Looking around this table I know that each person-blood or not--is my family.
Bar Brawls
"Here ya go, handsome." Jade places the bottle in front of me on the bar top. "It's been a bit since I saw you...I assume things went well?" I smile, thinking about the past week. Things have been incredibly great. "Yeah, things have been good."
She claps her hands, "Yay!" She leans forward and glances around, "Do the brothers know?" her voice is just above a whisper.
"One down, three to go!"
"Really?" She asks, surprised, "I guess it didn't go too bad, then? I mean, you’re still here in the Land of the Living." She laughs at her own words.
"Yeah. It could've ended horribly, but Victor was surprisingly welcoming after the initial shock wore off."
"Ohh, Victor! How has he been? I haven't seen him in forever!"
"He moved out to the city and got himself a condo with his girlfriend."
"Girlfriend? No shit! That's a damn shame, I always had a thing for him."
This is news to me. "Really?"
"Oh yeah, he was way out of my league."
"No way." I find that hard to believe. Jade seems right up Victor's ally--more so than Melissa.
"I wasn't always this hot." She jokes then waves her hand, a way to dismiss the conversation. She places another beer bottle on the bar just as a hand clamps down on my shoulder, causing me to turn to my right. "My man," Vance greets me.
"Hey, buddy!"
Vance has been bugging me all week about going out for a drink, and naturally, I've blown him off to hang out with ‘Nic’. He's blown me off for chicks before, so it's not like he can get mad about it, other than for the fact that it's his sister I'm really with. Obviously, Vance is still in the dark.
"The pussy snatcher let you out? I'm surprised."
I cringe.
"She's a freak, eh?" He nudges me while grabbing for the bottle and I shake my head. The irony.
"Dude." I laugh.
"Ah c'mon," He razzes, "When do I get to meet this elusive chick?"
"I don't know man, we're just seeing how things go. She's pretty focused on school," I lie.
"Whatever, man." He takes a sip of his beer. "So, since last night was rained out, we moved all the races to this upcoming Friday. You're in, right?"
"Yeah, definitely. I wanna test out the Z." He nods. Looks like he already knew my answer already. I pick up my bottle and take a swig.
"I think V's got herself a boyfriend," He relays the information calmly.
I choke on my beer and end up coughing my head off. When the fit ceases, I manage to croak out a mangled, “What?”
"Yeah. She claims she's tutoring someone, but she comes home all like, bouncy and shit." He picks at the corner of the beer label on his bottle. I'm not sure what to say. I try to come up with something. "I don't know man, maybe she enjoys it?"
He laughs. "No one enjoys tutoring."
"Do you know where she goes?" I ask, curiously.
"She says the library. I thought about following her," Vance confesses.
"Dude, that's a bit much." There's no fucking way he can follow her.
"I know. That's why I haven’t." He sighs, "I don't like it, but I don't know if there's much I can do about it."
"Really?" I'm shocked at the thought he may just let it go. "So, you're okay with it? If she is seeing someone?"
"Fuck no!"
Loud commotion pulls our attention away from the conversation when a group of, maybe, five guys walk into the bar. They're rowdy and loud, obnoxious, and probably already intoxicated.
“What the fuck they doin' here?”
“Who're they?” I squint at the group, who seems to be moving our way.
“Dixon and his cronies.”
They end up on the other side of Vance, who doesn't seem thrilled. I vaguely remember him from the track a while ago as the douche who was hitting on Veronica.
“Vance!” Dixon barks loudly in greeting.
Vance swivels his stool to face him. “Dixon,” he responds. Not too nicely, either.
“Oh man, I just ran into your sister. Fuck, she's hot. I don't know how she's related to you.”
“Shut the fuck up, Dixon,” Vance growls.
“She must get it from your mom.” Dixon laughs at his jab and before I can fully comprehend what is happening, Vance has Dixon pressed against the bar by his shirt, in a vicious grip. Vance is speaking low, almost growling, but I can't hear what he's saying. Dixon doesn't seem fazed by it. A cocky smirk spreads upon his lips.
I slowly come up next to Vance, “Dude, it's not worth it,” I mention low into his ear, my hands on his shoulders trying to pull him away. Vance slowly releases Dixon's shirt and takes a step back. Dixon rights himself. I can see the mischievous glint still in his eyes, and I realize he's clearly not done baiting Vance. Possibly me.
“Chase, man, you've been spending some time with Veronica, right?” I glare at him, wondering what the fuck is going to come out of his mouth. “Tell us, is she as good in the sack as she is on the track?”
It happens so quickly. Dixon goes flying; he’s bouncing off the bar and falling into the stools. The pain from striking him goes up my arm, but I shake it out. I’m ready for him to retaliate when his friends are at his back.
“Hey!” a strong female voice yells from down the bar. My eyes stay on Dixon as he picks himself off the floor, slapping the hand of his friends away. “Take this shit elsewhere!” Jade comes to stand between us.
“He hit me,” Dixon spits, rubbing his jaw while glaring at me.
“I'm sure for a good reason, but this isn't a gym. You want to continue the sausage fest, take it somewhere else!”
Jade looks at me, placing her hands upon my chest and pushing me until my feet move backward. She leads me towards the other end of the bar, and Vance follows behind her. “What was that?” her hands move to her hips. I flex my hand, which captures her attention, “Do you need ice?”