Page 34 of An Uphill Battle

He pauses at the door and looks down at me, looks down at how I’m wrapped around him since I’m too smashed to support myself, and smiles a smile that reminds me of the devil himself. I shiver, and he takes it as an invitation to hold mecloser.

Just as we’re about to make our way outside, the door to the bar opens, and I find myself staring up at a very familiarface.

“The fuck is this?” Brent asks, venom dripping from hiswords.

I smile at him, wide and toothy, and he glares back at me. “Nothing for you to worry about, bud,” Mr. Stranger tells him as he tries to shoulder us pasthim.

But Brent’s not having it. He shoves my new friend back, throwing us both off-kilter. He takes advantage of it and yanks me away and into his arms. His big, strong arms. He feels much safer than my stranger. “The hell are you thinking, Azalea? Drake know you’rehere?”

I tilt my head up to look at Brent and bat my lashes at him. “It’s not his busi-ness.” My words slur, and my head spins.How much alcohol was in those mixeddrinks?

“Let’s go,” he commands, his voice gruff with irritation. My stranger must’ve decided I wasn’t worth the hassle, because when I look for him, he’s nowhere to be found. Brent takes a few steps forward, and when he notices I’m not following, he turns back and scoops me into his arms. I breathe in deeply through my nose, loving and hating—but mostly loving—how similar he smells toDrake.

I nuzzle my face into his broad chest and wrap my arms around his neck.Maybe he’s just what I need to forget about Drake.Emboldened by the thought, I crane my neck and press my lips to his throat, my tongue darting out to tastehim.

“Cut that shit out,” Brent says, wrenching away from me.Why do guys all wanna play hard to get?Not discouraged in the least, I allow him to place me into his passenger seat, tracking him as he comes around to the driver’s side. He pauses at his door and plays on his phone for aminute.

Brent doesn’t ask me for my address—he just starts driving. The scenery outside my window passes in a blur, and the whir of the tires and our breathing are the only sounds. Sneaking a glance at him, I note his clenched jaw, and I want to make him smile. A man like him should be happy, notmad.

Gently, I reach across the console, placing my hand on his thigh. He briefly glances down and then back to the road, and I take that as anall clearsort of signal and creep my hand higher. Just as I’m about to reach the promised land, Brent hits the brakes—hard. “The fuck do you think you’re doing?” He sounds so veryangry.

“I–I wanted to make you sm–smile,” I tell him, my words slurred and runningtogether.

“You want me to smile?” he asks, and I nod eagerly, sloppily. “Then keep your hands to yourself and sit back in yourseat.”

Dropping my head to the seatback, I let my eyes drift shut as my head lolls back and forth. Rejected twice in one night. This may be a new, all-timelow.

Though, only one of those rejectionsstung.

18

Drake

“You gonna drink that?”Kelly asks, nodding to the bottle in my hands. The same bottle I’ve been twirling on the bar top since walking back in over an hour ago. I shake my head, not much in the mood to talk. After saying what I needed to say to Kelly, I’ve been content to just sit here and sulk, but I guess she’s hadenough.

She slams her hands down onto the bar to get my attention. “Listen, Drake.” Her stern tone of voice reminds me of my mother’s—my real one and my stepmother, not that I talk to my actual mom too much. No bad blood or anything. I love her, we just... drifted after I moved back home to live with Dad and Didi. “I know you love that girl, but she’s got some growing up to do yet, and if you really think she’s the one, then wait for her. It’s that simple. And if waiting seems too hard, then maybe she’s not the one after all. Now, pay up—my drinks and yours—and I’ll drive your asshome.”

I signal Owen to clear out our bill just as my phone buzzes in mypocket.

Brent:Got your girl. She’s drunk as a skunk. Handsytoo.

I blink hard at my screen.What the fuck?I glance up at Kelly and see she’s on her phone too, and she raises her eyes to mine. “You just get a message from Brent?” sheasks.

“Mmm. Yup,” I tell her, still trying to make sense of the words on my screen.Why is Azalea with Brent, and what does he mean by handsy? Swear toGod...

“C’mon, D, let’s go. Brent said he’s taking her to your place.” Not bothering to wait for Owen, I slip a fifty under my beer bottle and follow her to hercar.

“You sure you’re good to drive?” Iask.

“Yes, sir, only been sippin’ on diet cola.” I nod and climb into the passenger seat of her Camry. Not huge, but a shit-ton more space than Azalea’s car.Little Bit, what’ve you gone and done now?My mind races the entire drivehome.

“You comin’ in?” I ask Kelly as she idles in front of myhouse.

She shifts into park and turns the key. “May aswell.”

She makes herself at home on my couch, and I head into the kitchen to fetch two bottles of water and some of my dad’s famous Cajun boiled peanuts. Seated at opposite ends of the couch, we shoot the shit and wait for Brent and Azalea toarrive.

Twenty minutes later, the sound of gravel crunching under tires alerts us that they’re here. Not even ten seconds later, and there’s a hard knock at the door. Popping up from the couch, I make my way to the door, opening to a very sad-looking, very drunkAzalea.

---