What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (12 page)

             
Walking towards the limo, I started
to feel more self-conscious of my choice
of clothing. I could
feel eyes burning into me as I walk
ed
out the doors of the lobby. Climbing in
to the limo,
Sam immediately commented
on my outfit and tardiness. “I was going to give you crap for making us wait, but looking at you, I
think
it was worth the
wait.
You
look smoking hot. I can’t wait to see the guys
gawking at
you toni
ght.” With that
comment,
she shot
Alex a cheeky smile. Sharing a room w
ith
him,
she probably knew he was
gone most
of
the evening and with their close
relationship,
h
e probably told her where he spent his time
.
My eyes met Alex’s and he wa
s giving his sister a lo
ok that could kill. Alex
then noticed
me looking at him a
nd his eyes
softened
and
then
he smiled
.

             
“
Damn,
Abbs, I have never seen you in anything that hot
before.
I
love this new you.” Derek shot me a wide smile, knowing I was
feeling uncomfortable with the attention.

             
“Well,
you can
thank Le
xi,
because
she made me pack
this outfit
in the hopes I’d be going out
. I’d rather be in jeans and ru
nning shoes.” Looking
over,
I saw
Derek pick up his cell phone. “What are you doing?”

             
“You told me to thank Lexi, so
I’m
texting her.” I reach
ed
into my bag and
pull
ed
out my
Chapstick,
and
then I threw
it at Derek. This got
a laugh from everyone and
the conversation veered
from me onto the club that Sa
m found and where we were headed
. I start
ed
to feel a bit
nervous. It
had
been forever since I walked in
to a club or even danced. I had a feeling I was
going to look like an idiot.

             
Pulling
in
front of the club, we all pile
d out of the limo. I fe
ll back
behind,
feeling nervous about going into the club. Alex must
have
sense
d
me
lagging,
because he turned around and reached
a hand out for me to
take
. I
accepted
his hand and I allow
ed
him to escort me into the club. We quickly walk
ed
past the line of people just starting to form and walk
ed
right inside. Instead of fighting our way thro
ugh the crowd to the bar, we were
taken
to stairs leading to a VIP lounge with a balcony overlooking the dance floor. I start
ed to
relax,
knowing if we were
up
there,
then I wo
uldn’t
be dancing.

             
Sam and Alex talk
ed
to the
waitress, who was wearing
barely there
attire. All
the
time,
Alex’s hand remained in mine. Derek came
over, wrapped an arm around my shoulder,
and squeezed, leaning in and said
, “Let the shots begin.”

             
I
dropped
Alex’s hand and
waved
both of my
hands
in front of
me,
all wh
ile giving Derek a no response
by
shaking my head.

             
“Come
on,
Abbs, you were the queen of shots. I don’t know any girl who could handle her liquor like you could.”

             
“Well, that was the old me, the
before
kids me.” Thinking
back,
I really could handle my liquor, b
etter than most
of
the guys I drank with, even better than David
could
.

             
“I hear you saying
no
, but I know your mind is saying yes. I’ll be right back.” Dere
k
shot
a sly grin
at me
and walked
away.

             
“What was that grin for?” I hear
d
Alex saying from behind me.

             
“
Well
,
Derek remembers
that I used to love doing
shots and drinking my
friends
under a table
. That was years ago. I haven’t done shots in
a very long time
.”

             
I
could
feel Alex’s breath on the back of my neck. “I’m sure it’s just like sex, once you start, every
thing starts coming back.” I could
feel my face turning
red.
There
was no way I was turning around and looking at him after he just said that.

             
I felt a light kick to my
leg.
I turned and saw
Sam; she
was holding two pink drinks. Sam
reached over and handed
one
of the glasses filled with pink liquid
to me
. “I hope you like it, it’s
super
yummy. You can’t taste the liquor, but it will kick you in the ass quickly.” Taking a
sip,
she was right. It was super yummy and I couldn’t taste any trace of liquor in the drink.

