Always There

Chapter Sixty-Six

Chapter Sixty-Six:

Bryce's POV

"So, Bryce, how about you tell me a little bit about yourself?" the blonde sitting on the couch next to me asks.

I think her name is Bailey. I'm honestly not sure. I just know that she's drunk as fuck, and is therefore unable to read the signs that I am clearly not interested in her.

Theodore and Lydia and the other three people that came over for dinner are all still chatting in Theodore's kitchen, but when I went to the living room for some space, this one girl felt the need to follow me. Unfortunately, she just happens to be the only one in the group who's drunk and therefore acting obnoxious, not to mention that I'm also fairly certain that her boyfriend is one of the guys in the kitchen.

I take another sip from my glass of water. I still haven't touched alcohol since when I got drunk at my dad's house after finding out that Mateo and I are brothers, despite how dark a place my mind has drifted to over the past couple months.

Apparently I take too long to respond to Bailey or Bethany or whatever the fuck her name is because suddenly, one of her hands is on my shoulder, her fingers smoothing down the material of my T-shirt.

"Bryce? Are you okay?" she asks me sweetly.

I blink at her. I consider shrugging her hand off of my shoulder, but I'm really not in the mood to get into an argument with this girl.

"Yep. I'm fantastic," I respond dryly.

Once again, she's unable to take a hint, and so she thinks that I really do feel fantastic and that she's the reason for it.

She giggles and blushes. "Really?"

I resist the urge to cringe, and instead, I just remain silent.

Bailey continues to speak. "So what do you do for fun, Bryce?" she asks me with a suggestive undertone.

I blink down at her. "I like to read. And I like songwriting. But I really like reading. And cooking. And working out."

Bailey's eyebrows raise. I watch her bite down on her bottom lip for a moment before she says, "Reading? Really? That's sexy."

This surprises me, and I almost laugh, honestly.

"What the hell is sexy about reading?" I ask her.

She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. But there's something sexy about watching a man read a book."

I resist the urge to bury my face in my hands and groan.

Instead, I turn to face her and ask, "Do you like to read?"

She laughs. "No, of course not! Reading is just so . . . boring."

I look her right in the eye for a moment.

And then, exasperated, I stand up from the couch.

"All right. This conversation is too much for me to handle. What are you trying to accomplish here?" I ask abruptly, crossing my arms against my chest.

I watch as Bailey's eyebrows raise. "I was trying to be nice. Jesus Christ," she mutters.

With a groan, I exit the living room and head right into the kitchen, hoping to escape that maniac in the living room.

Lydia's leaning against the refrigerator, and so when her eyes meet mine and she smiles, I head straight towards her.

"That girl in the living room? She won't stop touching me. It's fucking annoying," I say, leaning against the fridge next to Lydia.

She laughs, patting me on the shoulder. "It's difficult having as pretty a face as you do, isn't it?"

I pinch her in the arm. "Leave me alone. I'm sure there are plenty of other attractive men in the world who would actually be interested in her. I'm just not one of them."

Lydia grins at me wickedly. "No, you're not, because you're only interested in pretty brunette girls with hair down to their hips, wide eyes, and an air of innocence."

I roll my eyes at her. "Maybe I've fucked forty-seven girls since I broke up with Lexi."

Lydia raises her eyebrows. "Impressive."

I take another long sip from the glass of water in my hands. "I might head out. I promised my dad I would call him tonight. He's getting married soon, and he wanted to chat about wedding details."

I watch as Lydia gets a thoughtful expression on her face. She purses her lips together for a moment before saying, "We were thinking about going out for drinks elsewhere in a few minutes, actually. Are you sure that you don't want to come along?"

I hold up my glass of water for her to see, swishing the water around in the glass a little bit. "You do realise that when I say that I don't drink, I mean it, right? I haven't touched alcohol in a really long time. It's just not my thing anymore."

Lydia takes the glass of water out of my hands and takes a large sip, grinning. "I know. You don't have to drink. I just think that you should come along with us. It'll be good for you."

I give her a doubtful look, but when I open my mouth to speak, she cuts me off.

"Please? I know that Theo has never been the nicest to you, but I promise that if he says anything especially rude to you, I'll beat him up," she says quietly, so that I'm the only person in the room who's able to hear her.

I take my glass back from her hand. "I think Theo would actually like to be beat up with you, Lyds, so I doubt you'd be doing me much of a favour."

Lydia elbows me in the side, playfully. "Oh, stop. So you'll come out with us tonight? I promise that it'll be fun."

As I contemplate my answer I look down at her, meeting her hopeful emerald eyes, coincidentally the exact same colour as the T-shirt that I'm wearing.

A/N: Another short chapter but it's just because combining Lexi and Bryce's POVs right now just doesn't feel right at the moment for obvious reasons.

Nonetheless, I'm trying really hard to continue with these daily uploads to make up for the fact that this chapter is half the length of my usual chapters. I really hope that you guys are enjoying the updates. <3