Page 5 of Worth the Risk

I nod, trying to muster up some sort of confidence. “3,2,1.” Rosie downs her shot in half a second. I on the other hand barely get half the shot down, wincing and then coughing. Liam quickly reaches into the fridge and hands me a bottle of water which I graciously accept.

“Thank you.” I smile up at him, he returns the smile and I almost melt on the spot. He has freaking dimples.

“Not a big shot fan?”

“Not really a big alcohol fan.”

“I’m trying to get my girl here out of her comfort zone.” Rosie interrupts our second staring contest. “Would you believe this is her first college party?”

“Rosie.” I grumble, “We don’t need to broadcast it.”

Liam looks thoroughly amused at this conversation and I can feel a blush creeping up onto my cheeks, one not easy to hide with my fair skin. Realistically, I know it’s not a big deal and I shouldn’t care about what this boy I just met thinks of me, but I can’t help it. I may have been focused on my studies and working the past three years but I am not immune to cute boys. Especially ones with beautiful eyes and a body that looks carefully crafted in the gym.

“Fine, let’s try these margaritas. They better be good considering my name is on them.”

“So, you’re that Rosie.” Liam looks even more amused now, smirking.

“I am.” She eyes him warily. “And this is my bestie, Emilia.”

“Well,” Liam clears his throat, “it was great to meet you both, but it looks like I need to go give my brother some shit.” He smiles at us and strides across the kitchen and disappears into the crowd that has formed in the rest of the house.

Rosie and I exchange a look. “Brothers?” We whisper shout at the same time. “Too bad I’m not trying to date. We could date brothers.” Rosie states.

I laugh out loud. “Date?”

“Oh please, did you not see the way he looked at you? I mean you were looking the same way right back.” Her eyebrows dance together.

“Don’t be dramatic. I mean he’s obviously cute but he was probably just being nice or something.”

“That was not just being nice, that was flirty.” Was it? I haven’t really dated since high school and even then dated is a strong word. It’s not that I’ve never wanted to but no one in high school was that interested and I’ve been so focused the past three years I haven’t even really put myself in the position to date. Maybe I should though. I’ve always been a sucker for a good love story.

“Let’s drink these and go dance.” Rosie interrupts my running thoughts.

Ugh, I cannot dance to save my life. I mean I’ve never actually tried but I’m not graceful and I’m ninety nine percent sure I won’t be any good at it but I know there’s no use fighting Rosie on this because she loves dancing. We finish up our drinks and she drags me to the dance floor. Rosie starts to naturally sway her hips and gets into the music and I try to do the same. The alcohol in my system must be doing something because I don’t think I’m half bad at this, or if I am I don’t really care. Across from one another Rosie and I sway our hips, dancing through a few different upbeat songs. After a few songs, Garrett waves over to us from a table that's set up to look like beer pong.

“Do you want to go over there and play?” Rosie asks me.

“You can, I’ll find you in a few.”

“You’re sure?” I nod and keep dancing with a few of the girls around me since I’m having a surprisingly good time. A few minutes later a hand snakes around my waist and I practically jump out of my skin. There’s a low chuckle and hot breath on my neck.

“Relax.” He says, whoever he is. “I just want to dance with you.” I twist the top half of my body around to see who this is, it’s a guy I’ve never seen before sporting a backwards baseball cap and Bears football t-shirt. His dark brown eyes look glossy and I wonder how much he’s had to drink.

“John.” He introduces himself. I fully turn around now to get a better look at him.

“Emilia.”

“Well Emilia, do you mind if I dance with you?”

“Um, okay I guess so.” I scream internally at myself. I don’t want to dance with this random stranger but how do you say no?

He tightens his grip on my waist and spins me back around so he’s pressing his front into my back. My eyes are darting around the dance floor and over to the beer pong table but there’s too many people in the way now so I can’t see Rosie or Garrett despite his height. Okay, one song I can do this for one song, I think. I slightly move my hips pretending I'm into this. One song bleeds into another and his grip on my waist never loosens and unfortunately I can now feel something hard pressing into my butt. After five songs, his grip loosens a bit and I am able to pull away just enough to turn around and face him.

“Do you mind grabbing me another drink?”

“Uh sure, I’ll be right back. Wait right here.” He turns towards the kitchen. Like hell am I going to wait right here. I quickly scan the area and since I don’t see anyone I know I head towards the sliding door that leads onto the back porch that spills into the yard, maybe Rosie or Garrett are back there. I move through the crowded makeshift dance floor and pull open the back door, taking in the cool air. It has significantly cooled off from earlier today, that’s spring in Massachusetts for you. It’s dimly lit outside with the back porch lights on and a small fire that some people are sitting around. Where the heck is Rosie? I make my way towards the fire hoping to spot her but I don’t see her around so I decide to text her.

Me

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