We arrive at the bar around 10pm. Tess says it's a great place to pre-game some more before we go to the club. Cheaper as well, since the drinks in the club are horrendously priced. After one and a half hours of nursing cocktails and playing pool at the bar, we make our way to the club.

There's a small line outside of the door and we go to stand in it and wait. After 5 minutes in line, the bouncer checks our IDs and lets us pass through the entrance of the club. The bass massages my whole body the second we step inside. The DJane is playing some bass-heavy R n' B song and I sway my body to the beat right away. Tess takes my hand and starts pulling me through the crowd toward the dance floor. The air is heavy and thick with smoke and perfume and the lights are flickering in many colors, creating shapes on the walls of the club and on the skin of the party-goers. The both of us have a good level of drunkenness going on and we start shaking our bodies and hair to the music as soon as our feet touch the dance floor. Ear-to-ear smiles are plastered onto our shiny faces and I am so happy we decided to go out tonight.

We dance for a good hour before I signal Tess that I desperately need to pee. We squish through the sweaty crowd, stepping over broken glass and sticky puddles. Delightful, I know, but all part of the experience.

After a lovely chat with a bunch of girls in the bathroom and a glass of water at the bar, we head back to the dance floor. Slow Motion by Trey Songz is playing and Tess and I smirk at each other. We get close together and start grinding our bodies against the other's thigh. Our hips going in slow circular motions and we can't help but laugh out loud at our ritual whenever that song comes on at a club or party. Frat boys go crazy for this performance, let me tell you.

I push my hand through my hair and throw my head back, slowly lowering my body to the floor before swinging back up to a stand. Before I can register what's happening, I feel a body pressing into me from behind. Hands circle my waist and move down to grip my hips. I have no idea who's behind me but I am feeling the moment, I am drunk and I just want to dance. So I continue dancing, grinding against the man behind me. He smells my hair and whispers something in my ear that I cannot make out. When the song comes to an end, I look around for Tess but can't see her anywhere. I decide to find out who I have been dancing with and spin around to face the mystery man.

He is kind of short, only taller than me by a few inches, and has black and slightly curly hair. His eyes are dark but kind and his skin is a very pretty olive color. I smile at him politely and he pulls me into him before whisper-shouting into my ear.

"You are very pretty, what's your name?"

"Thank you. I am Romy." I tell him.

"My name's Eric." His hands are still on my waist. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Sure." I nod at him and we walk up to the bar. He asks me what I want and I tell him vodka with Red Bull. He orders water for himself.

"You don't drink?" I question.

"I had enough for today." He answers and I nod in understanding.

"Let's sit and talk." His hand lands on the small of my back and he leads me to an empty table. I sip my drink and wait for him to start the conversation. I briefly wonder where Tess is but knowing her outgoing nature she's probably made a ton of new friends and is having a dance battle in the middle of the crowd.

After a bit of small talk, Eric's face grows serious. He furrows his brows and it reminds me of the way Eli furrows his brows when he is upset or thinking hard about something. Shit, Eli! I haven't even thought about him. Is this okay what I am doing? I mean, yeah, sure it is. Right? I haven't really done anything. And I don't intend to do anything with Eric besides dancing and talking.

Before I can continue overthinking, a sob breaks me out of my thoughts. My head whips to the right where my new acquaintance is sitting and I see Eric hunched over, shoulders shaking. Did I miss something? Did I space out? For how long? Wait, what the hell is going on?!

"Eric?" I carefully ask and lay my hand on his back. His white shirt clings to his skin and is slightly damp with sweat. I quickly remove my hand again. "Are you okay?"

He sniffles before looking up at me and nods. "Yeah, yeah I am fine. It's just... my sister's boyfriend just broke up with her and I am really upset about it."

I just look at him, not really knowing what to reply. "Do you have a tissue?" Eric then asks me.

"Uh... no I don't. I'm sorry about your sister, she must feel awful."

"Yeah, she's okay actually but I am just really mad at him. He dishonored my family with his actions." He sniffles again.

I am more confused than before. Why is he madder about his sister's breakup than his sister? This makes no sense.

"What do you mean 'dishonored your family'?" I decide to ask, hoping I won't regret it.

"If he dates my sister, he better fucking marry her, you know?" he says and wildly gestures with his hands.

