ok so i'm doin this in mad stealth mode cause lost's on and i'm tryin to post this on a commercial. lol. ummmm there's some cussin in this chapter so watch out for that if you don't like that. and yeah....i did just say cussin. lol. ummmmm, comments = happieness! hopefully this is more of a hint as to where i'm headin with this. haven't really shown who the love interest is but i think you'll be able to figure out by the end of this maaaaaad loooooong chapter. for reals it was 12 mircosoft pages long. ;)
Chapter Three
“Jeez, look at him go,” Liz said as she, along with Mike, Andy, and Alex, stared at Jason flirting with a girl at the end of the bar. “Isn’t that, like, the third girl tonight?”
Alex shrugged. “Jay’s the man.”
“But these girls…I mean, they had to have seen him making out with that first girl,” she said, unable to look away.
“Jay’s got some kind of magical ability to woo a woman even if he was just making out with her sister two seconds earlier,” Mike tried to explain. “And it’s not something that can be taught, either. Trust me.”
“So I guess if I end up hooking up with any of you guys I should just accept the fact that it’s gonna be Jay, huh?”
“Uh, no,” Andy said with a laugh.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What’s that supposed to me?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, what’s that supposed to me?” Mike repeated.
“Don’t even think about it,” Andy said to Mike, his tone still joking but slightly serious now. “I don’t need to deal with that level of awkward.”
“Why would it be awkward?” Liz asked. She sipped her Bacardi and Coke and raised an eyebrow at Andy.
“You want the whole list?”
“Oh, yes, please.”
“Number one: the walls of our house are waaay too thin. Two: I don’t need to be in the middle of any fights that could occur as a result of said hookup. Three: roommate relationships never work out. Four: if I thought you would be a good match for any of these guys I would’ve set you up already. Five…well I can’t really think of a fifth thing right now but it’s there somewhere.”
“Wow. That’s quite a list. And to put it together like that on the spot,” Liz said.
“So you agree with me, right?”
“Andrew, darling, I appreciate you looking out for me. I really do. And I know that our brother-sister relationship would make any sexual encounters between me and one of your band mates totally weird for you.” She finished off her drink with one final gulp and firmly put the tumbler glass down on their table. “But if you think you can tell me who I can and can’t date or sleep with or whatever, then you’ve got another thing coming.” She grinned at Andy’s slack-jawed expression. “Now, who wants to dance?”
“Sure, I-” Alex started. Before he could finish his thought, Mike and Liz were already headed for the dance floor. “Or not.”
“She’s somethin’, huh?” Andy asked, shaking his head before taking a long drag from his beer.
“She’s right, ya know.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Plus, if you tell a girl she can’t do something that automatically makes her want to do it more.” Alex patted Andy’s shoulder and took a sip from his own beer bottle. He looked over his shoulder toward the dance floor and instantly caught sight of Mike and Liz dancing close together.
Liz laughed and let her hands rest at the base of Mile’s neck as they danced. “Where did you learn to dance?”
“Just comes naturally, I guess,” he answered, trying to be as smooth as possible. “Why?”
“Well…you kinda dance like a stripper.”
Mike started laughing so hard he had to take a step back from her. “A stripper? Really?”
“A male stripper.”
“Well you’re keeping up with me. What’s that say about you?”
“That I’ve been to a lot of bachelorette parties?”
Mike put his hands on her hips, testing his boundaries and feeling them move back and forth. He bit his lower lip and pulled her against his pelvis. They grinded together, getting totally lost in the thumping beat of the music. Liz looked over Mike’s shoulder and saw how hurt Andy looked. She stopped dead in her tracks and took Mike’s hands off of her hips. “What’s wrong? Did I do something? Was that not ok?” he asked when he saw the look in her brown eyes.
“Huh? Oh, no. It’s just…this was supposed to annoy him, not make him look all sad.”
“Who?” Mike turned around and only saw that Andy and Alex were ordering another round of drinks for the table. “Andy?” Liz nodded. “He doesn’t look upset…”
“Look, I’m sorry I got you involved in my stupid, petty…whatever this was.”
“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, it was sort of bit.chy. I mean, I hope I didn’t lead you on or anything…”
Mike laughed and casually wrapped his arm around Liz’s waist as they walked back to the table. “Seriously, you are talking to the biggest flirt ever. It’s not a problem.”
“Well in that case, we should totally do that again soon ‘cause it was really fun!”
“Any time you want,” Mike said with a huge smile on his face. They sat back down at the table with Alex and Andy and after a few seconds they were all back to laughing and talking over their drinks.
