Moments of Reckoning (4 page)

All I could do was laugh at her and shake my head. Looking back at Jason I noticed he had the oddest look on his face, almost like he was upset or hurt.
I wonder what is going on with Jason; he has been acting strange ever since we got in line. Maybe I can get him off to the side so I can ask him about it without Abby or Xavier jumping in on the conversation.

As we entered Silhouettes
, my mouth almost hit the floor. All the black, white, and red splashed all over the place made it feel like we had stepped into another world. The bar was very sleek with a black wooden top and the bottom was solid white with silhouettes of people moving all over it. It stretched the length of the back of the place, which was rather large. Five bartenders, two women and three men, were decked out in the same color scheme as the bar with very elaborate masquerade masks.  The walls were backlit, creating a white glow, with black silhouettes of woman and men dancing about as black silhouettes coming from behind it. The floor was made of large checkered tile’s that were also black and white but splashed with glitter. Drapery hung from the center of the ceiling and reached out in all directions connecting to the walls. The sections were split by color, one white, one black, and one red then repeated until they met in the center.  The dance floor was huge and took up most of the center of the room, with large high tables outlining it. To the left of the bar when you walk in, there are about five steps that led up to a section labeled VIP. From where we were standing you couldn’t quite tell what the VIP section looked like but since Lan decided to be so generous, we were about to find out.

“Right this way
, Hannah.”

Landon led us u
p to the VIP section. He didn’t even have to say a word to the bouncers who were working the ropes, they simple nodded their heads at him and off we went up the stairs. To my surprise, this was a whole separate bar in itself, with a back entrance/exit door hidden away between two smaller bars that looked the exact same as the one downstairs. Everything was laid out in the same manner as it was downstairs but it seemed more private and low-key.

There were a good two hundred p
eople within the VIP section—that was taking a wild guess at the number. The sad thing is you could probably fit our whole apartment in this part of the bar alone. Needless to say, this is the biggest and most elaborate bar anywhere on the strip or within a good fifty mile radius. Landon continued walking until we came to a large circular booth with a long black-and-white checked table in the center. The centerpiece was rather eye catching itself, a thin vase full of large black and red feathers with pearl-like pebbles filling the bottom half. I’m pretty sure the look on my face said it all and by the comment from Abby it was pretty obvious that I was blown away by how elaborate everything was.

“Han, you need a tissue for all that drool?”
she laughed.

“Don’t act like you’re not taken back by how outstanding this bar is!”

“Honestly, I’m thinking about getting a job here myself; this place is
badass
! Not to mention the hotties that work here.” She was bouncing up and down from excitement.

“
Just let the bartenders know if you all need anything. Since you all are VIP you have a hundred dollar credit for a tab, it’s something the bar is doing for the College Night Life event, anything over that you will have to pay.” Landon explained to me, gently grabbing the back of my arm so that I would turn to face him.

Hugging Landon, I let him know how much I appreciated what he was doing for us tonight.
Before I realized what I was doing I was placing a swift kiss on his cheek. Mentally smacking myself numerous times, I began glancing around to see if anyone noticed what I had just done—and of course, everyone had. Abby gave me a wink as Xavier and Jason started heading for the bar. Landon on the other hand, didn’t even flinch. He simply continued to tell me that he was going on break within the next half hour or so and he would come find me then. I slid into the booth and waited for Abby to bombard me about what had just happened, but to my surprise she didn’t even bring it up. Instead, she practically begged me to let her sit on the end so that Xavier couldn’t sit beside her—which kind of surprised me. I suppose she needed some space between the two of them after all of those embarrassing comments he had made earlier.

Before Jason and Xavier could make their way back to the table the DJ started playing a remix of Taylor Swift’s
I Knew You Were Trouble
. The next thing I knew, I was being pulled up from my seat and away to the dance floor. The music blared from all corners of the room with a slight techno feel to it. I’m not a big fan of pop music, but dancing to it was a lot easier than thrashing and head banging to rock.

“HAN!!!! This song is PEEERFECT!!!!” Abby shouted over the music.

