Not Without You [Chris Evans]

19

Megan's POV

When we reached the dance floor, Tom took me by the hand, agilely weaving his way through the packed floor and keeping me behind him. The group was where we'd left them and they'd poured out a bunch of shots, so they must have convinced the bartender to sell them the whole bottle of tequila. I let go of Tom's hand as we came up next to Sadie.

"Are you okay?" she asked, a worried look on her face.

"I'll be fine, boss. Sorry about that; I had to get rid of some rubbish."

"Andy?" she asked, searching my face. "Tell me you broke up with him."

I nodded, lips twisting wryly. "The arsehole's been cheating on me – and he had the nerve to accuse me of cheating!"

"Let me guess - the day you broke that bottle of cologne? I'm sure you still smelled like it when you got home. It took all night to get the smell out completely; I think I can still smell it sometimes."

"I think so too. That was some pretty strong stuff!" I said with a grimace. "But yeah, since I came home reeking of men's cologne, I must be cheating. It took forever to get rid of the smell – I'm convinced those shoes still smell like it."

"There you are!" Chris said when he turned around and saw me, smiling and holding out a hand to me. "I thought you'd chickened out or something. Are you sure you still want to do this?"

I raised an eyebrow at him as I let him pull me closer to him, feeling like I couldn't catch my breath under his direct stare. The fact he was still touching me didn't help, either. I let go of his hand, taking a deep breath before replying. "Of course; it's fine if you don't, though - I'll just never let you forget about it."

"I wasn't backing down, I was just giving you one last chance to save face - Ariel." He smirked when he said the nickname, deliberately provoking me as he picked up a glass and handed me one. I felt the same electric tingling as I usually did when my fingers brushed his.

"Don't call me that, Johnny Storm."

"Oooh! Bringing out the big guns. Drink up," he said with a smirk.

"Salud!" I raised it before tossing it back, setting the glass upside down on the tray as Chris did the same.

"Cheers!" He said as we took another. This was really a very good tequila – no afterburn and a nice flavor. I listened to the teasing going on around us, finding that I was still enjoying myself.

"You know you don't really have to prove anything, Roşu," Sebastian said as he came up behind me, slinging an arm around my shoulder.

I shook my head at him. "I can't simply back down now, Baz. This is a matter of honor. How do you say 'cheers' in Romanian?"

"Noroc," he replied, grinning at me.

"No rock?" I said, making him laugh at my poor pronunciation.

"Noroc."

"Got it." I picked up another glass, toasting. "Noroc!"

Not to be outdone, Chris took another one right away, saying, "Another!" Sebastian let go of me as he burst into laughter, clapping loudly.

"Good one, punk!"

"Don't you dare break that glass, Evans!" Sadie said, glaring at him when he pretended to throw it down. "It's from Thor, which you haven't seen yet," she said to me as they all laughed, clearly understanding the reference that I didn't get. "We'll watch it eventually."

"Sláinte," Tom offered from beside me. "It's Gaelic, but we hear it a lot back home."

"Sláinte!" I said gamely - most likely murdering the word from the way both Tom's laughed - as we clinked glasses before tossing back another and adding the glass to my collection.