The bar that Kaleb worked at could be summed up in one word.

Classic.

The entire place was covered in head to toe, old fashioned décor. The bar was made of a lightly colored wood and stretched around in a large oval in the middle of the room. There were red, leather covered stools seated across the edge of the bar, providing seating for any who wanted to sit alone and drink their beer in silence. Pictures of all of the great singers throughout time were plastered across the wall, random pieces of art littering the spots in between.

Elvis, John Lennon, Prince, Aerosmith, Rolling stones, and so many more I lost count as they all stared back at me from the walls, their almost ethereal presence seeping out through their photos.

There was even a jukebox sitting in one of the corners.

All in all, I was in love from the moment I walked in.

As we all entered the bar, we followed Kaleb along through the field of intoxicated couples and loners, all trying to forget their worlds for a while and just enjoy the alcohol, music, and atmosphere.

Kaleb took us all the way to the back on the bar where a large, completely wooded table sat with a wraparound bench big enough to fit all five of us and more.

"You guys stay here and I'll go grab the first round," Kaleb offered as he shrugged off his jacket, throwing it over the back of the bench.

"You guys have any requests?" he asked, staring at the men expectantly.

"Just beer. Any beer and I'm set," replied Jackson as he scooted his way to the middle of the bench; sitting himself at the back of the table.

"I'm proud to say I have a little bit more class then Jackson here so I'll take a Guinness please."

Jackson scoffed jokingly at Dave's comment, running his hands back through his smooth looking hair before smacking Dave on the back of his head.

"Ow," Dave responded, smoothing his hand over the back of his head while giving Jackson a dirty look. "Dick," Dave muttered under his breath with a small smirk.

"Oh, stop being a baby," Meg shooed him as she turned to Kaleb. "Cosmo please?"

"You got it."

And then he turned to me. His tall stature towering over my body, his stare set firmly on mine with anticipated disappointment clouding his eyes.

"Peaches?"

I shook my head.

Reaffirmed disappointment flashed through his eyes. Kaleb shook his head dejectedly, and then took off back through the crowd to get everyone's drinks.

"Why does he call you that?"

My head snapped in Meg's direction.

"What?" I asked as I slid onto the bench next to her.

"Peaches! I've heard him call you that a few times now," she said with a smile.

"Oh, it's nothing," I mumbled nervously, finding interest in the intricate patterns ingrained into the table.

"It's adorable is what it is!" Meg gushed loudly.

"Yeah, he was even calling you that at the callbacks," Dave piped up to interject. "That's one of the main reasons I thought you two already knew each other."

Not knowing what to say in retort, I simply shook my head 'no' to Dave's statement.

"It's so sweet! Whenever he calls you Peaches, it's like you two have this private joke that belongs to only you guys. It's adorable and intimate, and sort of sexy too." Then, as Meg finished her blabbering, she got an odd sort of look in her eye and turned her attention to Dave.

"Why don't you have a sickeningly cute nickname for me?" she asked with a playful raise of her dark eyebrow.

"What?" Dave blanched and you could almost see the frantic scrambling going on in Dave's mind behind his wide eyes.

"I do! Babe, baby, honey. Those are all sweet, yeah?"

"Not even close compared to Peaches! Kaleb is beating you out badly in the pet name game, and him and Leah aren't even dating!"

"Yet." My ears perked as Dave mumbled the word under his breath.

"Okay," he conceded as he shifted his body closer to Meg's. "How about Apples?"

This name was met with a barely there, incredulous raise of her brows towards her boyfriend's first choice of name.

"So...that's a no," he said with cautious thought, the humorous atmosphere still thick around our table. "What about Mango-"

"That's even worse than Apples." Meg mocked him with her, making a small laugh tumble off of my lips as Dave threw his hands up in exasperation.

"You're impossible, woman!"

"That's why you love me," Meg shot back, her lips tilted into a joyous, lopsided grin as she gazed at Dave with adoration alight in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He pretended to push her away as Meg tried to snuggle her way up into Dave's chest playfully until he gave in not but a few seconds into the lighthearted fight. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dragged her body into his, planting a loving kiss on the top of her forehead.