Liz couldn’t hide her exhaustion for very long, though. She tried to hold in a yawn but Alex noticed her covering her mouth. “Sh.it, you’re goin’ on four hours of sleep.”
“And it’s starting to catch up with me,” she admitted.
“Why don’t you two go find Jay and me and Liz’ll go outside and call a cab,” Andy suggested as he stood up.
“Aww, you guys don’t have to leave, too. I can get myself home. I feel like I’ve been majorly co.ck blockin’ all night, anyway. Maybe when I leave someone other than Rosen can get some action.”
“No, it’s ok. I mean, I’m action free of course and we’ve got a meeting tomorrow morning,” Andy said. “Come on. Let’s get you some fresh air before you go passin’ out on me.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her outside. Liz was surprised by how warm it was outside. L.A. weather, beautiful as it was, would definitely take some getting used to. Andy called for a cab then shoved his phone back into his front jeans pocket. “So, I’m sorry about that whole ‘you can’t date my friends’ thing in there. It’s just that I love you like a little sister and I guess that means I’m sort of protective of you.”
“Andy, it’s fine. I should’ve just agreed with you instead of being a spiteful b.itch, dancing with Michael like that.”
“The whole reason, though, is none of these guys are really the relationship type and I know that’s kind of your thing.”
Liz was taken aback. “What? When I have ever talked to you about my love life?”
“Umm, my mom might have called me when she heard you were moving out here.”
“And lemme guess, my mom keeps your mom informed on all of my personal business.”
“Hey! I’m sure your mother tells you all about me!”
“No, your girlfriend tells me all about you! And usually it’s waaaaay more information than I need in my life.” She laughed and he pulled her into a hug.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I mean, if you…got together with one of them and it ended badly I would probably kill him and then there goes the fabulous rock star lifestyle.” He kissed the top of her head. “Seriously though, I don’t want to end up in the middle of something where I would have to pick a side.”
He let her out of his grip and Liz smiled and shook her head. “But I didn’t worry about that with you and Ames.”
“Exactly. You know the two of us well enough to know that we’d work as a couple. And I know that you plus any of them equals bad things.” A yellow minivan pulled up the curb and Andy pulled open the sliding door. “We got three more coming,” he told the driver as he climbed in and sat down in the back row of seats.
“And what if I’m looking for bad things?” Liz asked as she climbed in after him. “I mean, Michael’s pretty sexy and I’m thinkin’ if he can move like that while vertical…”
Andy covered his ears with his hands. “La la la la, I can’t hear you!”
“What’s he doing?”
Liz turned to see Alex getting into the seat next to her. “Just living in a state of denial.”
“I hear it’s lovely there this time of year,” he said with a smile.
Liz laughed at his corny joke. She was just noticing that he had a beautiful smile when Mike and Jason stumbled into the cab. She leaned her head against the seat and let her eyelids fall closed as the cab started to pull away from the sidewalk. When she opened her eyes again she was met with darkness and the smell of some kind of cologne or aftershave, one that she liked but wasn’t familiar with. She looked up and realized that she was resting against someone’s shoulder, practically nuzzled into their neck. “Sorry,” she mumbled, still half asleep. She groaned and sat up. Then she saw the most stunning pair of blue eyes looking down at her.
“It’s ok,” Alex whispered.
“I didn’t drool on you, did I?”
He smiled. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Good. Where are we?”
“Just pulled up the driveway.”
“Ugh, that ride wasn’t long enough.”
“My shoulder’s that comfortable, huh?”
Liz blushed. “It wasn’t bad.”
Alex laughed and pulled open the van door. The interior lights flashed on, waking up the rest of the dozing passengers. The five of them slowly climbed out of the van and Jay stayed behind to pay while everyone else walked into the house. For the second time in twenty-four hours, Liz was stumbling into the house completely exhausted. The guys went upstairs to their rooms and she went into the downstairs bathroom to take off her make-up and wash her face. The cool water felt good on her skin. She grabbed a hand towel and patted her face dry. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and was a little surprised to see that, despite her exhaustion, she was smiling.
* * * * *
Liz felt her futon shake and her eyes shot open. She rolled over just as someone started shaking her shoulder. “For f.uck’s sake, Alex!” she laughed. “It’s too early for this sh.it.”
“You gotta get up!” he said excitedly.
“What time is it?”
“Six.”
“Ugh, go away.” She covered her head with her pillow and rolled over.
“But today’s your big day,” he whispered in teasing tone. Liz smiled and swung her pillow toward his voice, firmly connecting with his face. “Hey! Watch the glasses!”
“Go back to bed, Noyes, and let me sleep. I don’t have to be to work until nine.”
“But you’ve gotta leave in an hour.”
