Page 4 of Flame and Starlight

“Alys!” Aoife yelled up at me. “The door is locked, the money is counted, and we have shots!”

“Say less!” I shouted back and walked out of the bathroom. It was on the second floor, and as I stared at those dimly lit steps leading up to the third story, I felt that same creeping sensation wrap itself around my neck. Tom caught me by the shoulders as I came running down the last flight of stairs, slinging one arm over me and pulling me close. My arm wrapped around his waist. He smelled like apple vodka and fresh laundry. He handed me a shot.

“It’s your favorite,” he sang. I threw it back, grimacing as it burned all the way down. He looked down at my face, then my chest, then my hips, and then back up to my face, and I flushed. But if anyone else noticed, they didn’t say anything. Then again, they never did. His cheeks were already getting ruddy, so I knew he had already had quite a few while helping clean up. This meant I would probably end up taking care of him later, trying to get him to his own house or mine. The latter made my heart skip a beat, and I willed it back into rhythm. We had been down this road too many times, with my feelings being hurt every single time.

“Ready?” He smiled at me, and I nodded.

“Let’s go!” I said. I took another swig straight from the bottle and slinked out of his grasp. Fuck it. If he was getting wasted, I was getting wasted.

There was a loud knocking on the door to the shop downstairs, and we all grabbed our stuff and headed out. We waved at our boss at the back of the shop and said goodbye.

“Gaffa, make sure you come meet us later!” Tom yelled down the shop at her. Gaffa was slang for boss. She just waved us away and smiled. Sara would come out with us pretty often and normally ended up partying harder than all of us combined, but if she wasn’t in the mood, she would shoo us away and do her own thing.

“We’re coming, damn!” Ella said as she unlocked the door and a blast of cold air flew in. The rest of the crew was waiting outside for us, and the bottle got quickly passed around.

“Ugh,” Max said, swallowing a mouthful. “Why the apple stuff?” He grimaced and passed it over to Harry and Ashley, who were trying to use each other for body heat. Ashley’s chestnut hair was whipping around in the wind.

“It’s the only thing Lyssa here will drink straight,” Tom said, defending his choice. I scoffed at the nickname. I never let anyone call me Lyssa besides him. We started walking towards Mad Eye quickly. “Remember when she and Will tied for Favorite New Employee at the Christmas do and she had to take a double shot of Sambuca?”

I cringed at the memory and linked my arm through Aoife’s. I had a vivid memory of that shot lighting my throat, nose, and eyes on fire. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense, and I rolled my eyes at them, laughing as well.

“I had, like, zero drinking experience, and I hate licorice,” I said, looking at them. “Drinking that stuff was like drinking licorice that was on fire.”

The bottle made its way back to Aoife. She took a drink and handed it over to me. There were probably three shots left in it. I broke free of her arm and walked a bit ahead of everyone, turned around and started walking backwards, and downed the rest of it. “And I think I’ve gotten much better, thank you.” I pointed a sweeping finger at all of them and bowed. Tom grinned at me. God, I loved it when he smiled at me.

“Much better for an American,” Aoife said. I laughed and threw the empty bottle into the bin on the corner.

Mad Eye’s was relatively crowded, but it only helped warm us all up as we went in and made our way to the bar. The place was known for its signature two-for-five-pound cocktails, so it was constantly covered up with uni students. It was dark, and your shoes always stuck to the floor. The entire place smelled like sugar and stale cigarettes. Aoife grabbed my hand as we walked in and tried to make our way to the bar.

“First round on me,” Harry said, making his way to the bar first. “Try to find a table?”

We nodded and made our way to the back where the stairs were. The tables were heavy and wooden and had absolutely no order at all to how they were placed. We weaved our way through the people and clunky tables and found the skinny off-kilter steps that led to the first floor. We found two tables and pushed them together, stealing as many chairs as we could.

“Six will be enough for now. Once my sister and Naomi get here, we can track down another couple for them.” Tom almost had to shout over the music. He pushed two chairs over to me and Aoife. I noticed Harry walking over with a tray of drinks. I waved at him, and he hurried over as we all sat down.

“Drink up!” He sat down next to Ashley and slung his arm over the back of her chair. Everyone grabbed two. I grabbed for the ones I knew I would like and hoarded them both close to me. They were pink, and the glass was lined with sugar.

“He’s a moron,” she said for only me to hear.

“Who?” I asked, leaning closer and taking a very long drink of my cocktail, noticing I was already getting tipsy.

She gave me a pointed look. Oh. I sighed and rolled my eyes. “You don’t think I noticed him looking at you before we left?”

“It’s fine. Maybe we can get through one night without me being an idiot?” I was referring to how, on a regular basis, I would make a fool out of myself trying to win him over by dancing with him, trying to keep up with his drinking, and then taking care of his incoherent ass. It was her turn to roll her eyes.

“You’re not an idiot.” She downed her entire drink in one go. I stared at her. She looked at me and shrugged. “I’m English. I can drink you under the table any day.” We laughed, and she sat her glass back down on the table and picked up her other one and downed that as well.

“Christ, alright. Aoife is the one to beat tonight,” Ella said, throwing hers back as well. I groaned internally. If this became a night of drinking competitions, I would most definitely need to be carried home with a sick bag. I braced myself and finished one of mine, licking the sugar off the rim of the glass afterwards. I brought the other one to my lips and took it in several long swigs. Everyone followed suit, and Aoife stood up.

“My round,” she said and grabbed the tray. Not a single stumble in her steps as she walked away. Meanwhile, I could feel my face getting warm. Two cocktails and, what had it been, five shots? Six?

“Toilet?” Ash caught my eye, and I nodded and stood.

You’re tipsy. You’re tipsy.

Before I could control it, my hand of its own volition dragged itself across Tom’s back as I walked around him. Such a nice back. Ash grabbed that hand and led me to the toilet, but not before I felt him lean back into my touch just slightly.

CHAPTER TWO

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