Can I Trust Again? A Woodland Demars Fanfiction

Time to bbq! Part 2 'It's her!!'

Woods' POV

I looked at my watch. It's 4:30. Matt said we could clock off a little early since we're going to his house tonight. I walked to my office and grabbed my stuff. Sam and Cat were cleaning up their stuff as well. "You getting ready to head out?" Sam asked. I nodded, "Yeah. I have to go find Paul and Tanner. Their riding with me." "I thought it was just Tanner riding with you." Cat said. I shrugged. "Tanner asked if Paul could get a ride with us. I have no problem with it." They chuckled. "Well, I'll see you in a little while." I waved as I walked out the door. I sent a vox message asking Paul and Tanner to meet me at Orange Base. I walked into Orange base and saw Paul and Tanner sitting at the table with Mike Badal and Nicole. I looked at Paul and Tanner, "You guys ready to go?" Paul looked up from his phone, "Yeah man. We were just waiting for you." I looked at Mike and Nicole. "Are you guys going to Matt's bbq tonight?" I asked them. Nicole shook her head. "Ashley and I have other plans so we won't make it." "Bummer. We'll miss you." Tanner said. "Mike? How bout you?" "Uh, I'm not sure yet. I might swing by later in the evening but I don't know. We'll just have to see." I patted his shoulder, "We'll be looking out for ya. I'll tell Matt you'll try to stop by." He gave me a smile. "Thanks Woods. I appreciate it." I nodded. "Okay Paul. Tan Man. Let's hit the road. We still have to stop by your houses and get stuff. Who's house are we stopping at first?" Paul painted at Tanner. "My place it is then." Tanner said. We walked out the door and headed to my car. I had picked up Tanner this morning. Gunner had gone out of town due to a family situation. Paul had stayed the night so they both rode with me. I headed to Tanner's place when I got a call from Matt.
"Hey Matt what's up?"
"Just getting ready for the bbq. Amanda wanted to know if you would be able to stop by the store and get some chips and drinks. She's asking Sam and Cat could bring some finger foods and such."
"Yeah we can do that. Is there anything else you need us to get?
"I don't think so. We have everything else. Natalie's bringing cookies and brownies from my understanding."
"Okay. We're stopping at Paul and Tanner's places and then we'll head to the store."
"Alright, sounds good."
"Really quick, Mike said he's not sure if he'll be there tonight but he'll definitely try to stop by."
"Okay. We won't judge him if he doesn't show."
(Tanner)
Nah. We'll just tell him he doesn't have a job anymore. I mean, who could pass up going to Matt's place for a big bbq and swim pool party?
"Very funny Tanner. Alright, I'm going to let you go. I'll see you soon. Bye!"
"Bye Matt"

"Seriously Tan Man?" I looked over at Tanner. He and Paul were laughing their heads off. They obviously thought his smart remark was hilarious. I rolled my eyes and pulled up to Tanner's place. We got out of the car and went inside. I had brought my swimsuit so I just changed out of my pants. I sat on the couch while I waited for Tanner and Paul. It only took us 10 minutes. We got back in my car and headed to Walmart.