             
Not long
after,
Derek returned
with a hot little waitress trailing behin
d him. In the waitress’ hand was
a tray with four shot glasses containing a gold looking liquid with lemons on the sides of each
of the
glass
es
. I look
ed at Derek and he had
a huge smile on his fa
ce. I kne
w e
xactly what he ordered and I knew I was
in troub
le. Shaking my head at
him,
I couldn
’t help but smile.

             
I could
hear Sam yelling over the music to Derek asking what the shots
were.
He
told her to ask me. Sam looked
at me with a quizzical look on her face.
Facing
Sam,
I shout
ed
over the music, “
T
equila
.
”  Sam immediately stuck out her tongue and shook
her head.

             
“Sorry, not doing
it.
I can’t, that
shit kills my stomach.” Sam had
a look of disgust on her face. I only smile
d
and laugh
ed
. Most people I kn
ew couldn
’t do tequila, but for some
reason,
I
loved
it and I
could
never get enough
once I
started
. This alone scared
me into wanting to skip the shot with Sam.

             
Everyone
was
now l
ooking at
me,
wondering what I was
going to do.
I lick
ed the side of my
hand,
applied
the salt
,
licked
the salt off, while looking a
t
Alex
, then I
took
the shot
, after which I
immediately
placed
the lemon in my mouth.
Derek immediately
put
a smile on his fac
e and Sam’s disgusted look turned
to even more grossed o
ut, if even possible. Alex leaned in and said
, “I thought shots
were meant to be done together, just like sex.”

             
“Well, luckily for
you,
there are still three more left. Do you think you can keep up?” Seriously, did I just challenge him
to
drinking shots
or sex
? I
hadn’t
drunk
in
forever
and
I was
sure this
was
an everyday thing for him and his groupies after his shows.

             
“I’m not a shots type of guy, but if it’s like se
x, I know I’ll be good at it
.” A
lex then grabbed a shot and
nodded
his head
for
Derek and
me
to follow. We all
licked
the sides of our
hands,
applied
the salt,
and licked
the salt
off. We
gulped
the shot and
sucked
on the lemon. Watchin
g Alex suck on the lemon reminded
me o
f when we were
back in the hotel room. I couldn
’t take my eyes off h
is mouth on the lemon. Alex set
his glass on the tray and
told
the waitress to bring over the bes
t bottle of tequila. Derek slapped him on the back and said
s
omething into his ear that I couldn
’t hear.

             
Sam grabbed my hand and led
me over to the small couch a
rea in the VIP lounge. She told me to drink up so we could
get our butts
downstairs
to dance. Sam and I
talk
ed
and laugh
ed
about some of the girls on the dance floor trying
to get Alex
’
s attention. I kept
shooting gazes at him
, but
every time I
looked,
he was
either talking to Derek or looking in my dir
ection. I
don’t
e
ven think he noticed
the girls
on the dance floor.

             
Sam
stood and
took
my hand. “Come
on,
too much
watching.
It’s
our turn to show these hoochies
what dancing looks like.”

             
I immediately follow
ed, but Alex
pulled on
my hand on the way past
. I look
ed over at him and he was
handing me another shot. I grab
bed it and took
it without the salt or lemon this time. I hand
ed
him the
empty
glass
back
and walk
ed away.  I could
hear Derek in the background,
“There’s the old Abby I know and love
.”

             
Sam and I were
having so muc
h fun on the dance floor. We were
dancing,
moving together an
d laughing so hard my face hurt
. After a
while,
I realize
d
I need
ed to find a
bathroom, because
there was
no way I
could
hold it any l
onger. Telling Sam where I was
going,
I head
ed
to the back of
the club. I stoo
d in a decent size line and wait
ed
until I could finally get in. After I
used the toilet
,
I look
ed
at myself in the mirr
or while washing my
hands
. I had
a thin layer of s
weat on me and part of my hair was
matted to my face. I reach
ed
into my purse
, found a
hair tie
and pull
ed
my hair i
nto a loose
ponytail
on the back of my neck.
Immediately,
I fe
lt
a little cooler.