Koda

Chapter 9

Koda

Damn. God fucking damn it. To hell with everything. As Gracie descended the stairs like some fucking angel that god forgot in that tight black dress all I could do not to kick the shit out of her date, who was looking down at the floor. She was beautiful. I mean, I already knew that but still. It was not the first time I wished I was in someone else's shoes as Gracie went on a date. My late teens had been a mess when Gracie had discovered boys. But somehow this time felt different. Nathan didn't deserve her. Something about the boy still didn't sit well with me and judging by Adrian's behavior he felt the same way. Something about the boy just made you feel uneasy.

"Hello," Nathan said as he reached for Gracie's hand and kissed her cheek. I couldn't help it. The snare was out of my mouth before I could stop it as I found myself staring at the couple before me. Adrian sent me a warning look. Shit.

However Gracie and Nathan didn't seem to have heard me. I was quiet as Nathan said goodbye and pulled Gracie out of the house into his car. I was standing as still as I could until we heard the car drive away and then Adrian exploded on me.

"WHAT THE HELL KODA!?" he shouted at me as he shoved me into the wall behind me. I couldn't look him in the eyes so I looked down at the floor. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?"

He shoved me again and I took it. I felt like shit and my reaction had been out of line. Gracie was happy. She was going on her date with her crush. I had nothing to do with it. I just had to play the part as her brother like I always had so why. Why was I finding it so fucking hard to do lately?

"YOU WEREN'T, WERE YOU!?" Adrian was still screaming at me. I locked eyes with him and I could see he was angry at my behavior but still felt for me. He stopped shoving me when I looked at him and his voice became low.
"If you are going to act like an ass you do that but you have no right to act like that towards her since you can't act on your own god damn fucking feelings," he said as he stared me down. Adrian was taller than me. Not with a lot but enough. "Don't come complaining to me when you feel sorry for yourself."

I had had enough. Without a word I stepped out of the house and drove off. For a while I just drove until I ended up outside the bar I worked at. I wasn't working today but it was Friday and I could always go in for a drink. Drinking seemed like a bad idea but heck, good ideas seemed hard to come by today. Gracie's date had been bugging me all day and now she was out on it. All I wanted to do was forget about it. So I went into the bar and sat down on a chair by the bar, not really looking to talk to anybody. All I wanted was to drink so I could forget.

Brad gave me a look and then started serving me. By now he knew what I liked to drink and he poured me a beer and a shot of tequila. Usually I didn't drink the shot and I looked up at my boss.

"You looked like you needed it," he said with a shrug before he got back to work. I downed both drinks in a matter of seconds and in a few more I had new ones in front of me.

Two hours later I was six beers in and equally as many shots. I was definitely drunk and my brain was lulled into a false sense of security. I was talking to two men beside me whose names I couldn't remember but I knew I was talking about my dream to open a restaurant with them. They seemed interested enough, giving me tips on the trade.

"Can I cut in?" someone asked on my other side. I turned around to find Zoey Hastings looking at me with dreamy eyes. I had seen those eyes before too many times. Zoey Hastings came in frequently at the bar and everytime she tried to get me to leave with her. It didn't matter if I was working or not. She had blond long hair, legs for miles, big brown eyes and freckles on her nose. I wasn't stupid. I knew she was hot and that she could get anyone in here. In my drunken haze I felt lucky to have the attention of such a beautiful woman on me.

"Yeah, sure," I said back and gave her a charming smile. She gave me one back.

"Want another shot?" she asked and before I could answer she placed one before me. I downed it in one go and she smiled at me more brightly.

"So Zoe, here alone tonight?" I asked her as I took another sip of my beer. She sipped on her whatever drink with a straw and my eyes were drawn to her lips.

"Yeah, or I was here with friends but they all left a while ago," she told me. I could barely hear what she said over all the noise and I leaned closer to her.

"How could they," I said back, giving her another charming smile. I could tell she was falling for it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with her but at the moment sleeping alone just felt worse than being with even Zoey. She leaned in even closer and smiled at me again.

"Want to hear a secret?" she asked.

"Do tell," I said, sounding far more interested than I was as I was looking down the cleavage of her shirt. It was giving me the perfect view of her breast.

"I have sort of wanted to get you alone for a really long time now," she giggled. Heck, I knew that. Fuck I was definitely drunk. I was sure of it as I crashed my lips into hers. She tasted like her drink and she was too eager in her kissing. I didn't enjoy it at all but in my drunk brain it was enough. Enough for what I didn't know. Why was I even here? I had forgotten about it some shots ago.

As I was helping Zoey back to the house not 20 minutes later I was laughing happily in the blizz the alcohol came with. We tried to go up the stairs to my bedroom silently but failed miserably but laughed all the same. As I closed the door to my bedroom I saw Adrian look out of his room giving me a look that said This is your fucking mess, you clean it up tomorrow. I didn't care. I had a beautiful woman in my bed. Just as I was about to kiss her again it came over me. The nausea. The world didn't seem so great anymore. Zoey didn't seem so great anymore. What was I doing? Before I could dwell on it I puked. Zoey shrieked away from me and then everything became black.

***

I woke up the next morning feeling like shit. I deserved it. Zoey was sitting at the end of my bed in some borrowed clothes.

"Shit, Zoe, I'm sorry," I said as I put a hand over my eyes.

"Nah, it's okay," she said and I peeked at her from under my arm. "You would be surprised how often that happens. Anyway, I will be borrowing these clothes. I will return them to your work."

"You can keep them," I said back with a weak smile.

"Thanks, I took a shower after I helped you," she said. "I hope you don't mind but I changed your sheets and your clothes as well."

Well that explained why I was wearing other clothes and why my sheets were clean.

"No, I don't mind," I said back and she nodded before she stood up.
"Well then, I will take my leave then," she said and left. As I turned around I saw the necklace at the bedside table. I took it and stood up not really caring if my head was killing me or the fact that I looked like a mess. I opened the door to see that Zoey hadn't made it far.

"Zoe, you forgot your necklace," I said, handing her the item and she took it. Just then my eyes fell on who she had been talking to and my eyes locked on Gracie. Shit. I froze. Zoey looked at me and then at Gracie before she looked back at me.

"Thanks," she said and put the necklace in her bag. "I need to go, thanks Koda for last night." She leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"She's cute Koda, take good care of her yeah?"

I couldn't help the blush that rushed to my cheeks. She gave me a knowing smile before she kissed my cheek and left. How could she know how I felt so easily but the woman in front of me now had no idea, and by the way she looked pissed. Fuck. I had screwed up good. How the hell was I supposed to get out of this?

**Authors note: I am so sorry for the delay in this chapter. To be honest between work, school and a very busy social life as well as my own mental health Koda sort of fell between the cracks. Anyway, here is chapter 9. I will post two chapters today to make it up to you all. Enjoy the reading.