The Choice

Chapter 5

"Wear this," Paige smiles, throwing a short black dress from my closet on the bed as I'm putting mascara on. 

"If you want, feel free to wear anything of mine," I offer. 

"I might just take you up on that offer," Paige grins. 

I take off my casual clothes, putting the dress on after. 

"Heels or wedges?" I ask Paige.

"Heels," we both say in unison. 

I slip my heels on, taking one last look in the mirror. 

"I guess I'm ready," I say, taking a nervous breathe. 

Paige slips on a pair of my wedges to go with the red dress she picked from my closet.

"You look amazing," I smile. 

"So do you," Paige says. 

We head into the living room. 

"Finally. We've been waiting here for over an hour," Luke says playfully. 

"You both look beautiful," Chase smiles, complimenting us. 

"Thank you," we both grin. 

____________

"Dance with me," Paige says, pulling Chase away as we step inside the club.

"Wanna go to the bar?" I ask Luke.

"I'll lead the way," he says, grabbing my hand.

We sit down at the bar, and we order a couple of shots.

"You may not be able to pick up any girls with me sitting next to you," I say.

I down one of the shots, cringing a little at the taste. I'm not a huge alcohol drinker, and when I do drink, it's the occasional glass of wine. 

Luke laughs at me, and I elbow him. He downs both of his shots, and he scans the dance floor. 

"I'm going to test my luck," he smirks, making his way into the crowd.

I down my last shot, ignoring the burn in my throat. I look around, sighing a little. I haven't dated since Ezra, and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. 

"Is this seat taken?" a guy asks, pointing to the seat Luke was just sitting in. 

"It's all yours."

He takes a seat next to me, and I try to take a glimpse. He has short blonde hair, and he's very muscular. 

"Do you have a name?" he asks, smirking at me. 

"Josephine," I smile.

"I'm Andy," he says, reaching his hand out.

I shake his hand, noticing how large it is, compared to my tiny one. 

"Is that short for anything?" I ask.

"Andrew," he grins. 

"My friends call me Jo, so I'm used to the whole nickname thing," I smile. 

"Well, Jo. It's a pleasure," he says, giving my hand a swift kiss. 

I mask my giggle, and he stands up.

"Care to dance?" he asks, holding out his arm. 

I take his hand, and he leads me to the dance floor. We begin to dance, and I see Paige nearby making faces at us. 

Andy spins me around, making me laugh as we dance. We're both not the best, but I think the both the drinks and the crowd hide it, and we laugh the night away.  

A few minutes later, I notice Luke staring me down. I give him a questioning look, and his eyes roam toward the door. I follow his eyes, and I see Ricky, Clay, and of course, Ezra. 

"Excuse me one moment," I say, smiling at Andy. 

I make my way over to Paige, panic striking my face. 

"Why are they here?" I ask. 

"Who?" Paige says.

She follows my eyes, and she sees them too.

"I may have told Ricky to bring Ezra," Luke says, smirking as he joins the conversation. 

"You suck," I say, elbowing him. 

I look over at Chase to see two girls wrapped around him.

"At least Chase is having a good time," I laugh. 

"Just don't worry about them," Paige says, squeezing my arm.

I find Andy again, and we continue to dance.

"Everything alright?" he asks, voicing his concern.

"I think so," I say, trying to put on a smile.

"Who is it?" he asks, looking around.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been looking around ever since you went over to your friends. Someone here is making you uncomfortable," Andy says, hitting the nail on the head. 

"Wow, you're good," I laugh. 

I show him where Ezra is. 

"Who is he?" Andy asks.

"Ex boyfriend, who I still miss horribly," I say. 

I think the alcohol is making me more vulnerable. 

"I've been there. Seems like he misses you, too. I keep catching him looking over here," Andy says.

"He's with someone else," I frown. 

"Well, who's to say we can't have a little fun?" Andy smirks.

He puts his hand under my cheek, and he uses his other hand to caress my face. He leans in, and soon, our lips are meshing in sync together.

_____

"Thanks for such a fun night," I smile at Andy, saving his number to my phone. 

"My pleasure," he smiles, kissing my hand. 

I find Paige and the boys, and we all pile in my car. Chase hasn't been drinking, so he's the designated driver. 

"I cannot believe you kissed him!" Paige laughs. 

"It was just to make Ezra jealous," I smirk, but I also feel a little rotten.

"Well, it worked," Luke smirks. 

"I honestly thought Ezra was going to punch Andy," Chase says.

Andy helped me make Ezra jealous all night. We danced, kissed, drank together, and we looked like we were actually an item. I had a lot of fun with Andy, and I really got to know him better. 

Chase pulls up in my driveway, and we stumble inside. 

"Goodnight," I say, as Paige and I head inside my bedroom. 

"Goodnight," the boys say, heading to the guest bedroom. 

"Do you think Andy's hot?" Paige asks.

"He's cute, but he's not my type," I say, thinking of Ezra.

"Well, I think he's mine. Would you care if I went for it?" Paige asks.

"Of course not. He told me you were cute," I smirk.

"I'm stealing his number from you," Paige grins. 

I start to open my mouth, but I find myself soon drifting into a much needed sleep.  I think about Ezra before I finally fall asleep.