innocence // jai brooks

chapter 10

School on Friday goes by painstakingly slow and I finally arrive home from school alongside my friends. "What do you guys think I should wear?" I rifle through my closet, but nothing seems to catch my eye.

"Definitely something more casual," Josie tells me and my friends nod their heads in agreement. "What about this?" She searches through her bag and pulls out a skintight black dress and I can't help but laugh, because I would look ridiculous in that.

"That must be yours," I point out with a giggle. Josie nods her head and walks toward my closet.

We dig through piles of clothes, before we come to the perfect outfit. We decide on black high waisted jean shorts, a floral crop top with little poms outlining the edges and some classic white chunky heels. I curl the ends of my hair and throw it up into my infamous half-up half-down hairdo. After I finish getting ready I hear the doorbell ring and I get instantly anxious.

"Be careful tonight," Josie warns me. I give her a nod and and answer the door.

"Wow, you look amazing," Jai's eyes widen at me as I open the door.

"Thanks," I try not to blush as I follow him out to his car. He opens the door for me and I quietly thank him. "So where are we going?" I ask him as he starts his car.

"I figured we could go to this bar-type place around the corner. I spend most of my time there and I wanna show you it," He tells me.

I nod my head and the rest of the drive is silent, with quiet music as a background noise. A few minutes later, we pull up to a small building with the words "Marty's" on it. There's around 10 cars in the parking lot.

He leads me into the bar and I am pleasantly surprised when I walk in. Laughter immediately fills the air, the atmosphere seems so happy. We make our way towards a small table next to a pool table. "You ever played?" Jai asks, referring to pool.

"A fews times," I respond, while looking around the place. It is filled with mainly college students laughing and buying each other drinks.

"Hi!" A pretty woman chirps as she walks up to us. "Can I get you two something to drink?"

I glance at Jai. "Can I get an iced tea?" He politely asks.

"Sure thing, Jai. And for you?" I'm surprised by the fact this woman knows Jai's name.

"Um, I'll have the same thing," I tell her and she nods her head and walks away.

"So. You two know each other?" I curiously ask Jai as we sit down across from each other.

"Yeah, but it's not what you think. I come here a lot when I need to get away. I found it the day I moved to America. They've sort of become my second family," He looks away for a second and a wave of relief washes over me. "Look, Ariana I'm so sorry for being a complete douche to you,"

"It's okay, really," I assure him. A smile appears on Jai's face.

"You wanna play?" Jai asks as he looks at the empty pool table beside us. I nod my head in agreement. "Okay, let's make it interesting," Jai smirks.

"What do you have in mind?" I question.

"If I win, I get a kiss. And a second date," Jai tells me.

"And what if I win?" I giggle.

"Well, what do you want?" He looks me up and down and smirks.

"If I win, you have to buy me a pair of shoes," I laugh.

"C'mon really? That's it?" Jai inches toward me and I can feel my pulse beat faster. He places his hand on my hip. "What do you really want?"

You. "If I win, you have to give me your shirt," I don't know what else... I'm not good at flirting, obviously.

"I'd give it to you anyways, but fair enough," I watch as Jai sets up the game. He hands me my stick.

"Shit. You're good," I pretend to be sad as Jai wins the game.

He walks toward me. "I think you owe me something," He smirks. I take a step towards me and grabs my waist with his large hands. I place my hands around his neck and lean in. Our lips crash into each other. His warm tongue runs along mine as he grips me harder. I slowly break off the kiss. He looks at me, while I look around to make sure nobody is staring. "Wanna get out of here?" He whispers in my ear.