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Chapter Seventeen

"I felt really bad leaving you up here alone with her," smiled Alex as he stepped into the room.

"It's okay, she's passed out now so I was just taking a look at these books here," I replied as naturally as possible, glancing down at the desk to back up my story.

"Books?" Alex laughed, "There's a party going on down there! You go and get back to it, I'll stay with Charlotte from here."

Smiling as I agreed with his plan, I thanked Alex before heading out of Noah's room and back downstairs to find Kris, who wasn't hard to pick out in the middle of what was now a crowded living room.

As I'd expected, he was now dancing, surrounded by a group of girls showing off their best moves as most of the guys stood around the edge of the room. The few that had been dragged into the midst of it were being treated as nothing more than human poles; being 'seductively' grinded upon by their dance partner as the bass-heavy R&B blasted out through a full PA system set up in the lounge.

Not feeling the fully clothed orgy that seemed to be happening, I headed out into the kitchen to get another drink. Pouring myself a glass of whatever the hell cocktail had now been mixed up into pitchers, I spotted Holly and Ben sat down the end of the long wooden kitchen table, playing some kind of drinking game with a group of faces I didn't recognise. Taking a gulp of the disgusting mixture, I went to head over to them, before I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of Noah coming in through the patio doors.

I realised I could smell him from the other side of the kitchen. How could that even be possible? Then I remembered his aftershave was on the wrist I was drinking with, and the image of the plastic wallet packed with money flooded back into my mind.

He looked flustered. Maybe it was just the cold outside, but his cheeks and nose were flushed slightly pink and I couldn't help thinking how cute it made him look. I was staring, no doubt about it, as he removed his jacket revealing nothing but a grey T-shirt underneath. The short sleeves were rolled up slightly, revealing his toned, tattooed biceps. I officially couldn't take my eyes off him at that moment, even as he started to make a beeline straight towards me.

"Why did you come here tonight, Abi?" he said flatly, standing only centimetres away from me. "I told you I'm bad news for someone like you, you shouldn't be here."

"What makes you think I'm here for you?" I snorted, narrowing my eyes at the return of his arrogance again. "I'm just here to have a good time with my friends, thank you very much."

"Oh right, and where are these friends right now? Because all I can see is you stood on your own getting wasted."

"Actually, I was just about to head over to join Holly and Ben," I said, gesturing towards the couple, laughing loudly together as they continued their rowdy game at the kitchen table.

"I've only just come in here from the living room, where most people are right now. They're having fun, you should try it sometime," I sneered. "And, before that, I was with Charlotte and Alex up in your room, so don't even try to make me feel like a loser."

"You were in my room?" he asked, his voice almost a growl.

"Yeah, and it's just as weird and soulless as you are, so I wasn't shocked."

"Why were you in my room? Who told you to go in there?"

"Charlotte's sick, so Alex and I were helping her out in your bathroom."

"Someone's being sick in my bathroom? What the fuck?"

Turning his back on me, he strode off forcefully towards the stairs. Maybe it was instinct to protect my friend kicking in, but I swiftly followed him, struggling to keep up as he took the stairs two at a time.