No, no I don't know. Jesus, I need to get away from this guy, asap. He sniffles again for the hundredth time and I notice that he is still crying.

"You know what? I bet the bar has a tissue or a paper napkin that you can use."

"Oh yeah, I will check with them, be right back." He slouches off to the bar and as soon as he is talking to the bartender, I make a run for it.

Luckily, I quickly spot Tess at a table on the other side of the club, surrounded by two men and a woman.

"Thank God I found you, you won't believe what just happened to me," I tell her in a rush, plopping down beside her.

"Heeey, you're back. Did you have fun with the guy you were dancing with?" Tess slings her arm around me and pushes a shot in my direction which I down without a second thought. I cringe at the awful taste of pure Jägermeister.

"If your definition of fun is him crying my ear off about his sister's breakup, then sure I had lots of fun."

Everyone at the table bursts out laughing and I sarcastically smile at them.

"Okay, good thing you are back with me then," Tess starts and then goes on introducing the people we are sitting with. "This is Josh, Emir and Gill. Josh, Emir and Gill, this is Romy."

It's nearing 3am and Tess, Josh, Emir, Gill and I are back at the bar where Tess and I started our night. We are all pretty drunk and Tess's phone has been going off again and again for the last 20 minutes. Ben is calling non-stop but Tess refuses to answer the phone. She wants to 'teach him a lesson about leaving his adult sister alone to make her own decisions'. I tried to reason with her to just tell him everything is alright but Tess gets extremely stubborn when she is drunk.

Our group is in a heated discussion about Game of Thrones and if it's an overrated series or not. Not having seen the show and really needing to relieve my bladder, I excuse myself to go to the bathroom. My body sways a bit too much on my short way to the lady's room and I lean against the wall for support. A giggle escapes my lips as I take out my phone while I wait in line. I decide to text Eli, not knowing if he is even awake or not, to tell Bennett not to worry.

heeeeyx hot stuff ;) ;): please could you tell benny not to worry about tess, we are doing greeeeaaaat!!1!

I press send and frown at my more than miserable grammar. Oh, whatever.

Wait! Maybe I should've texted Ben instead. That would've probably been a smarter idea. But I also like annoying Eli. I will text Ben as well. As soon as that thought crosses my mind, I am next in line to use the bathroom and when I am done I have forgotten all about it.

I join the others back at the table and see that the discussion about overrated series has shifted from Game of Thrones to Breaking Bad. Whelp, I haven't watched that either. Taking a sip of my cosmopolitan, I try to appear interested in the discussion. I am having a hard time doing that, though, because I am getting more tired by the second. My eyelids are drooping and a yawn escapes me.

"You tired, Romy?" Gill asks me.

"A little," I smile sheepishly and lean back against the booth.

Just then I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out and squint at the too-bright screen.

hey beautiful. good to know you are alright. I will let Ben know. He's been pacing a hole into the living room floor. do you need us to pick you guys up?

Butterflies begin fluttering around in my chest because of Eli calling me beautiful and I laugh out loud at the image of Bennett frantically pacing the living room. I refrain from telling Tess about it. I fear it might want to make her stay out for much longer.

"Hey, Tess?" I poke her arm to get her attention.

"Yesss! Whazzup?"

"I am really tired. Should Eli come to pick us up?"

"Already?!"

"It's almost 4am, Tessy." I push her cheeks together with my index finger and thumb.

"Alright, alright, tell your boyfriend to pick us up then." She mumbles through her squished cheeks and waves her hand at my phone.

"He's not my boyfriend." I pout.

"But you wish he was." Tess teases and I scrunch my nose at her.

"No, I don't."

"Liar."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Josh interrupts our banter, directing his question at Tess.

"Nope." She replies, popping the p. "You want my number?"

"Tess!" I pull her close to my face and whisper in her ear. "What about Simon?"

"We are not serious." She whispers back.

"I thought you liked him."

"I do like him. But I also want to have some fun, don't ruin this for me, Romy. I am not such a helpless romantic like you. You know that." She frowns.

"Yes, I know. But I just thought Simon is different."

"He is, but we agreed to not make anything exclusive between us yet. You were also getting close to a man other than Eli tonight so let mama have some fun as well, please." She sloppily attempts a wink before taking Josh's phone from his outstretched hand.