“Perfect as in how?” I shouted back while spinning around Abby. By the time I turned back around Abby had danced her way through a group of people so I couldn’t quite hear her response. Laughing it off, I kept on dancing.

I have always loved to dance
, and I’m pretty good at it if I say so myself. It’s pretty much the only reason I like going out to the strip. These bars usually have a wide variety of music, DJ’s, and bands so it never gets old. The lyrics to the current song finally caught my attention and I instantly knew what Abby was trying to say to me about this song. One word—Xavier. Laughing at how perfect the lyrics seemed to fit her current situation, I realized how bad of a situation it could actually end up being.
Oh, Abby…
What am I going to do with you and your love triangle?!
I have to admit I am kind of jealous. My life is quite loveless; a love triangle would sure spice things up a bit.
Hmmm…It could be interesting…
Off in my own little world I shut my eyes and continued dancing. Bumping smack dab into someone—a very muscular someone at that—I cursed under my breath. Next thing I knew, I found myself falling backwards towards the floor.
Oh shit!

Chapter 4

Waiting to feel the smack from the floor, I found myself being pulled up into the arms of the very muscular someone I initially danced into. I decided to brave the situation and open my eyes. Cautiously doing so, I peeked up through my lashes to find myself glancing up at Landon who was half heartedly smirking at me. Instantly I felt my face flush, followed by a nervous sounding laugh escaping my mouth.

“Nice moves…”
Lan joked while helping me steady myself in front of him.

“
Sorry about that, I was in my own little world.”

“Maybe you should try dancing with your eyes open next time.” He
gave me a wink.

“
I’ll keep that in mind.” Laughing as I lightly smacked his bicep.

“Good call.”

“How did you get free from the labors of being all big and bad?” I asked jokingly.

“One of the other bouncers wanted the later break so I told him I would switch
with him.”

About that time the music slowed as the lights dimmed. Landon and I were standing there looking at one another
until he asked me if I would like to dance. Shaking my head yes, he took me back into his arms as we moved along with the sweet melody of the song. At first we didn’t say anything; we simply let the music guide us around the dance floor, as I closed my eyes. But that was short-lived.

“Hannah
...?” my name came out of his mouth in the form of a question.

“Yes.” I responded
, glancing up at him.

“How come we never dated last semester?” He asked in almost a whisper.

The question left me dumbfounded.
Did he really just ask me that… or am I seriously dreaming? I honestly don’t even know how to respond... I mean, I have actually never thought about him wanting to date…me. Why would he?! 
Not saying anything for a few seconds I placed my head against his chest.

“I really don’t know what to say.” was all that my mind and mouth would allow me to spit
out. I felt like such a fool, because I was at a loss for words. Landon pretty much confessed that he wanted to date me last semester—in a roundabout way of course—and I was leaving him hanging. I’m pretty sure he took my remark as a shot down because as the song came to an end, he gave me his adorable dimple-filled smile as he walked away without saying another word.
RUN AFTER HIM, YOU FOOL!!!
My mind was screaming at me. But all I could do was stand there in total shock.

A
few long seconds passed before I finally brought myself back to reality. Turning to find Jason, Xavier, and Abby all back at the table, I made my way over to join them and slid into the booth beside Jason, who pushed a beer towards me without even looking my way.
That was odd...
After the moment I just had, I turned the beer bottle up and downed the whole thing.

“
Daaaaamn…Hannah if you keep drinking like that, you’ll put me to shame!” Xavier’s eyes were bulging out of his head at the sight of me downing my beer.

“Another one?”
Jason asks while waving his hand in front of the beer bucket. I shook my head yes, and he slid me another beer.
Hopefully I have some headache meds at the apartment because I am probably going to have a major hang over tomorrow. The night is still young and I am too sober to deal with how it has been unfolding so far.
A group of people stopped at our table to chat with Xavier. Apparently they were some of the crowd he had been hanging out with recently during his crazy weekends at the frat house where his brother lives. He introduced all of us but I honestly couldn’t concentrate on anything except how the night had been unfolding, so catching their names escaped me. A few minutes later Xavier’s crew wandered off into the lower level of the bar.

