Page 111 of Now and Forever

Chapter 38

My brother didn’t mind that I was tagging along with him and his friends. Although, I wondered where Drew was since I hadn’t seen him all day. Wasn’t he a part of Jackson’s circle of friends? Not only was that surprising, but none of them seemed to mention him, either, which was extremely odd. I made a mental note to ask Jacks about it at a later time.

I wasn’t particularly excited to go out tonight, but it beat staying home and seeing Drew plowing someone’s YouTube channel. Ha, that was sort of innovatively funny.

Quirkiness aside, I took a moment to study my closet. Black and white. The contrasting hues blatantly screamed at me. A thought came across me that Spencer had a far more fun and interesting wardrobe than mine. Hell, maybe if I hung out with them often enough, his cool, effortless style would rub off on me. My usual black numbers would be such a bore. Maybe I could mix it up some other night. Tonight, I needed to wear white. It could be quite tricky to pull off, but since I had lost a fair amount of weight, my confidence had been off the charts.

It was disheartening to think of how many girls and women out there who were beyond conscious of their appearances. It was a twisted thing, but that was the world we lived in, as saddening as it was to admit. It had taken a good amount of weight loss for me to find that happy medium with my body and my mental health. Missing pudginess aside, I surely wasn’t skinny; my still chunky bottom made sure of that.

After opting to wear a white, short pleated skirt and an off-the-shoulder sleeve body suit top in the same shade, I then braided my hair on one side before sweeping it up into a loose bun and finishing it off with the south sea pearl studs my mother had given me on my sixteenth birthday. The white, three-inch strappy sandals completed the ensemble. Fun, cute, and sexy.

I silently admired myself from all angles in front of the floor to ceiling mirror. “Definitely sexy.”

The skirt showed off my toned, tanned legs, credited to swimming and hiking. The length of it just stopped at the point where demure met vulgar.. And as for makeup, I simply used dual coat mascara and a peach matte lip gloss. Thanks to my good genes, my eyebrows were highly defined and thick. The same went for my lashes; they were quite long without any artifice, but I liked them to be dramatic since the rest of my face was unadorned. I had to choose the best asset to enhance. They were dramatic, indeed. My eyes did the talking, and they were talking seductively, loud and clear.

Satisfied, I then grabbed my purse and left my room, heading toward the living room. I hoped I hadn’t kept them waiting for long.

“Damn,” Benson muttered under his breath, his eyes roving all over my body.

My brother looked mighty uncomfortable and a little ticked off. “Behave, you morons. She’s my sister; don’t you guys fucking forget that.”

I could have blushed, but Jackson’s reaction to his friends made me hide a laugh.

The guys barely shrugged before muttering that we should head out. Since they’d had pizza, wings, and a few bottles of beer already, dinner was out of the question. I made a mental note to stop by a café later to get a sandwich, something light to tide me over for the rest of the night.

As we strolled out of the apartment and onto the elevator, Spencer stayed close to me before leaning over to teasingly whisper, “If you’re aiming to scare me off, you’re not doing a good job at it, Chloe.”

Was that a challenge I heard? He was daring; I had to give him that.

“It’s just an underwhelming warm up. Don’t get too excited just yet,” I coyly responded, secretly liking this flirty banter.

“Let me clearly say that I seriously look forward to being overwhelmed.”

Merely shaking my head, I tried to ignore the fact that he was standing so close to me the entire journey from the elevator to even sitting next to me in the cab and when we got to the rooftop party. He wasn’t annoying in any way at all. I was just not used to having a guy so outright persistent on the first day I’d met him.

Jackson’s warning earlier didn’t deter him from staying close to me. Spencer was a proud snob, but he did it in a funny, teasing manner that somehow made it passable and not so offensive. It didn’t take a genius to pick the hints that his family was wealthy. It wasn’t necessarily off putting. I mean, I had grown up in Newport Beach, so being surrounded by money wasn’t a big deal. It was the way he made it known that he was well connected in politics and so forth that made it odd to me. I guessed some people appreciated that kind of conversation. I sure as hell didn’t. If this was his way of trying to impress me, well, he could think again.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Benson asked me out of the blue. He had just gotten back from the other table. Jackson was still there, engaged in some serious talk with a bunch of guys, including their friend Chris.

“Thanks. I’d love one.” I wasn’t of legal drinking age, but what the hell? This wasn’t my crowd, and I needed something to do other than look around and make small talk with Spencer.

“If your brother catches Benson giving you a drink, the shit will hit the fan.” Spencer smirked at me, shaking his head before taking a sip of his champagne.

Wait. What did Jackson have to do with it?

“What are you talking about?”

Raising his brow, he nodded toward my brother, who still happened to be consumed in whatever conversation that was taking place. “He warned us not to give you any alcoholic beverage … you know, since you’re not twenty-one. He’s just being a good big brother; that’s all.”

Typical Jackson, but he should know better. I had been drinking since I was sixteen. It wasn’t much of a mystery when I began to get curious inside my father’s wine cellar.

“Well, I’ll handle him,” I replied as I watched Benson approach our small, circular table. There weren’t any chairs anywhere, so everyone had no choice except to stand the entire time. It would be unfortunate for someone who’d worn uncomfortable shoes. It was a different kind of hell when you had to tolerate wearing shoes that hurt, but the beautiful design made it impossible to say no. I had those moments myself. Tonight, I was glad I had worn something that was easy on my feet, or I would have cried murder already after standing an hour.

“Thanks, Benson!”

He handed me a peach colored drink that smelled deliciously divine and looked like a martini cocktail. My eyes grew wide the second the liquid hit my tongue.

“Farrrk! This is hella strong.” Although the sweet aftertaste somewhat made up to the copious amount of vodka, I wasn’t sure if I liked it enough to finish it. Besides, I didn’t have much food in my stomach after that late lunch with Jackson, so I was in danger of getting drunk twice as fast if I wasn’t careful.

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