5 Ways to Ruin Casey Brandt

e i g h t e e n

♡ BRIAR ♡

Casey returns with full mugs and three people trailing behind him.

As I survey the group I take a sip from my drink, noting how the refill is less sweet and more bubbly. Not that it matters. I'll drink anything to calm the erratic way my heart attempts to catch up to my chaotic thoughts. I'm at a bar—with Casey—and I don't think I want to leave.

Maybe I've gone crazy. Or, I've drank far too much. Perhaps I have some sort of quick-acting disease that's affecting my brain. Before I can truly overthink it, Demi's arm loops through mine.

"Do we know these people?"

"No," I reply. "I think they're Casey's friends."

"Best friends," One of the newcomers interjects. His eyes are the first thing I notice, once I get past the looming height. They're dark, almost black, and so serious.

Though we weren't exactly whispering, Demi's neck flushes red.

"Bestest friends," The guy next to him corrects. He's almost bronze—like he just stepped off the return flight from a week-long beach vacation—with curly hair and bright eyes.

A beautiful girl with darker skin, shadowy eyeliner, and deep plum lipstick adds, "Basically family."

I'm pulled into someone's side, an arm snaking around my waist. While my attention was on these two, Casey slipped beside me. I don't have a chance to look up before his lips are beside my ear.

"Nate, Koda, and Mik," he introduces, his finger pointing to each as he says their names.

I follow with my eyes, noticing how their gazes fall on the arm Casey has draped around me. I'm left to wonder how much they know since their expressions don't say much. Do they remember who I am? Was I on their radar at all last year? Was I on it now? When I begin to shy away, Casey pulls me back in. I pinch his arm until he drops it.

Mik comes to stand face-to-face with me. Well, face to neck. She's a good amount taller than I am.

"You look great," she says. "Seriously—I need that dress."

"I think you have it." The tall guy, Nate, says in a bored tone.

"In three colors," Koda adds.

Mik ignores them, "Where'd you get it?"

My response comes out stuttering, "I, uh—"

"It's mine!" Demi chimes in, mug swinging and spilling as she jumps over to us.

"You, my new friend, have great taste. " Mik points at her. "Let's go buy shots."

She stops to glare at Nate, holding out a flattened palm. He drops a black card into it without complaint. And then they're gone, arms linked as they shove their way through. Demi turns around to mouth, I think I like her, before continuing her quest and disappearing into the crowd.

Casey's mouth is beside my ear again, "They're siblings if you couldn't tell."

Ah, that makes sense.

I nod, but my head falls back into his chest. I quickly lean forward to sip from my neon mug. Once. Then twice more.

"Doc—"

"So!" I exclaim, grabbing Nate and Koda's attention. "Any embarrassing Casey stories you'd like to share?"

"So many," Koda says. "Too many. He's a walking embarrassment."

"Thank you," Casey says.

Koda grins at him. "Let's start with the improv class."

By the time Demi and Mik returned with the shots, I had decided that I liked Nate more than Koda. Mostly because he doesn't talk. Instead, he observes. While Koda has slipped into exaggerated retellings of Casey's most embarrassing moments, Nate hung back, looking stoic, and only interjecting where corrections were needed. Out of this entire group, he seems the least like them—the most like me—and I wonder if either of us fits.