Intoxicated

Eight

I was fidgeting in the front seat of Dave's car. Hands no longer in Dave's but in my own lap.

Since he'd agreed to go to brunch, he'd also offered to drive us to wherever we were going.

Dave hadn't spoken after talking about Louis Armstrong and I knew something else was definitely on his mind. I wondered if he regretted agreeing to brunch but I also felt like I was being paranoid because I knew just how crazy Bri was and how unpredictable she could be. She could either slide into the car and start talking about her day or she could hop right in and start asking questions about Dave's sex life - unfortunately, the latter had a higher chance of occurring.

"Is that them?" Dave asked, making me look up from my lap.

I spotted Bri, long dark, curly hair in a messy bun. She had a large scarf on to protect her from the New York cold. Beside her, Sam was also wrapped in something that looked equally as warm, his messy dirty blonde hair falling over his green eyes. I smiled and waved when they looked around for Dave's car.

A moment later, Sam was opening the door and sliding across the backseats.

"Nice car man." Sam greeted.

Dave nodded. "Thanks."

"So do you live off campus?" Bri asked as soon as her butt had hit the seat and I immediately turned to give her a glare. She did it every time Sam brought some girl for us to meet and she was going to do it to Dave too. Of course a naive and small part of me had hoped she wouldn't treat this one like she had the others.

Bri shrugged and pretended as if nothing was aloof, as if I wasn't burning holes in her skull or imagining a million different ways I could say something embarrassing during my future maid of honor's speech.

This game she was playing, or Bri's idea of "brunch all together", usually and quickly would definitely become  "20 questions with whoever my friend has invited" and since I've never usually had a date, the only ones she'd played with before were the girls that Sam brought and because they were girls and probably wanted his friends approval, they weren't too annoyed by her interrogation. Dave on the other hand, was a completely different situation. For one, he wasn't even my boyfriend and two, well - he wasn't exactly your average guy - he had a room full of weapons for gods sake! He was not going to, as Bri would say when someone answered all her questions and made a good impression, "breeze through easily". He would probably say something moody and asshole-y and then Bri would definitely go ballistic on him. And I did not want to spoil brunch. Brunch was my safe haven. My few hours of bliss before I dived into school work.

"Yes, I live in Brooklyn." His answer was light but I knew better than to believe his act. It was the same false Dave that had met Bri at the dorms. The "boyfriend" Dave.

I fumbled with my hands, picking at my cuticles as I listened to their conversation.

"You live alone? What do you do for a living?"

I stole a glance at Dave, wondering what he would respond with. A part of me thought these questions could be a good thing, I would learn a lot more than he would ever tell me. Of course that would be assuming he's being honest about them.

"I'm a promoter for a few nightclubs around Manhattan."

My eyes returned back to his face and this time he returned my gaze. I only hoped that I didn't look as dumbstruck or as surprised as I felt.

Is that why we had gone to that club so out of the blue the previous night?

"So you get paid to party?"

The hands on the wheels clenched but I saw no strain in Dave's face or his voice. Instead a chuckle slipped through his lips. All I could think was: fake fake fake.