The Green Ticket (8 page)

“Alex! Come on, there’s Peter!” Lila grabbed my elbow and firmly guided me out of my spot, leading me to the group of guys by the keg.

Oh, please don’t let that be Peter,
I silently begged the relationship Gods. I couldn’t handle being completely entranced with the guy we were supposed to be hooking our friend up with.  

The handsome stranger broke eye contact with me first, and I instantly felt goosebumps appear on my arm, like a gust of cool wind had flown through. He nudged the guy standing next to him, a shorter, friendly looking guy with glasses. Bespeckled man flashed us a grin and beckoned us over. I clutched my clutch even tighter, digging my fingernails into the black satin fabric. Why the hell was I so nervous over a guy?

“You made it!” glasses-man said as we finally reached the keg. “Did you find the house okay? Henry, get the ladies some cups. No charge tonight, these are our guests!”

Henry.
It was Henry that I was so smitten for. Our fingers brushed together as he handed me my cup, and I swallowed back a nervous hiccup. He was the most delicious man I had ever seen.

“Peter! You don’t have to do that. How sweet are you?” Lila was saying, giving Peter’s arm a friendly pat. “We made it just fine, no troubles at all. It was mostly because of Hannah here,” Lila shoved Hannah to the front of the group, who looked like a cat heading for a full bathtub. “She got us here with no worries. Hannah Lovington, meet Peter Gambill, our fabulous host for the night.”

Hannah and Peter shook hands while the rest of us girls looked on amused, knowing that Lila was in matchmaker overload. Hannah looked painfully shy and embarrassed, while Peter was more laid back. “And this is the rest of our group: Carmen, Emma, and my roommate, Alex,” Lila continued on with the introductions, and we all said hello.

“These are my roommates: Henry, Kyle, and Max. We’re really glad you all could make it tonight. Does anyone know anyone?” Peter asked the group, and we all shook our heads. “How is it possible that we haven’t run into each other before on campus? It’s not that big of a school.”

“True, very weird. But at least you’re here tonight. Let me fill your cups up,” Henry volunteered, taking my cup first. I let him fill it to the brim and pass it back to me, trying not to stare at his piercing blue eyes and the way his black hair flopped over his forehead in the most adorable way. It was then that I realized what his costume was, and finally found my voice.

“I, um, I like your costume.”
Lame Alex, so lame.
I giggled a bit. “It’s very unique.” I tried again.

He smiled at me, showing a row of perfectly straight teeth that had to have been touched by braces as a kid. No one should have that great of teeth without some work. “Thanks. I actually hadn’t planned on being here tonight. Me and Max,” he indicted to his blonde friend, “were going to go back home for the weekend. So this was made in a pinch.” Henry was dressed as a deer, with an orange ping pong ball that was probably swiped from the beer pong game attached to his nose, and a few skinny twigs perched atop his head as antlers. The camo he was wearing didn’t showcase his body, but I could tell from his lanky yet lean build that I wouldn’t mind a few layers being stripped off.

“Henry won in rock, paper, scissors so he got to be the reindeer,” Max grumbled. “And I got stuck with this.” He spread his arms out to show off his rabbit costume, which looked hilarious and a tad feminine. He wore a gray shirt and matching gray athletic shorts, with a bunny tail fastened to his tailbone, Playboy pink bunny ears, and someone had used a pink marker to color the tip of his nose. Even under the ridiculous fuzzy pink bunny ears, it was easy to tell Max was a hottie. Tall, blonde, blue eyes, with a surfer-look going for him. Peter and Kyle weren’t bad either, and were both dressed as hunters in full camo and water guns. But it didn’t matter how good looking they were. My eyes were still finding their way back to Henry between sips of cold beer.

Carmen and Max struck up a conversation about apple pie shots, Hannah was still struggling to get words out around Peter, Lila was trying to help their floundering conversation along, Emma was chatting with the last roommate Kyle, and I was staring into my cup, wishing I could be funny and witty and charming and sexy and convince Henry he was in love with me.

“Do you like pool?”

I looked up to find Henry looking at me, his dark blue eyes scanning my face. “Um, what?” I stammered, feeling my face start to flush. Why couldn’t I be calmer around the opposite sex that I found attractive?
Think bold, Ginger Spice!

Henry pointed to the pool table in the corner, now abandoned. “Pool. The table’s open. Want to play with me?”

“I’m not sure if I’m any good,” I said, trying to rack my brain to determine the last time I played pool.