*Small timeskip*

Currently Paul and Tanner are arguing about what flavors to get. "Guys, why don't we grab some Doritos and tortilla chips with salsa and bean dip?" I said. They both stopped and looked at me. "We could do that. But what flavor of Doritos should we get?" Tanner pointed to the Cool Ranch Doritos. "The obvious answer to that Paul is Cool Ranch!" I chuckled. Here we go again. "Who actually eats Cool Ranch though?" Paul argued. "We should get the spicy nacho ones!" They started going at it again so I grabbed a bag of each and put it in the cart. They both stopped and looked at me funny. "What? Now you both get the chips you want so you both can be happy and the longer you stand here and argue the longer it is until we get out of here and to the bbq." They both turned a little red. "Now I'm going to go get drinks with or without you and so help me if you start arguing about what drinks to get I'm going to grab some and leave you two here. You can walk for all I care!" They both looked at each other and started laughing. We walked over to the soda aisle and grabbed some Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and Cherry Coke. As we were heading to the check out we saw Sam and Cat getting some side dishes. They saw us walking by and waved. We smiled and waved back. When we got to my car Tanner and Paul were talking about what food might be there. I put the drinks and chips in the trunk and then got into the driver seat. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Matt's place. It wasn't long before I was turning onto Matt's street. As I pulled up I saw that Natalie was parked up front. "Looks like Natalie beat us." Tnner said. "Nice observation skills Tanner! We would've been here sooner if you and Paul wouldn't have taken so long arguing!" I said sassily. I parked the car and popped the trunk. I grabbed the chips, Tanner took the drinks, and Paul took the salsa and bean dip.
Tanner had already gone inside so Paul and I walked in together. When we walked in the front door we heard Tanner yell "Let's get this party started!" Laughter ensued and I could hear greetings being called out. I came to the back door and took a step outside. What I saw next caused me to pause. Standing a few feet from me was the barista from Coffee Express. Alexis. My mind was spinning. She looked just as shocked to see me as I was seeing her! "Hey Woods! Bring the chips over here!" Matt's voice pulled me out of my trance. I walked over to the table that was set up with the food and drinks set out. I looked over to see Natalie walking over to me. "Hey Woods!"  "Hey Nat. SK is that your friend that you've been talking about?" I asked. She looked over at Alexis and smiled. "Yeah. Follow me, I'll introduce you." I didn't have a chance to tell her that we had already met. Although not officially. As we got closer to Alexis she seemed a little tense. "Lexy! I want you to meet Woods." I smiled and stuck out my hand. "It's good to see you again Alexis." Gosh that sounded wierd, and maybe a little creepy. She gave me a small smile and shook my hand. "Call me Lexy." Natalie was really confused. "You've met Woods too?" She laughed at Nat's confusion. It was so hypnotizing. I could listen to her laugh all day. "He was with Pat when they came in on Tuesday at work." Natalie just shook her head. "She's also unofficially met Sam, Cat, and Paul." I said hoping to clear up some future confusion. "Oh okay. So then you know everyone here then." She said to Lexy. Lexy shyly smiled, "Yeah probably." Just then Amanda called for Nat. "Coming Amanda! You guys have fun!" Lexy and I watched as she went to go give Amanda an extra set of hands. I looked back at Lexy who was still watching Nat walk away. In the evening sun she looked so beautiful. Her outfit was adorable. "So how long have you been in California?" I asked. She jumped. "Sorry. Um, I moved here 4 years ago. I've lived with Nat for 2 of those years." I smiled. She's so beautiful I can't help but look at her. We continued to make small talk but I noticed she still looked a little tense. "Are you okay? You look tense? Am I making you uncomfortable?" I ask. She looks a little shocked that I seemed to notice. "I'm okay. Just a little nervous." I don't know why but I got very concerned for her. "Do you need me to go get Nat?" "No! No you don't need to do that! I'm okay really! I'm just not used to this. I haven't been to something like this in a few months is all." I had a feeling she was telling the truth but only partially. Something was bothering her but I wasn't going to push it. Especially since we've known each other only a few moments. I looked around the yard trying to find Nat. I saw that Cat and Sam had just arrived. "It looks like Sam and Catherine are here. Want to go say hi?" I asked her calmly. She relaxed a little, "Sure." We walked over and I "introduced" Lexy to Sam and Cat. Lexy seemed to fully relax around them. It made me wonder if there was something about Lexy that she wasn't telling me. I'll ask Nat later. I went to go find Tanner or Paul and I found them both with Connor and Patrick in the pool. "Hey man! Come on in!" Connor called. I decided why not. I took off my shirt and set it on a chair. I ran and jumped into the pool right next to Connor surprising him causing him to scream. I laughed when I came back up. So far tonight was off to a good start.