More Than Friends

Chapter Four

When he got to the apartment, the door was propped open and there were at least twenty-five people crammed into the great room. The music was blaring and everyone had a drink in their hand so Ryan casually walked toward the breakfast bar to check out the selection of liquor. He didn't want to worry about driving home so he had taken a cab. He figured it was worth the cash to not have to crash on the couch if he didn't find anyone to hook up with.

Feeling liberated by not needing to drive, he poured a double shot of Jack and added a splash of Coke. He had just swallowed a mouthful when he felt someone nudge his arm from behind.

"Hey, you made it." When Ryan turned around, he saw Zach standing up and fully dressed. He almost didn't recognize him as the half naked video game zombie from the other night.

"Hey, Zach. Yeah, figured I'd stop by for a bit. Where's Drea?" Zach flinched slightly at the question but quickly recovered his friendly smile and motioned to the other side of the room.

"I think she's talking to a few people by the TV. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

Ryan excused himself and wandered toward the TV. There was a crowd of people hunched over the coffee table and when he got closer, he saw they were playing quarters with tequila.

Ryan had a love/hate relationship with tequila. He loved it until he went to Cabo for spring break his freshman year and has hated it ever since. He kneeled down beside Drea and quickly congratulated her on her job. He wanted to make sure he got credit for showing up, just in case he didn't see her again for the rest of the night. But, by the way she was already slurring her words at ten o'clock. He was pretty confident she wouldn't remember much by morning.

He made a quick pass over the appetizer table then settled on the sofa next to a group of people that he recognized from school. They immediately brought him into their conversation and he learned they were all Zach's friends.

Apparently, Zach was a grad student that taught several engineering classes they were in. Ryan didn't have any kind of programming classes, which explained why he'd never seen Zach on campus. Ryan was studying business so he could open up an automotive fabrication shop someday. He loved all things car related and wanted to do something useful with his passion.

When Zach finally came by to see his friends, he seemed happy that Ryan was with them. He offered to get everyone another drink. When he returned with Ryan's fourth drink of the night, Zach sat down on the corner of the table closest to him. Zach leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and listened to the conversations around him.

"So, how's it going?" he asked Ryan.

"Good. Thanks. What about you? Did you win that tourney?"

"No, I made it to the semi-finals but I was a bit distracted towards the end so I bailed. I do these like once a month so it's not a big deal."

"Shit. I know you had some cash riding on it. I hope I wasn't one of the distractions. I didn't plan to be here all night."

"Oh, no. You were fine. I'm sorry I wasn't more social but I... had a lot on my mind."

Zach seemed to be bothered by something but didn't elaborate so Ryan let it go. They got into a conversation about school. Zach knew many of the professors Ryan had and told some hilarious stories about his time in their classes. Zach was really smart and double majored in Business and Electrical Engineering. Ryan was happy to learn they had a lot in common, both being interested in cars and having grown up in similar small towns.

When people started to file out of the apartment, Zach asked Ryan if he wanted to learn how to play Halo. Ryan was just drunk enough that playing video games in the middle of the night sounded like a great idea.