Sweet Like Summer Wine

Chapter 7: Wine

I don't get why Jason keeps making those remarks about Aly. I hear him stroll into the kitchen and pour himself a glass of water. Rain's still sitting there with his head hanging low, and I'm stuck in this super awkward silence.

Jason comes back, taking this huge gulp of water like it's the last drop on Earth. He heads back to the couch and sets his glass down, joining the sea of empty, crushed red solo cups littering the place. Sometimes I wonder where Jason's parents are. They seem to jet out of town every other week. And with Jason being an only child, I guess throwing these epic parties might help him deal with any loneliness he might feel.

I check my phone and it's almost 11 in the morning. Mom thinks I spent the night over at Jason's, but I have no clue when she expects me back home. Usually, she's stern on use attending church on Sunday's, but I lucked out this weekend. I glance over at Rain, and he's managed to lift his head up slowly. Now we're just staring at each other, waiting for something to break this awkward silence.

Then, Jason coughs and straightens up like he's about to drop some wisdom. "Get over it," he says. "Shake hands, and just move on. We've been tight for way too long."

I'm speechless. Part of me wants to squash this conflict ASAP, but I also need Rain to know where I stand with Aly. I really like her. There's something about that mysterious girl from Yorktown that's got me hooked. I don't want Rain disrespecting her again, but I also feel like what happened was totally out of character for him. Maybe his remorse matches the size of his black eye. And that thing's pretty huge.

"Well?" Jason asked impatiently.

I took a deep breath and collected my racing thoughts. "There needs to be some boundaries."

"Boundaries?" Rain's eyebrows raised as he glanced my way.

"Yep," I shot back, a bit determined in my tone.

Jason's voice was laced with irritation. "Wine, seriously, what boundaries? You're sounding just like my mom."

I rolled my eyes out of frustration. "I know. It sounds crazy." I rub my hands together. I can feel my heart racing and feeling vulnerable about talking about this in detail. But it needs to happen.

"I like Aly. I know I met her last night but we talked for a while and I really like this girl. Jason, you know I don't normally make an effort to talk with girls."

"True" Jason nodded. "They normally talk to you first."

I turned to Rain, making sure he was looking at me. Then, straight up, I told him why I got so defensive about her.

"I know it's not right, Rain. I could have handled it differently. I know that. I'm sorry, I am. We have been friends too long to ever let a girl get between us. You're my dude, Rain. My go to. But last night you got too handsy and I got-"
"Possessive" Rain interrupted.

I tilted my head, kinda confused by why he'd say that.

"You get possessive Wine. What's yours is yours. You don't share. Not saying I wanted to share her. That's not my thing. And I didn't expect you to be head over heels for her all of a sudden, pulling her off the market that fast. I'm sorry for whatever I did, honestly, it's all a blur. But, man, you went way too far,"" Rain pointed to his nose and gave me a disappointing look.

"Rain, I'm still getting to know Aly, but I'm really feeling something with her. If you wanna be cool with each other, you gotta apologize to her."

I see Rain urgently move his body to face Jason. "Do you not hear this? Am I seriously wrong?!"

Jason shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his face with his palm.

Rain let out a laugh and sunk into the recliner. "Okay, Wine. Fine. But I will apologize because I want to. Not because you need me to. Do you understand?"

I leaned back into the sofa. "Yes, of course."

"Here's the deal, Wine," Rain said with a smirk, leaning in, his elbows on his knees, mischief twinkling in his eyes.

"What?" I braced myself, wondering what he was about to propose.

"I get one shot at your face. Just one," Rain said, relishing the idea a bit too much.

"I'm game!" Jason exclaimed, jumping up from the couch. "Enough with the lovey-dovey drama. You guys apologized. Rain will say sorry to Aly, and you'll square up for that punch when he was wasted. Fair deal. One punch, and we're cool."

"Even Steven, Wine. All behind us" Rain's practically smiling ear to ear.

Sitting there, I'm trying to figure out how I'll explain this black eye to my mom. And I'm kinda nervous. Rain's a big dude, 6'3, just two inches shorter than me, but he's like a tank. Works on a farm, hoops—why would I even let him hit me?

I slowly get up, closing my eyes for a sec. Taking a deep breath, I glance at my phone. It's almost 11:30 am. All I wanna do is text Aly. But nope, gotta get ready for Rain's revenge.

Jason leads us outside toward the back patio where I obliterated Rain not even 24 hours ago.I can still see a little bit of his blood on the concrete. We move onto the grass, the morning sun beaming down on us, filling my lungs with the scent of summer air.

Rain positions himself in front of me, with Jason acting as the referee. "One clean punch, Rain. No misses, no do-overs, and no retaliation. Got it?" Jason lays down the rules.

Rain nods, a smile dancing on his lips. "You gotta apologize to Aly," I remind him, clenching my fist to embrace his punch.

"Oh, I will. It will be sincere." Rain said while lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet as if he was Rocky.

"On 3, okay?" Jason, the Referee, begins to count...

"One..."

I clench my eyes. Rain is strong. Let's just get this over with.

"Two..."

Here we go.

"There"

I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing for the impact, but all I feel is a fist lightly resting on my jaw. Opening my eyes, I find myself staring at Rain. With a single shove of his fist, he pushes my jaw away. He doesn't strike me. Why?

"Nah... you're not worth it," Rain says, shaking his head. "I'm not like you, Wine. I don't hurt my friends. I'll get over it. But if you ever lay a hand on me like you did again, you won't see my grace like you do now."

I'm too stunned to respond. I look at Jason, who seems just as shocked as I am.

With a blank expression, he tells me he's heading home and that I need to find a ride with Jason. Rain leaves us standing there, speechless. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He broke the deal. Where's my black eye? Suddenly, my decision to harm Rain when he was vulnerable makes me feel like I kicked a dog while it was down. He may have done something wrong, but now I feel defeated too.

An hour passes, and Jason drives me home. I find myself in my room, staring at Alyeeha's contact info on my phone, debating what to text her. Eventually, I settle on something simple.

Good Morning, Alyeeha.

A -Good Afternoon Wine. How are you

She texted back fast. I like that.

I am okay. Rain, not so much.

A-Oh is that so? What happened? Is he okay?

We can talk about it in person. Can we meet up?

A-Tomorrow? I have to be home.

Yeah, tomorrow works for me.

A-Great.

Another Maybe date? 🙂

A-A regular one will do just fine, Mr. Wine.

I nearly jumped out of my bed when I read that response. A surge of excitement fills me. Taking Alyeeha Shore on a date feels like a victory after the drama with Rain. It's a fresh start, and I can't wait to plan something special.