Page 16 of Your Biggest Downfall
I turned back to Austin, who was leaning against the counter, still fucking staring. With his hands propped behind him, he was wearing a goofy smile.
“How the fuck are you even drinking?” I asked.
“Says the girl who just turned twenty-one.”
“You know when my birthday is?” I asked hesitantly.
He got off the counter and walked toward me. “I know everything about you, Supernova.”
This time it was my turn to laugh. “No. You know nothing.”
He had no idea my mother was dying, my job sucked, and I was a twenty-one-year-old virgin.
“Hmmm . . . well, I want to know everything.”
“Dude. You have a thing for Nova?” Jeremy asked, and I’d totally forgotten he was there.
“Duh.” Austin gave me a quick wink before looking over at his friend.
“Be nice and go get her another beer.”
I looked down and realized I was somehow halfway done with my beer. I guess that’s what I got for nervous drinking.
Jeremy laughed and then pulled another beer out and handed it to me. I quickly finished the first one and made it a point to nurse the second. I was the occasional-sip-of-wine kind of girl. This kind of social drinking was new, so I needed to make sure I took it slow.
“Why haven’t you come to these things more often?” Jeremy said. “And you need to bring your friend around more too.”
I looked out into the living room to see Luna making out with a guy while another cupped her ass. If a giant orgy was going to happen, Luna was going to be the star of the show.
I laughed and looked back at Jeremy. “I’m not a huge party girl.”
“Well, shit. Then I’m extra honored to have you here.” A girl walked by, and Jeremy turned his attention to her. “Hmmm. Come around more often, Nova. Deal with our antics.”
He grabbed the girl by the waist, and she squealed, begging him to put her down.
“Come here,” Austin whispered, taking a step to me. “I want to show you the best part of this place.”
I nodded, grateful for the opportunity to get out of here because the sexual energy was on fire, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what happened as the night went on... or did I?
Austin grabbed the bottle of tequila from the counter and gestured for me to follow him. We walked down a hallway, and he pushed open a closed door. A quick glance around told me we were in his bedroom. There was a large four-poster bed made out of black metal, a white fluffy duvet that was surprisingly on a made-up bed, and a couple dressers around the room, but otherwise it was completely and totally impersonal. If it wasn’t for the hockey bag in the corner, I would’ve thought this was the guest room.
“Is this your room?” I wanted to confirm we weren’t intheguest room.
“Yeah... You wanna stop at the bed? Get undressed?”
I pushed him. “Ew, Austin.” I laughed.
Our familiar banter felt good. He joked around a lot, and I admit I’d missed this while he was being grumpy. Maybe I needed to see him more outside of practice.
Austin chuckled. “Nah. I didn’t take you in here to fuck you... today.” He winked. “But no one at the party knows about this spot, so I wanted to take you to get to know you.”
I hesitated. “Are you drunk?” I asked.
He huffed out another laugh. “A little, but when am I not?” he asked.
That was surprisingly a sad thing to hear from Austin. “What do you mean?” I tried to clarify. “You aren’t drunk when you’re skating.”
He swallowed. “True.”