"I think it's official to say that we're the 3rd and 4th wheel here, Leah."

My eyes snapped over to Jackson's as he spoke. He was leaning back against the bench casually, his arms crossed over his chest as he observed me with growing interest.

"How about you and I get together and then we could all make Kaleb the 3rd wheel," Jackson declared with a small chuckle.

"What's so funny over here?" Kaleb's voice erupted next to me, his dominating presence returning with a tray of drinks in his hands as he placed the tray on the table.

"Oh, nothing much," Jackson said offhandedly as he reached his arm out and grabbed a beer bottle off of the tray. "Just that Leah and I are gonna start dating soon is all."

If I hadn't have been already staring at Kaleb as he went to slide in across the table from me, I would have missed it.

He paused. The second that Jackson voiced his false proclamation, Kaleb's entire body froze for the faintest of seconds. It was so brief it was almost nonexistent. Yet, the vile irritation that swarmed his navy blue stare almost immediately was as obvious as the light of day.

"I'm not too sure her boyfriend would like that very much," Kaleb sneered as he sat down, bringing a threatening, black cloud with him as he did so. The mood quickly flipped from joyous and playful to confused and uncomfortable in just seconds.

"You have a boyfriend!?" Jackson bellowed at me, his handsome face creased in shock as he slapped his hands on the table in front of him to bring his body forward.

Before I could answer, Kaleb swept in underneath me and answered for me.

"Yup. Real piece of work too," he muttered disdainfully as he tipped his beer back and took a large swig, successfully finishing off half of his bottle with the one swig.

"Damn," Jackson cursed out, leaning himself back into the bench and bringing his beer with him. "Well, that puts an end to any fun I was planning on having with you tonight," Jackson said as he spared a teasing glance my way before taking a sip of his own beer.

"Shut the fuck up, man," Kaleb mumbled out, his tone dripping with annoyance as he sank his body back into the bench.

I watched on nervously as Kaleb pressed the top of the bottle against his lips and tilted it back, gulping down the liquid inside. Within seconds, the drink was gone.

"I was just joking. Chill, dude," Jackson said in a light voice as he raised his hands in surrender.

A few seconds of agonizing silence floated through our group. The atmosphere was thick with tension and I all but fell out of my seat in appreciation when someone approached the table.

That was, until I saw her.

"Hey there, stranger! I thought I heard that you were here," the young waitress spoke to Kaleb. Her bright, hazel eyes shone back into his happily, her golden hair was pinned back in a simple, yet completely beautiful manner, and all in all, she was stunning.

"Hey, Trish," Kaleb mused out in his rich voice as he rose up out of his seat to give the woman a hug.

I looked away as he wrapped his arms around her tall, thin frame, her arms securing around his neck tightly as they embraced.

The strangest and most annoying feeling crept into my stomach at the sight of him with her. My stomach curdled nauseatingly as my chest constricted painfully. The most miserable sensation of hurt erupted through my chest as I fought off the mind-consuming thoughts as to what feeling was overtaking my body and causing my heart to thrash about in my chest.

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked.

"Just getting a drink with my cast mates before we all take off for Thanksgiving."

"Oh! These are the people in the play you were telling me about?" Trish asked enthusiastically.

"That would be us," Jackson said as he nodded his head proudly. I didn't miss the extremely obvious sweep over of Trish's body that Jackson pulled either.

"That's so cool! Kaleb talks about this play all the time." She reached out and pushed Kaleb's shoulder teasingly as she gave him a playful look.

"I can't wait to see it though!"

"Well, we look forward to seeing you there," Dave said as he slipped into his directorial voice as he spoke to Trish, a possible audience member.

"Awesome!" Suddenly, a mischievous glint sparked in Trish's hazel stare.

"I'll be right back!" she declared before skipping off in the direction of the bar.

"Well, she's certainly peppy," Dave said with amusement swimming through his stare.

"And hot. Don't forget hot." Jackson couldn't help but throw his own two cents in there.

"She's also only into girls."

Jackson's eyes doubled in size almost cartoonishly so, his mouth dropping open again at Kaleb's words. A severe bout of confusion also wracked through my brain as an undeniable relief flooded through my body, relieving my nauseous stomach almost instantly at Kaleb's statement.

