Page 41 of Playing with Fire

"Go talk to him," I mention.

"What?" her head snapped to mine.

"I said go talk to him. It's the perfect time to." I repeat.

"Em–I can't–"

"Stop overthinking it," I cut her off. Keep your composure and you'll manage just fine. You two share a friendship so it's impossible for the interaction to feel awkward. I explained that you could simply talk to him as a friend if making a move isn't something you want to do.

She gives me a tired glance before she starts walking away. A smile crosses my face when she begins talking to him. I find no fault with the smile he shares with her during their conversation.

As I watch those two engage each other I understand I'm completely by myself. The location of Kylie is unknown to me, but it seems likely that she is with my brother.

I didn't want to disrupt Camden and JAMIE because it seemed like they were enjoying themselves with their dates.

I wander through the area, searching for something to entertain myself.

I recognize everyone present but lacks the depth of knowledge necessary for meaningful conversations. The school's venue was nice. The booths appeared comfortable with tables positioned in their centers while my feet suffered unbearable pain.

Note: I am unable to stay in heels for long periods. As I drag myself toward the booths, I realize most of them are taken while one empty space remains at the far end.

I move to sit but when I reach the booth, I discover Jaxon sitting by himself.

Doesn't he have six dates?

"Why are you sitting here?" I ask.

"Is it illegal?" he responds.

I roll my eyes. "No. But you have dates to attend to."

"No," he said through slurred speech stretching each syllable needlessly. I need to leave these dates as soon as possible.

I take in his appearance. He sat slouched over while completely lost and his speech slurred as if he were drunk.

His current state was unexpected because he typically remained cheerful and made a lot of noise when he drank too much.

But he looked exhausted. "What did you take?" I ask him.

He moves to sit up from his slouched position while laughing. I cannot recall what Travis gave me, but it worked right away.

Oh boy.

He demands that me not to make that face towards him.

"What face?" As I pose my question I decide to take my seat at the booths edge.

"That one." he points at me. You look bad now but Felix and your brother appear far worse.

My brother and Felix? They had it, too?

"How much did you have?" I asked with a sigh.

He was slow to answer. Just staring out into space. "Five...maybe six shots."

He tilted his head to one side until it settled against the leather cushion. I looked at my phone and saw we were at a late hour. During my roaming I discovered that the after-party had collapsed.

I find myself without any plans after this moment. It hurts me to think I must continue to spend time with him until morning.

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