Holding his hand out
to Abby, Xavier grinned wickedly, “May I have this dance?”

“If I dance with you, you’ll probably fall head over heels in love with me.” She was smiling up at him.

“Try me…”

“Why c
ertainly, but be careful not to fall in love with me Xavier.” She warned him.

“If only…” Xavier replied
, snatching her up from the booth by her hand and leading her out onto the dance floor.

That left
Jason and me sitting alone in awkward silence as I peeled at the label of my beer bottle. Glancing over at Abby and Xavier, I couldn’t help but envy what I saw. They looked so happy, acting like goof balls dancing around the room to whatever song the DJ decided to spin. Seeing Abby in a better place, than she was this morning, put me at ease. Anytime she isn’t her normal bubbly self, I tend to worry.

“Would you tw
o like a shot?” a waitress asked as she stopped at the end of our table. Jason was glancing at me with his eyebrow raised so I shook my head yes. Grabbing two vials of blue liquid off the tray she was holding, he handed one to me. “This looks interesting...” he said while investigating the smell of it.

“It’s a n
ew shot we have tonight called Ecstasy. Don’t take too many or you may end up off somewhere private—if you know what I mean.” The waitress was smiling as she turned and walked away.

My face flushed almost instantly at her comment. Trying to change the now awkward atmosphere
, I decided on a toast, “To tonight!” I said, holding the vial slightly in the air.

“To tonight!”
Jason countered while smiling at me. Throwing the blue liquid to the back of my throat I moaned at the taste of it.
Mmmm… such a nice blend of sweet and warmth rolled into this blue voodoo of a drink.

“How abou
t we get out of this booth?” I suggested to Jason and began scooting him towards the edge of the seat.

“I think that’s a good id
ea, care to dance?” he asked grabbing a hold of my hand. I shook my head yes and he pulled me towards the dance floor.

Pushing thro
ugh the now thick crowd, we found Abby and Xavier definitely getting their “freak on”, as the song suggested. They were pressed so closely together I’m sure a breeze couldn’t even find a spot to move through, Abby’s back to Xavier’s front as she was snaking her way up and down his body like they were the only two in the place. It was one of those situations you felt like you shouldn’t be seeing but you can’t help but to continue to watch. Jason coughed before suggesting that we stay where we were. I couldn’t help but laugh as I began to move to the beat of the song. He wanted to steer clear of them two just as badly as I did, apparently. Jason is a wonderful dancer; he can keep the rhythm of any song—which actually surprised me at first.  We continued dancing song after song until numerous ones had played. We had taken at least three more of those vial shots from waitresses as they made their rounds on the dance floor. Damn those things were good—and most likely dangerous to a light weight like me. Looking around I couldn’t seem to find Abby or Xavier but I assumed they were off in the corner somewhere sucking face after their previous antics. Even though I did not agree with this for more than one reason, I wasn’t sticking my nose in the middle of it. Abby hadn’t broken up with Alex and Xavier knew this. But she is a grown-ass woman and it’s her decision to make… not mine.

The music began to slow again
. Finding myself quite drunk, I was staring at Jason like I was about to ravish him, as a cheetah would a gazelle. I realized what I was doing and tried to cover it up by grabbing two more vials from a passing waitress and handed one to Jason.

Shew
-Wee… I haven’t drank this much since I was sixteen at a field party; that night ended in me being passed out face-down in the backseat of a friend’s pickup truck. God, I hope I don’t pass out before I get home tonight and relive a night like that one.

Jason threw back the shot just as I did
. Placing the now empty vials on the table beside us, Jason pulled me into him. At this point I could tell he was almost as buzzed-up as I was, but I wasn’t complaining about my current situation of being wrapped up in his arms. Jason had never handled me like he has tonight; it was rather nice, even though I knew it was probably the alcohol’s fault.