What the hell is going on with me?

"I can't win tonight, can I?" Jackson whined, earning a small chuckle from everyone at the table, myself included.

"Alright! Here we go!"

The entire table's attention soared back to Trish as she approached the table.

A tray of shots in hand.

"These are on the house! Anything for this nerd over here," Trish said and shot Kaleb a teasing glance as she set the tray of five shots down on the table.

"It's tequila! I assume everyone likes Tequila," Trish informed us.

"Hell yeah!" Jackson agreed excitedly as he grabbed his shot glass, filled to the brim with a golden liquid.

"Oh, god, the last time I had Tequila I woke up on the front lawn and somebody just had to turn on the sprinklers," Dave muttered begrudgingly as he shot Meg a knowing look.

"What? You wouldn't wake up!" she defended herself and her actions as she too gathered up a shot for herself and handed one to Dave.

Kaleb followed suit, grabbing the second to last glass from the tray; leaving just one, lonesome shot to overwhelm the tray.

The small glass stared back at me tauntingly, knowing that I wouldn't grab it; that I would likely embarrass myself or make everyone else feel uncomfortable.

This is the very moment I had been trying to avoid by not coming out here tonight.

"You gonna take it?" I heard Trish's unsure voice ask above me.

"Her boyfriend doesn't let her drink."

The table silenced. My heart stopped cold and a rush of anger to burst through my veins. The air surrounding us all condensed instantaneously and I physically felt Meg stiffen next to me.

I couldn't focus on her though. I couldn't focus my attention on anything that wasn't the pair of challenging, azure eyes that I was currently trying to burn a hole through with my own gaze.

"Um," We both heard Trish hum out awkwardly above us and yet neither of us broke our connection. I was livid. That wasn't his business to tell, nor to such a stranger and so publicly.

My nostrils flared as another fit of rage pushed through my mind as Kaleb broke our riveting, volatile connection, turning his annoyingly charming stare to Trish.

"You can take hers back. She won't drink it."

I wasn't in control of my actions or words as my emotions suddenly spiked as an insane rush of defiance ripped through my body.

"I'll do it."

Kaleb's head whipped back to face me, his eyes landing on mine as a sliver of daring confidence entered his gaze.

"Really?" he asked as he cocked his handsome heard to the side, one of his thick, arrogant eyebrows raised at me and his full lips trembled as he worked to keep the smirk off of his face.

He was toying with me, testing me and I knew it. I could see it in his eyes, the way they sparkled with devious delight as he watched me, completely entrapped as my own eyes blazed with fury.

I knew, and it didn't stop my set of next actions.

Without thinking, my hand reached out and across the table. I bypassed the absolutely acceptable shot glass waiting for me in the middle of the tray and went for the one settled in Kaleb's fingers.

My fingers wrapped around the solid glass, grazing across Kaleb's fingers as I tugged the shot out of his hand and without hesitation, threw the shot back into my mouth.

Mother of Jesus!

My throat burned and my eyes welled as the bitter taste of the liquid slid down my throat and into my stomach. My stomach burned as the liquid made contact and I wanted nothing more than to throw every ounce of the Tequila back up.

But I didn't.

Instead, I bit down on my tongue to keep in my groan of disgust. I managed to contain most of the coughs that tried to escape through my lips and blinked back the tears rapidly before they could run down my face.

The table was stunned into silence.

That was, until Meg burst into a fit of cheers in which Dave, Jackson, and even Trish joined in on shortly after.

"That's how you do it!" Meg hollered out as she gulped back her own shot with Dave.

"For your first shot, that was pretty hot." Jackson raised his glass up to me, his eyes filled with amusement and a slight respect as he tipped back his shot of Tequila.

"Yeah it was! Damn, this girl is feisty, Kaleb!" Trish complimented as she eyed me, her sapphire eyes flickering with entertainment and interest.

"You don't happen to be into vaginas, do you?"

A stiff bark of laughter sputtered past my lips and I had to slap my hand over my mouth to keep from spitting my drink back up.

I shook my head 'no' as my body continued to shake with laughter at her blunt question.