“Urg!” Liz groaned. “Give me my glasses.” Alex rolled his eyes and placed them in her open palm. “Thank you,” Liz said as she put on her dark purple plastic frames. “Now, please explain to me why I have to leave at seven when I don’t have to be there until nine.” She sat up, her blanket wrapped around her chest, and stared daggers at him.
Alex was next to her, lying on his side and propped up on one elbow. “What time we you planning on leaving?”
She shrugged. “I dunno, maybe quarter after eight.”
“No, seriously.”
“I am serious. I can’t not be serious at six in the morning.”
“Look, all that sh.it you’ve heard about L.A. traffic is true.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope,” he answered, really popping the “p.”
“Fuuuuuu.uck,” she growled.
“Aren’t you glad I’m so obnoxious?” Liz just laughed and smacked him with her pillow again. “I’m gonna throw an Eggo in the toaster. You want one?” he asked as he got off the futon.
“That’d be awesome. Thanks.”
“No prob. Just don’t go back to sleep.”
“I’m up, I promise.” She watched him disappear around the corner and into the kitchen. When she’d first decided to move out to California she’d had a few expectations but none of them were “make a new best friend.” But that’s exactly what Alex Noyes had become. The four guys each filled a spaced in her life now but for whatever reason she had bonded quickly with Alex. They were already at the point of finishing each other’s sentences after living together for a week. It was like that first week of college where you meet someone and click instantly and then you wonder why you hadn’t been missing them all along.
Liz got out of bed and started pulling her outfit for the day out of her closet. She’d decided on a pair of gray slacks with a white, button-down shirt, and form-fitting black, pin-striped vest. She quickly dressed and went into the bathroom to put in her contacts.
“Your waffle’s ready!” she heard Alex call from the kitchen.
“Be right there!” She quickly threw on some make-up and hurried into the kitchen. “Alex…” He hadn’t made her an Eggo. Instead, he’d made her real waffles, complete with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. “What’d you…?”
“I couldn’t send you off to your first day of work on an empty stomach,” he said with a smirk.
Liz shook her head in amazement as she made herself a plate. “If this whole drumming thing doesn’t work out for you, I say you open up a diner,” she said. Alex was leaning against the counter with his plate so she walked over and hopped up on the counter next to him. She smiled as she took her first bite.
“What’re you grinning about?”
“Just noticed that I’m as tall as you when I’m up here.”
“What’s it like?”
“Weird…although I like not looking up your nose when I want to see your face.” They both laughed and ate until Mike stumbled into the kitchen in just his boxer-briefs and black socks.
“Well, good morning, Mr. Bruno,” Liz said as she watched him stumble over to the pile of waffles.
He put one on a plate along with some berries and headed back towards the door. He stopped, though, and turned back to face them. “Can you two please keep it down?”
“Sorry,” Liz said, trying not to laugh at the half-asleep, half-naked man that had just stumbled through the kitchen.
“It’s alright,” he mumbled. He turned to leave again but stopped as if he’d just remembered something. “You,” he pointed at Liz, “kick a.ss today. And you,” he added, pointing at Alex, “clean this sh.it up.” And with that he stumbled out of the kitchen.
When they heard him climb up the stairs, Alex and Liz couldn’t hold it in any longer. “What the f.uck was that?” Liz finally managed to say through her laughter.
“That was ‘Hangover Mike,’” Alex answered, wiping tears from his eyes.
“I think I love him.”
“Oh, if he could only hear you say that.”
“Shut up,” Liz said, using Alex’s shoulder to brace herself as she hopped off the counter. Liz and Mike had had a playful flirtation going on since the day she’d moved in, something that amused Jay and Alex and made Andy a little nervous. For Liz’s part it was all in good fun but the guys new that the moment she decided it wasn’t just for sh.its and giggles, Mike would be the happiest man in the house.
“You gotta watch yourself with him. He’s gonna start writing songs and buying you flowers,” Alex warned.
“Next time he tries to get you to hook us up you tell him that I think he’s a dirty old man,” Liz laughed.
Alex chuckled and grabbed Liz’s shoulder as she started to step away. “Hold on one second.”
“I’m gonna be late…”
“I just gotta give my girl a hug,” he said as he pulled her against him.
Liz could feel a warmth go through her body to her fingertips as she hugged him back. When he released her she raised herself up on her tippy-toes and lightly kissed his cheek. “Thanks for this. I’ll see you tonight.”
As she walked out of the house, Alex felt his hand involuntarily rise up and touch the spot where Liz’s lips had just been. When his brain caught up with his body he rubbed his face, trying to wipe off the blot of lip gloss she’d left behind, before starting to clean up the kitchen.