"I was barely getting close to him! And anyway, we are not exclusive either. I think... Oh God, what if we are?" I start freaking out.

"Calm down. Did you guys say you were?"

"No..."

"Okay, so nothing to worry about then. When is Eli schmeli coming to pick us up?"

I grab my phone to quickly text Eli back.

thank you, that would be amzing:)! dont bring ben plz, tess would throw a huuuuuuge fit.

I get a reply right away.

where are you guys?

some bar called rushed or something like that

yes, the rush. I'll be there in 20.

thanks you!

"He'll be here in 20 minutes," I inform Tess.

"Okay," she replies. "I have to tell you a secret, Romy."

I lean closer to let her know she can continue. "I am soooo drunk and horny, so you have to hold my hand so I won't go home with Josh."

"I thought you wanted to have fun?" I ask, confused.

"Yess, like flirting and stuff, as you did, too. I don't want to sleep with him." She whispers.

Josh is looking over at us and I think we are not as quiet as we think we are.

"Okay, you could've made that more clear, lady," I scold her, pointing my finger at her chest. "But I got you, girl." I take her hand and tightly grasp it in mine.

After saying bye to everyone and assuring Josh about 15 times that Tess has a ride home and doesn't want to go with him in a taxi, Tess and I are standing at the curb, waiting for Eli to arrive. Our hands are still intertwined and a light drizzle is coming down on us.

"This was really really reaaaaaalllly fun," Tess exclaims suddenly.

I nod enthusiastically. "You're right, it was!"

"Was Eli mad that you woke him to play uber for us?"

"I think he was awake, actually, since he offered to pick us up."

"He what?! You said you were tired and that you are gonna ask him, you sneaky little bitch," she accuses and pokes her finger against my boob.

"Heeey! I didn't do that, I asked you if he should come pick us up. Never said I'm gonna ask him, you just have bad ears and alcohol brain, you dummy." I poke my tongue out at her.

"You knew exactly what you were doing, I know it. You are not to be trusted."

Amidst our, to be honest very childish, banter, we failed to notice Eli's truck pulling up at the curve, the man himself getting out and walking over to us. He loudly clears his throat and our heads whip around to look at the person daring to interrupt our very intellectual conversation.

Eli looks less than impressed. His arms are crossed over his chest and his eyebrows are raised high on his forehead. I notice he is wearing a distressed pair of jeans, which he seems to wear to work a lot since they have several dark oil stains on them, and a wide, dark grey T-shirt. Looks like he threw any clothes on he was able to find in a rush but he still looks undeniably sexy.

"If the sneaky little bitch and the dummy with an alcohol brain wouldn't mind getting in the truck, that would be amazing." His voice drips with sarcasm but it has a very clear no-nonsense undertone. Clear to me at least because Tess decides to rile Eli up.

"What did you just call me?! Do you look like my best friend? No! I don't think so. So you do not have the right, to call me anything other than Tess, understood, Eli schmeli?" Her eyes are in angry slits and she sneers at Eli. "I know that you are here to spy on us on Ben's behalf, you aren't smart."

Apparently getting tired of listening to my best friends tirade, Eli just shrugs and says "Let's go."

"Nuh uh, I am not going anywhere." And here she goes again.

He throws me an annoyed look and I turn to talk to Tess. "Hey, Tessy. He is just here to pick us up, calm down, okay. Why are you so mad?"

"I told you!! I am horny and I am not getting any because you had to bring Simon into the picture and make me remember my feelings for him, and I know all of you are plotting against me and I am not going anywhere!" With a huff she goes to lower herself to the ground but before her butt can touch the pavement, Eli has her over her shoulder and is walking over to his truck. "I swear, if you weren't Ben's sister I would leave you here."

I can't help but feel a pang of jealousy travel through my body. "What about me?" I yell after him, wanting to be carried, too.

"Get in the truck, Romy."

"Why don't you carry me?"

"I am really tired," he says and I can tell he's being honest. "I will carry you wherever you want, okay. Just not tonight." He opens the passenger door and waits for me to come closer. Before I can climb up into the seat myself, he stops me and smiles a little.

"I think I have enough in me to lift you up, though." And without warning, he grips my waist with both hands and lifts me into the truck. I squeal at the sudden movement and then start laughing.

"What a service," I say impressed and Eli smiles and closes my door before jumping into the car seat on the other side.