Saving Shaw

One

It would have been easier if I had just lied. Then again, when had I ever taken the easy way out?

"You're kidding me, right? Tell me you can't be serious, Shaw. My brother?" Chris asked incredulously as we sat at a high-top table in the middle of our most frequented bar. It was only four in the afternoon, but Chris had called earlier and asked to meet for some drinks and apps despite having gone out the night before. I had just gotten home four hours earlier when he called and part of me was still hungover.

I said nothing and just stared down at my rum and coke as I tried to hide behind a curtain of my blonde hair. The two limes I had squeezed in the drink floated among the ice cubes and the condensation formed a ring on the cocktail napkin it sat on. The nachos Chris had ordered sat half-eaten between us. "It just happened," I mumbled out.

"So you just happened to sleep with my brother?" Chris said with utter disbelief as he ran a hand through his sandy, blonde hair.

When I woke up around one in the afternoon in Chris's brother's bed, I was confused and then horrified. The memories from the night before were vague, but it wasn't too hard to piece together what had happened after Chris left.

Chris had been my friend since our freshman year of college when I was very limited with the number of friends I had. Limited as in, I didn't have any other friends. I was an American girl that decided to attend school in Canada. More than that, girls never liked me much and most guys were intimidated by my social life. It was no secret that I liked to go out, drink, and party. Most people couldn't keep up. At the time, Chris could.

He'd be my wingman and I'd return the favor. We could party until the bars shut down and that set up worked for us for a while. That was until Chris met Allison. Then he and Allison started dating. Just like that, we started going out less and less frequently. We were still friends and Allison was decent company, but I knew she didn't really like me.

She always showed up whenever Chris and I hung out together. It was as if she thought she couldn't leave him alone with me. She would always make it a point to cling to him like plastic wrap and be overly affectionate. If we went to grab lunch, she would constantly run her fingers through his hair or touch him in some other obvious way as if staking her claim on him.

The worst was when she invited herself to a movie with us and then started making out with him halfway through the movie as if I wasn't even there. I missed the end of A Quiet Place because I had to get up and leave when she started moaning and getting handsy with him in the back of the theater. I was surprised more people didn't hear them and leave.

Don't get me wrong. I was glad Chris had someone who made him happy. If he wanted to be with Allison, then I wasn't going to get in between them. I just missed the fun we used to have together. We used to tear up the nightlife here and now I had to do that alone again.

It was a miracle I was able to convince him to come out with me last night without her, but his brother and some of his other friends were going out so he agreed. We were having a great time and I was one shot away from being completely wasted when he got a text from Allison and decided he had to leave. I begged him to stay out just a little longer, but he wasn't having it. He just told his brother to make sure I got home safe and bailed.

After that, much of the night was a blur. I kept drinking and dancing. Then at one point, I convinced myself that if Chris wanted to bail on our first night out together in months, then I could break the one rule he gave me.

I was angry and it was a petty move, but his brother was hot. I didn't even think about the repercussions my actions would have. I just didn't want to be out at a bar alone again and I wanted Chris to be as upset as I was.