Fell In Love With My Roomy Chapter 142

It was nice to feel noticed by him, nice to know that he always seemed to care about what I was up to. I'd never felt attractive before I started dating Kent.

We all round up the last of our coats and shoes while the Uber's on its way. I get my coat on, and I feel Kent slide his hand along the small of my back.

I gasp a bit quietly and look up, seeing his cocky grin. "You look nice," he whispers, and I chuckle, feeling his fingertips slide around the edge of my waistband.

Soon we're all piling into an Uber, and I hear Abby chatting up the driver in the front seat. I'll always be envious of her confidence and how she talks to people like she's known them forever.

We grab a quick dinner at a pizza place around the corner. Everyone pushed that we should go somewhere nicer, but I didn't want to. I just wanted to go out and have fun with my friends. I hadn't gone out in a long time, not really since before Christmas, and I'd spent way too much time feeling lonely, buried in work and over-stressed.

Tonight's not about work, money, school... anything. It's about me making another rotation around the sun and enough tequila shots for me not to remember doing it.

I refused to go back to Apex after... everything that had happened in there during the fall. It made me think of leaving Kent to talk to Dane, Chase kissing me, and throwing up in a bathroom stall. No one fought me on that, though, and I was thankful.

"What if we went to Hypnosis?" Kyle suggests as we stroll along, looking for somewhere to go. "They always have live music and a dance floor on Saturdays, plus five dollar pitchers."

Hypnosis was a bar I'd never been to, it was a mix of young and middle-aged people. Very simplistic.

"It's her birthday!" Abby huffs. "She's not a trucker turning thirty-five, let's try to spice it up."

"Where do you want to go, baby?" Kent asks, looping his arm around my shoulders, and Mark and Kyle groan, rolling their eyes.

"I'm going to puke long before the shots set in if you two are doing that bullshit all night," Mark warns, and I snort.

"Let me think about it," I sigh, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. Come on Juls, use the little bit you know about bars and having fun. "Oh! I know where I want to go!" I exclaim, snapping my fingers together. "I want Hurricane."

Hurricane was... a little gross. But it was really fun, cheap drinks, all young people like us. They were named after their own signature cocktail 'the Hurricane' which was some form of a Long Island mixed with Blue Curacao. It had so much alcohol in it that the bartenders would make a tick on your hand each time you ordered one. Once you had an X, they wouldn't give you a third.

"I'm down!" Abby insists. "I could use one of those blackout cocktails they make."

"I haven't been there since last year," Mark admits.

"Well, no time like the present," I smile, turning at the corner to go down one street. It was a good sign that the lines weren't long, usually they weren't in the winter. People went to a lot more house parties to avoid standing outside.

We get in the relatively short line, and I pull out my ID, regretting the choice to wear a skirt. It was definitely cold out tonight.

Once we're inside, I feel that familiar excited heartbeat thump in my chest. The kind you get when you know you're going to have a lot of fun. Soon I'm at the bar beside Kent, who quickly tells the bartender to pour a few rounds of shots while pulling out his platinum card. I roll my eyes but let him have his way, knowing this is how he'll always be. Money is endless for Kent.

We all take a few of the shots poured, and then we all get a Hurricane, sipping them down so fast that by the time we're walking away from to the dance floor, I'm seeing double.

I trip slightly on the edge of the slightly risen floor and stumble into Kent who puts a firm hand on my waist, holding me up.

"Woah there, lightweight, the night's a little young for that," he teases, and I snort, getting my feet solid under me.

"I'm fine, the floor's got a wicked edge," I mumble, smoothing out my skirt. "Dance with me," I whisper, and he raises his eyebrows.

He quickly grabs my hand, spinning me around and then brings me to the group, hand on my hip.

The music blasts all sorts of awful mash-ups and remixes, some are so bad people visibly cringe and leave the dance floor. But I couldn't care less, I'm out with my friends for my birthday and everything's perfect. Abby tells the DJ it's my birthday, which then prompts him to tell the whole bar. It would have mortified me sober; drunk, it made me laugh. After a while, Abby taps me on the shoulder, pulling me to the side, and I hold up a finger letting the guys know we'd be a minute.

"You need to pee?" I ask, and she shakes her head.

"Just...look, I know it's your birthday, but there's this cute guy at the bar who's on the men's swim team," she mumbles, and I glance quickly, seeing a tall, tan man laughing with the guy beside him. "His name is Jose, and I've really liked him for a while...look, I swear I'll be right back, just do you think."

