Bad Influence (Rafe Cameron)

Chapter 6

I walk into Midsummers and sigh in relief when I look around the place, finding no sign of Rafe's face. I immediately go and get myself a drink. I promised myself I wouldn't get drunk and embarrass myself in front of Rafe, but one drink won't hurt.

As if my thoughts were calling to him, he walks in the door and immediately our eyes meet. He gives me a half smile and turns away from me walking towards the bar with Topper and Kelce.

I turn to walk away but I run into a hard chest. I look up to see an attractive blonde haired boy. I recognize him from the party I went to two nights ago.

I step back noticing the wet stain on his shirt and I look down at the cup in my hand to see it's now practically empty.

"I am so sorry." I say, taking another step back. "Stay right here, I'll be back with some paper towel."

I run off before he can answer me and go into the bathroom to get a hand full of paper towel. I quickly leave the bathroom and run back to where the boy is still standing, watching me with an amused expression on his face.

I start wiping off his shirt, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment. I know he's staring down at me but I refuse to meet his gaze.

"What's your name?" He asks, causing me to look up at him. I really shouldn't have looked. I stare into his blue eyes, unable to speak. He's so attractive. His mouth turns up into a cocky grin as if he can hear my thoughts. One of his eyebrows lifts and I shake my head slightly before looking back down at his shirt.

"Claire." I reply, looking up and giving him a small smile before looking back down. "What's yours?"

"JJ." He tells me, grabbing the paper towel out of my hands and wiping at his shirt himself.

I clear my throat awkwardly and take a step back.

He looks up at me and sighs, dropping his hands to his sides.

"Yeah, this isn't coming out." He groans. He shrugs before walking over to the garbage to throw away the paper towel and then comes back.

"I feel like I've seen you around." He says once he comes back, squinting his eyes at me. "You're Topper's cousin aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." I say awkwardly. I don't know how he knows that, but he does. I can also tell by the way he said Topper's name he isn't really a fan of him.

"Huh." He says, still staring me in an odd way. "You're actually pretty hot considering you're related to that loser."

I laugh and smack him in shoulder, choosing to ignore the fact he called me hot. "He's not that bad!"

He scoffs before sending me a goofy grin. "Then you obviously don't know him."

"Apparently we just know very different versions of him." I say to compromise with him.

"Perhaps." He replies, taking one last look at his shirt. "Well I should get going before someone catches me slacking on the job."

For the first time I notice his server's outfit. I gasp and look around.

"I'm so sorry for distracting you. You should really go before I get you in trouble."

He laughs and waves a hand at me dismissively. "I never really do my job anyway but you're right. I'll see you around Claire. Considering you're a kook you're actually pretty chill."

"Thank you?" I laugh. "I hope I see you around too."

He gives me one last smile before disappearing into the crowd.

I go to walk away but this time I walk into a different chest, one that's far too familiar...

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Rafe's POV:

I walk into Midsummers, immediately seeking her out. I can't get her stupid face out of my head. I see her not far from me, standing alone with a drink in her hand. I want to go over there and talk to her but I hold back and follow Kelce and Topper to the bar.

By the time I'm on my third drink I'm already feeling a lot better. A lot lighter, like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest, that weight being Claire. Drinking gets her off my mind. I find myself drinking a lot lately.

"I'm heading to the bathroom." Topper says, standing up and walking away from us.

Kelce leans in close to me and I can smell the alcohol on his breath, making me back up slightly, though I'm sure I smell the same right now.

"You see Claire?" He says, angling his head towards where she stands, talking to that stupid blonde haired pogue. His name is like Jason or something, I don't know. I've never spoken to the guy, but I really don't like how close she is to him right now, wiping something off of his shirt. I clench my fists to keep myself from going over there and beating his face in.

"I have a dare for you." Kelce continues, not waiting for me to answer his previous question. "You need to get her to fall in love with you by the end of summer." He giggles after he says that like he just shared some secret.

I cringe, unsure about it. To be completely honest I'm not sure that I trust myself to do that without actually catching feelings for her. My idea of just sleeping with her once and dropping her seems a lot easier.

"And," Kelce adds, obviously not thinking that was enough, "you need to get her in bed with you by then too."

My stomach turns when he says that. I don't know why it does, I planned on doing it anyway. I'm Rafe Cameron. I'm a player and I don't care about any of the girls I mess around with. What difference does it make that this girl happens to be Claire.

"But you can't let Topper find out of course." Kelce keeps going, obviously unaware of my inner battle.

A part of me doesn't want to do this, but there's no way Kelce can know I don't want to. He would never let it go. My reputation would be ruined. He'd tell everyone. After all it's just Claire. It's not like I actually care about her. She gets on my nerves.

I sigh and run a hand down my face. "How much are you giving me?"

"$500. Just because I know she's going to be a difficult one."

My eyes widen. $500? That's a lot. I realize that might just be the alcohol talking for him, but I can't pass out on that cash. I need that for... things.

"Deal." I say, standing up and walking over to her just as the blonde boy walks away from her.

She turns around and runs into my chest. Here eyes meet mine and I feel the urge to run away. This is going to be harder than I expected.