"Eh, figures. All the good ones are straight. But if you ever do feel like experimenting," Trish trailed off smoothly and seductively as she tossed a wink my way before taking her leave, her hips swaying expertly as she walked away.

I was left completely dumbfounded with that abrupt interaction. I had never been hit on by a woman before and as the entire table around me writhed in laughter over my unexpected situation, I found myself giggling along with them.

My shoulders shook as I laughed harder than I had in years. My eyes shone with subtle glee as I took in everyone's joy from around me, letting it soak into my skin and warm my heart. Eventually, my gaze landed on that of Kaleb's and I was less than surprised to find that he was already watching me.

A jolt of excitement shot through my body as our eyes settled on one another's, the familiar pulsing in the atmosphere around us began to pound. Kaleb kept his stare fixed on mine, pride mixing in with his eternal and ever present sensual charm as he reached out to grab the last remaining shot glass on the tray.

Kaleb raised his glass up into the air above his head, his lips quirking up into the most seductively wicked smile I'd ever seen, causing a tempting fire to burn in my veins.

"Cheers."

Over the course of the next half hour, Meg ordered a Cosmopolitan drink for me as well. When the drink first touched my tongue, I knew I was a goner. It was sweet and practically melted in my mouth. Before I knew it, I had finished my first one and Meg already had another one on the way for me.

I was feeling light. My head was buzzing and my thoughts were swimming through my mind at a leisurely pace. I felt so incredibly relaxed and giddy it was almost as if I was in character... but I wasn't. I was just me.

And for once, it felt amazing.

I was up at the bar, waiting patiently against the bar top for my drink to arrive when someone's voice emerged from behind me.

"So, I take it you're a fan of alcohol?"

I spun around on my heel to come face to face with a smirking Jackson.

"Uh, yeah. Meg's kind of reeled me in with this drink she keeps ordering for me," I replied with a slight laugh. "Drinking is actually really delicious!"

"Yeah," Jackson said through way of a light chuckle. "The confidence it gives you and mad dance skills are a major plus too."

I awarded him with another small laugh as I glanced back at the bar to see if my drink had arrived yet. It had and I grabbed the cool glass in my hand and wrapped my lips around the straw, sucking down the pink, fruity drink happily.

"Dance skills?" I asked through my sips.

"Oh yeah, I've got moves that make all the ladies swoon," Jackson said as he puffed his chest out, his body exuding with an overload of confidence as he put on a show for me. "The things these hips can do..."

A laugh tore through my throat as I watched Jackson pop his hips from side to side, cracking himself up along the way as he probably knew how absolutely ridiculous he looked too.

"Wow, you two sure are having a ball over here."

Both of our heads swung in the direction of the voice as our laughter came to a standstill.

Kaleb was standing there, beer in hand as he observed both Jackson and I with curious eyes and a sour expression covering his otherwise handsome features.

"Yeah, this one is quite the riot when she's drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" I declared confidently. Yet, as my eyes flitted back and forth between an amused Jackson and a smug, victorious looking Kaleb, my confidence began to wane. My eyes drifted back down to the drink in my hand and shock zipped through my body to find that it was all but empty.

"Oh my god, am I drunk?!" I asked with wide eyes.

"Well, considering you've never had anything to drink until tonight and you've already had one shot and are working on your second drink, I'm gonna say yes. Plus, I've never seen you have this much fun or be this loud. You're kind of an obnoxiously fun drunk," Jackson said thoughtfully.

"Hey! I am not obnoxious!" I said as I swatted his arm. The forced that I used to hit Jackson with was apparently too much for my drunken state as I stumbled over my own footing and tripped forward, my arms flailing out to try and stop my fall.

And just as history repeated itself, my hands managed to latch onto something; or someone. A startled cry slipped past my lips as my chest collided with another's, large hands wrapping around my waist and I came nose to nose with my savior.

"Definitely drunk," Kaleb mused in a low, husky voice, his breath fanning across my face and overwhelming every one of my senses and intoxicating my mind even more than it already was.

"I like it," I all but whispered.

"I thought you might," Kaleb hummed out, his eyes drifting across the planes of my face wantonly.