"Abby, shoot your shot," I insist. "He's cute, and you've done so much today for me. Go for it."

"You're seriously the best," she whispers, giving me a hug, and I chuckle. "You've inspired me to go after love; you and Kent are so adorable."

"Go get him," I tell her, and she nods, fixing her hair and easily walking over. She would have no trouble; Abby was so good at making people like her. She was a flirt and a confident person in general; she's got this in the bag.

I walk back to Kent, who's searching around, clearly wondering why he's alone in the middle of the floor. That's weird, I left him with the guys. I hurry up, reaching for his hands, and a look of relief passes onto his face.

"Where are they?" I ask, and Kent sighs.

"Kyle wants a girl's number over there," he tells me, nodding his head to the side of the room where I watch a girl with strawberry blonde hair tuck a large section of it behind her ear as she looks on at Kyle and Mark. "Mark's his wingman, talking to her friend a bit too."

"They just left you here," I clarify, and he nods with a shrug.

"I can't help them," he tells me. "I've got you."

"Indeed," I whisper, leaning up to press my lips to his. "Abby's gone to shoot her shot with this guy at the bar who she kind of knows...so I guess we're all alone," I mumble, and he grins, pulling me close and fitting his lips to mine again and letting me wrap my arms around his neck.

"Mmm, we never get to do this when we're out," he mumbles against my lips, resting his forehead on mine.

"Not without them all getting out their pitchforks," I whisper, and he chuckles. "I love kissing you," I admit quietly. Like we were in a ballroom dancing together, instead of a rowdy bar with "Margaritaville" playing in the background.

"I get that," he nods, cupping my face with one hand and tracing my lips with his thumb. "It's not nearly as good as kissing you though," he tells me, pressing a quick one to my lips again, and I feel my heart race in my chest.

He dances with me after that, some of it holding me close to him, other parts just letting loose with me. It was a side to him I'd never seen; Kent was absolutely not a dancer. He was a watcher, a judger, but now he was happy to try. Well, only as long as I was near him, it seemed.

He pulls me back in close for another kiss when I hear Mark and Kyle shouting beside us to stop and knock it off. I pull back, seeing them trying to join us again but also looking confused and disgusted.

"Oh, whatever, you two went looking for a new sneaky link ages ago," I defend, not stepping back from Kent.

"Okay, we're back and all, so... no more, please," Mark says, waving his hand as I roll my eyes.

A few minutes later, when I return to the bar with Kent for my second Hurricane, I notice Abby charming a guy. He's clearly smitten with her, looking at her like she's incredible. Go, Abby!

"Who's that? You mentioned she knows him?" Kent inquires, and I shrug.

"She said his name's Jose, and he's on the swim team," I reply. "I think she's had a crush for a while, but I can't tell if it's more of a 'let's hook up' or 'I could see us dating' kind of thing."

"Abby's probably leaning towards the first option," Kent remarks.

"No, not quite," I disagree, shaking my head. "The way she said it... she's serious about not messing this up."

"We'll see with time," Kent says, glancing at Jose whispering in Abby's ear. "But if it's the first option..." He trails off.

It's truly mesmerizing to watch people be so charismatic and charming. I have no idea what made Kent fall in love with me, but it's a one-of-a-kind miracle.

"I never knew you had such a knack for gossip," I tease, nudging his ribs and taking a sip of my drink. "You're pretty nosy."

"You've made me that way. I was fine minding my business before you started sharing everyone else's," he defends, and I chuckle.

"They should know better than to trust me with their secrets; I'll spill the beans to you anyway."

"Well—"

"Hey!" Abby interrupts, and both of us pause our conversation. She's all smiles, and I suppress a smile.

"How did it go?" I ask, and she nods.

"He invited me over to his place," she says proudly.

"That's awesome!" I exclaim, and she shrugs.

"It would be, if it weren't your birthday, and I didn't want to spend it with you here," she says playfully, placing her hand on my shoulder. I furrow my brow, shaking my head.

"Ab, if you want to go—"

"No worries, I got his number, Juls," she informs me with a mischievous grin. "Besides, I like him too much to jump into bed with him so quickly."

"As long as you're happy," I sigh, and she nods, taking a sip of my drink.

"I'm pumped," she tells me. "Now, let's hit the dance floor!"

I'll never understand how I managed to meet such outgoing, fun, and fascinating people, how I formed friendships and relationships with them. But I guess we all need a bit of balance, and maybe that's my role.