“I wonder where Xavi
er and Abby ran off to.” He spoke in my ear as we continued to move with the music. I shrugged my shoulders in response as I lowered my head against his chest. Breathing in his sweet scent—a mixture of his cologne, alcohol and sweat—was overwhelming, and seemed to make me even more intoxicated than I already was. I kept fighting back the urge to reach up and kiss him because I knew that would be a game changing moment and I was too terrified to tread on those grounds.
Oh, Jason, if only you felt for me like I do for you…
I thought to myself. I felt someone smack my backside and snapped my eyes open to find Abby and Xavier slow dancing beside us. She flashed me a guilty grin with a wink. I halfheartedly smiled back at Abby before closing my eyes again and snuggling closer to Jason’s body.

“That was an awfully big sigh.” Jason’s voice startled me.

“I didn’t realize I had sighed. Sorry about that...”

“Don’t be sorry
… Are you all right?”

“Better than ever actuall
y,” and when I looked up at him I saw something in his eyes change. It was like the whole world had disappeared and Jason was looking at me…only me. It felt like the room temperature raised a good ten degrees as I found myself lost in his glance. My legs began to feel weak when I felt Jason’s grip around my body tighten as he pulled me closer to him. With no room left between us, our bodies fit perfectly together, moving from side to side to the beat of the music. In that moment…that stand-still moment, Jason leaned down and kissed me. He kissed me deeper than I have ever been kissed before as time seemed to stop dead in its tracks. Without even considering my next move, I found myself moving one of my hands up into his hair. He responded by biting my bottom lip before continuing to ravish my mouth—one delicious kiss at a time.
Is this really happening?!
My mind was screaming with joy.
He has got to be drunk off his ass to kiss me after all these years...
Drunk or not, I didn’t care. This was the moment I had been waiting for since eighth grade and I sure as hell wasn’t about to ruin it by over-thinking things.

It didn’t take long to be knocked back into reality by the loud voice of Xavier arguing with another guy. Jason let go of me about as fast as the whole situation
had unfolded. I turned to my left and found Abby freaking out because Xavier was in the face of someone who looked just like… Alex. “Is that Alex?!” I asked as Jason ran past me to try and calm the situation without even responding to me. As the voices grew louder and louder I heard Alex threatening to beat Xavier half to death before switching to yelling profanities at Abby. All it took was Alex calling Abby a whore and Xavier threw the first punch that made contact to the right side of Alex’s face. Alex fell back as Xavier lunged forward. Knocking them both to the ground, he continued to punch him. I tried to grab a hold of Abby to pull her from the mess but I failed miserably, we both slid and fell. Busting my ass on the hard floor, Abby landed on top of me.

“Son of a bitch
..!” I yelped as Abby jumped up and headed back into the middle of the royal rumble. By this time Xavier’s crew from earlier had made their way over. They were yelling back and forth to three guys that seemed to be on Alex’s side. One looked vaguely familiar to me but in my drunken state I didn’t have time to process why. I couldn’t find Jason in the crowd but I knew he was in the middle of it all. Before I could get up from the floor the fight became larger. Xavier’s friends and the three guys went at it, causing a frenzy. Sliding back on the floor, to avoid being trampled, I felt hands around my arm that drug me up to my feet.

“What the hell Hannah, I gave you and yo
ur friends a free pass in here only for you all to start a damn fight?!” Landon voice was laced with anger.

Apparently it wasn’t as good to see Landon as I
had thought. He was pissed and had every right to be.

“Landon I….”

“Save it, Hannah. You all need to leave…
NOW
!”

“I don’t know where anybody is…”
my voice came out in a whisper. My head began to spin, causing me to stumble. Landon grabbed a hold of my arm to steady me.

“Ugh... Hannah
, you’re drunk…What am I going to do with you? No wonder you were on the floor in the middle of a fight!”

“Let go of her…” Jason’s voice came
from behind me.

You have got to be kidding me… Good thing I decided to tie one on tonight because this shit is straight up ridiculous.
“Jason, it’s not what it…”

“You
don’t
want to go there pretty boy.” Landon placed me to his side.

The next few seconds seemed to go on
forever as they sized each other up and I tried to regain my composure.

“WILL YOU TWO STOP!
” my voice finally broke through in a raspy growl. “Alex and Xavier have started World War Three over there and now the two of you are going to act like children?! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”