“Well, I’m pretty good, if I may say so myself, and I can teach you a few tricks. Come on.” Henry reached out and grabbed my elbow, since my hands were full of beer and my clutch, and steered me to the table. “My dad loves pool and we have our own table at home, so I get a lot of practice. I can give you some pointers.”

“Okay. Thanks.”
Say something! Make a real conversation, Alex!
“So you also go to Kaufman?” Finally. A real question made it out of my mouth.

Henry started placing the pool balls inside a triangle contraption. “Yep. I’ll graduate in May with my Bachelor’s.”

“Hey, that’s awesome! Congratulations. I still have another year to go before I’ll be done. What did you major in?”

“I had some trouble deciding my major along the way. I changed it about three times. But I finally ended up with Entrepreneurship and Sales and Marketing.”

My spine tingled. Similar majors? Could the signs be any more obvious? Clearly, we were meant to be. We would date, marry, own our businesses, have gorgeous babies and live happily ever after. Henry and Alex….um… “What’s your last name?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Well, that was awkward. Why would I be digging for his last name for any other reason than to figure out what my name would be in a few years? I was sure Henry could see right through me and my wedding vision bliss. 

But he didn’t say anything, just flashed me another gorgeous smile and plucked a pool stick from the hanging wall rack, rubbing some blue chalk on the end. “It’s Landon.”

“Your last name is?” I was confused. Henry Landon? Or was Henry his last name, and that’s what all his buddies called him?

Henry/Landon laughed, motioning me over towards him at the far end of the pool table. “That’s right. My name is Henry John Landon. Three first names. Don’t worry, you’re not the first to question me on it. Some people call me Landon, like when I play sports, and that just confuses everyone even more.”

Henry Landon. Alex Landon. It was perfect.

“Have you ever broke before?” I snapped out of my white dress fantasy and focused on the balls in front of me. The pool balls, of course.

“Um, no? Not sure what that is. Sorry, I’ve really never played a full game before,” I apologized for my lack of knowledge and pool skills.

“That’s okay. Everyone’s got to learn sometime. Here, you stand here.” He placed my body in front of his, with his chest slightly touching my back. My body was on fire. I had boyfriends in the past, even a few that I really cared about, but no one caused my body to react like this. I started to get scared of my attraction to Henry Landon. It could definitely lead to heartbreak.

“Here?” My voice came out in a squeak.

“Perfect.” His lips were close to my ear, his baritone voice vibrating through my body. I shivered, hoping he couldn’t feel me tremble. “And wrap your hands around the stick, just like that. Now you want to get low to the table, line up your shot, and pull back.” His hand rested over mine, and together we pulled back and flung forward, smacking the white ball against the colored ones, sending them scattering around the table. A solid fell into the far right corner, causing me to whoop in delight.

“I got one in! I got one in!” I said, reaching to hug Henry. “Thanks for your help. That was fun.” I kept my arms around his body for a beat longer than necessary. The beer was already starting to make me feel braver. Blaming the beer was always best.

We kept playing for a while, and it took Henry to be behind me for me to make a shot each time. We chatted about Kaufman, our roommates, wondered if Hannah and Peter would hit it off, and gulped glasses of cold beer. I felt relaxed, confident in my British dress, and none of the topics veered towards family, which I was thankful for. My complicated mess of a family life did not need to be discussed from the start.

When Carmen and Lila came over with a round of jello shots I didn’t hesitate, grabbing two cherries for me and Henry. “Where’s our Hannah?” I asked, sticking my index finger in the slimy jello and whirling it around, prying the red slime from the sides of the cup.

“She and Peter went upstairs so they could better talk to each other,” Lila spoke up, her eyes shining with delight. “I just knew they would hit it off!”

“Your friend isn’t some big jerk, is he?” I aimed my question at Peter’s roommates, who had also joined us with shots in their hands. Carmen snickered at my drunk language.

“Nah, Peter’s one of the good guys.  He’s one you don’t have to worry about,” Henry said, placing his hand on the small of my back. I drew a breath in and stood up straighter.

“And which one of you boys
do
we need to worry about?” Emma flirted, looking from Henry in his deer costume, Max the playboy bunny, and Kyle the hunter. Henry and Kyle pointed a finger at Max, who pointed a finger at himself. Our little group burst into laughter, with Max looking unabashed at being singled out. We cheered to our new friendship and downed the shots, and the party raged on. A new keg was brought in while I continued to play pool with Henry and tried my best to keep an eye on all my girlfriends. We were at a party at an unfamiliar house, an unfamiliar neighborhood, and with a bunch of people we didn’t know. We knew to stick close, which is why I started to get worried when Hannah still hadn’t appeared a few hours into the party.

