Words & Whiskey

EDITED VERSION: Chapter Fifteen

I stepped back, hoping that he would let go of my shoulder, but his grip only tightened. Visions of Kieran flashed through my mind and my mouth went dry. "I-I was j-just-"

"Audrey?" I heard Nathan call from behind me. He began approaching me and the man, his eyes darkened when he saw the man's hand on my shoulder. "Baby, what are you doing here?"

Baby? Did I miss something?

The man gripping my shoulder let go instantly and gave Nathan a weak smile. "Sorry kid didn't know she was spoken for."

Nathan wrapped one of his arms around my waist and pulled me so I was pressed against his chest as he growled out, "Well, she is, Hank."

The creepy man— Hank— huffed and started muttering under his breath as he left the room, slamming the rusty metal door as he did so.

Once he was gone, Nathan quickly grabbed my arm and sat me down on one of the benches by the weights across the room. He ran his hand through his sweaty hair and his hazel eyes locked onto my green ones. "What are you doing here? This is not a place a girl would want to go, especially alone!"

I rolled my eyes at Nathan, trying to play it cool but I knew he was speaking the truth. "If you're trying to scare me, it's not going to work."

"Damn it, Audrey!" He yelled, kicking the punching bag in frustration. "If they didn't know you were with me, all kinds of things would have happened to you. So, I'm asking again, what are you doing here?"

I shrugged and my eyes drifted to the floor, suddenly feeling bad for intruding on Nathan's activities. "I just wanted to know where you go when you disappear and I was worried because of the bruises you seem to always get."

Nathan's features softened, but he still stared at me intently. "You don't have to worry about me, princess. I'm okay."

I scoffed, looking up at him. "I don't have to worry about you? Nathan, look at where we are standing, look at your hands, or look at the giant bruise on your ribs! This is not okay! Not to mention, Darian is extremely upset with you because you said you were quitting smoking and he saw you before you came inside."

Nathan took a deep breath, his shoulders falling as he did so. "You brought my brother? Where is he?"

"He's outside!" I yelled, feeling angry for whatever reason. "He's outside because he looks like a damn marshmallow in his abundance of sweaters and he is going to kick your ass when he sees you for lying to him!"

He let out a menacing chuckle, the one that filled the room. He bent down, placing his hands on his knees and met my gaze. "No one can kick my ass, princess. Why do you think I'm here?"

I gulped as I stared at him. His hazel eyes were narrowed as he looked at me. Seeing them this closely, I found flakes of gold and green.

"I know why you were angry the night Alex came over," I blurted, unsure as to where that came from.

Nathan cocked his brow and gave me a lopsided smirk. "Oh?"

"B-because Alex said I wanted t-to date Jude," I winced, bracing myself for Nathan's response. However, only silence remained in the room. So, I continued, "I only said that so she would shut up, she would have never left if I didn't give her a name."

Nathan let out a sigh. "You don't have to lie to me, Audrey. Date who you want, I don't care." He began to put on his gloves again and looked at me, without a hint of emotion. "You should leave. Take Darian with you."

I opened my mouth to argue, but I quickly shut it when Nathan started pounding on the bag again. I knew this conversation was over and that there really wasn't much I could say to start it back up again. Sighing, I stood from the bench and left the room without saying a word.

***

"He's boxing?" Darian spat as we headed back to the apartment. "Why is he boxing?"

I kicked a pebble and sighed. "I didn't get to ask that. He was too busy getting mad at me."

My roommate gave me a stare that was a mixture of shock and surprise. "Why would he mad at you?"

"Well, he was mad I followed him, mad that I brought you, and mad or I don't even know what it was, when I brought up my sister saying I'd date Jude," I rambled.

"He needs to chill," Darian stated. "I mean, he's the one acting strangely yet we're the ones who end up in trouble. Tell me how that even makes sense."

I shrugged as we continued to walk towards the apartment, not really bothering to talk. I think both of us needed to process what had happened today.

What was Nathan's problem? He's just so weird. It felt like he was having one mood swing after another in the gym today. One minute he's calling me baby and then the next he's saying he doesn't care who I date.

Boys.

In my pocket, I felt my phone vibrate. Quickly, I pulled it out, slightly hoping it was Nathan. But it wasn't, it was Jude.

"Hello?" I said as I answered the phone.

Darian gave me a quizzical look and I brushed him off.

"Hey, beautiful," Jude said in greeting. "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date? There's a new movie playing at the theatre close to your apartment. I thought we could go on Thursday?"

I stopped in my tracks and looked over at Darian. He gave me a confused look and I mouthed the words, Jude asked me out.

My roommate clapped his hands and nodded his head vigorously. He mouthed back, say yes.

"Audrey?"

I wasn't sure what to say, to be honest. Jude was great but I didn't feel anything for him that resembled anything of a romance, he was my friend and nothing more. But Samara said that it could change if I decided to give him a chance. Jude was a nice guy and I knew the date would probably go decently well. Would it be so bad if I said yes? I let out an awkward cough and nodded my head like an idiot despite him not being able to see me. "Yeah, sure. That sounds great!"

I could hear Jude's smile in his voice as he said, "Great! Maybe we can stop by Aroma's beforehand and get a dessert or something?"

"That sounds lovely, pick me up at 8?" I asked and Darian damn near died as I said it as he quite literally dropped onto the sidewalk, feigning a heart attack.

"See you at 8!" Jude responded and then the line went dead.

My roommate picked himself back up beside me and let out a small scream. "Oh my God, Audrey Holland is back in the dating game!"

I gave my friend a small smile but I started to feel extremely nauseous. This was my first date before Kieran and before Kieran, there was no one. What if it went horrible and I made a complete fool out of myself? Something told me that this was going to go either extremely well or extremely awful.