“Carmen! Carmen! Come here!” I shouted across the busy room for Scary Spice, who started to weave her way between people to reach me. I was standing by the sliding glass door that led out to a concrete patio, where I could see plenty of party-goers standing and smoking. Henry had dashed upstairs to go to the bathroom, and I realized that I was feeling drunk.

“What up, chica?” Carmen asked as she approached, looking cool as a cucumber and not at all like she was drunk. I was sure my hair was starting to frizz and my face was getting the telltale red to it that happened when I drank heavily.

“Where a ish Hannah? I worried her ‘bout,” I said, growing confused when Carmen started to laugh.

“Girl, you are wasted! Slur your words anymore, could you? Oh, honey, I hope you don’t have to work tomorrow.”

I placed a hand to my forehead and felt the warmth radiate onto my palm. Ah yes, the drunkenness was there. Perfect. Henry probably couldn’t understand a word I’d been saying for the past hour. “Damn nit. No, no work! None. Hannah?” I asked again, grimacing as I heard my words come out that time.

Carmen took her phone out of her clutch, showing me a text message. “She’s fine. Just smitten with this Peter boy. Go upstairs if you want; see for yourself.”

I walked unsteadily towards the staircase, pulling down my dress as I went. Lila intercepted me halfway across the room. “I knew my matchmaking skills would work on Hannah, but I did not see you and deer boy hooking up! What’s the details, girl?”

“Not now, Lils. Need check Hannah. Really drunk.” The room swayed, and I almost toppled over in my platforms. Lila caught me by the arm, keeping me upright.

“Maybe it’s time for us to get going. Emma’s upstairs on the couch passed out.”

My body sagged in relief, happy I wasn’t the first to succumb. “Me tired, Lils. Sleep.”

“I know. Come on, up we go. Where’s the hottie man of yours? I like him.”

“No! I like him. Me like,” I slurred, feeling the effects of all the beer, jello shots, and the tequila shot I shared with Carmen. We trudged up the stairs together, our platforms sounding like hooves, until we entered the kitchen. “My Hannah!” I squealed, running over to my friend and wrapping her in a hug. She was sitting at the kitchen table with Peter, a bulky sweatshirt covering her Posh costume and looking enviously sober.

“Oh, what do we have here? Little drunk, missy?” Hannah laughed, returning my hug.

I crawled into her lap like a little girl, resting my head on her shoulder. “Emma loser! I not pass out. I was so worried about you, Han. Don’t worry,” I tried dropping my voice to a whisper, which really didn’t work, “his friends said he’s the good guy.” I tried to give her the thumbs up, but struggled to keep the rest of my fingers down.  

Peter, Hannah and Lila all begin to laugh at my announcement, which clearly everyone heard. Henry walked into the room suddenly, appearing from around the corner. “So the party’s up here now, huh?” he said, surveying us at the table, then seeing Emma sprawled out on the couch. Someone had been kind enough to slip some sweatpants on her so she wasn’t on full display in her tiny white miniskirt.

“We think it’s about time to get us out of here. Emma and Alex need their beauty rest. And to puke probably,” Lila said. ”Oh, it’s going to be a long night for those two.”

I jutted my lower lip out. “No! No puke. Gross. Just sleep.”

“Let me go grab Carmen, then we can head out.” Lila disappeared down the stairs and Hannah gently removed me from her lap. Well, aimed for gently, but my limbs were feeling like all the jello shots I had taken and I fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. I frantically tried to keep my dress down, wondering which pair of underwear I had decided on that night and if I wanted to show Henry them at that moment. I wanted to get up, get to my feet and locate my clutch, which had fallen out of my hands at some point, but the tiled kitchen floor was just so comfortable. Just another minute down there…

Suddenly, I was being swooped into the air by a pair of strong arms. My eyes flew open, and I realized that Henry had picked me up off the floor, cradling me in his arms like a baby. Heaven. I snuggled into his broad chest, feeling giddy with excitement. I remembered feeling happy, tingly and maybe a tad sweaty. I didn’t remember passing out in his arms, having to be carried out to Hannah’s car, throwing up out the window on the ride home, having Carmen carry me into the dorm, throwing up more once I got home, and then throwing a fit when no one would order me a pizza. None of that was in my memories, but the girls were nice enough to fill me in the next day as I cleaned Hannah’s car and suffered through my hangover. Halloween. Gets me every time.