Witness

47| Aftermath

Blake's friends were nice, if not a little over the top for our current situation.

Aaron got an ice pack for me, and he let me borrow one of his sweatshirts since I had to leave my jacket behind in the lecture hall earlier.

"Drink, Skyler," Sam said as he held up a 4 card.

"What?" I blinked, I wasn't paying attention to the game because I had been too busy watching Jaxon's throat bobbing as he took a drink of his soda. Jaxon was always attractive- but something about him today was extra appealing. Maybe it had a little something to do with him saving me, but I was struggling to tear my eyes away from him to return my attention to the game. "Why me?"

"Because 4 is whore- and you're the only whore here," he explained. "Wait... I didn't mean it like that... I mean, when a 4 is drawn, girls drink. You're not a whore..." he rambled. His normally pale face flushed red, and he ran a hand through his shoulder length blonde hair in a nervous gesture.

"Dude, she gets it," John cut him off, crossing a muscled arm over his broad chest. John was actually really intimidating; less than Jax had been when I first met him, but still definitely someone you wouldn't want to mess with.

I chuckled, taking a sip of my beer. I was still shaken up, especially since the lockdown still hadn't been lifted, but I felt relatively safe in this house—especially with Jax glued to my side. Besides, this was my third beer, and I was starting to feel the effects.

It was my turn to draw the next card. "8..." I read, "I forgot what this card means."

"That's the 'mate' card. So pick someone to be your mate," Nick explained, "it just means that every time you need to drink, they do too."

I looked around the room. I didn't really know any of these guys that well; well, aside from Jax, who wasn't playing the game for obvious reasons. So, I zeroed my gaze in on Aaron, shooting him a smile. "Aaron, will you be my mate?"

He flashed me a dimpled grin. Aaron wasn't the most attractive of his teammates, but his reddish hair and freckles made him handsome in a boyish way. "Of course, Sky," he said, shooting me a wink.

I giggled as we cheers our glasses together before taking a drink.

"Why him?" John teased, "You have a thing for gingers?"

I shrugged, "I just know him the best."

Following this conversation, I felt Jax shifting beside me. He moved closer, settling his muscular arm across the back of the couch, his long fingers lightly grazing my shoulder. Was he being possessive? Or was I reading into it? Either way, I couldn't hide my shiver; I enjoyed the close proximity, and how I could now feel the heat from his skin against my body.

The game went on for a while, and I did actually find myself relaxing more and more as we chowed down on frozen pizzas and played various drinking games. Eventually, when it seemed everyone was fed up with the games, the guys started into another basketball game. I tried my best to remain present, but the longer the game went on, the harder it was to stay awake.

When I glanced at the clock, it read 11:30 PM, and I was freaking exhausted. It was taking everything in me to even keep my eyes open as I leaned heavily into Jaxon's warm body on the sofa.

"Well," Aaron said, as their game was rapping up, "Mason and Skyler, I know you guys wanted to get back to the dorms, but we're still on lockdown and it's getting really late. You're more than welcome to stay here overnight if you want. Our roommate, Seth, is gone, so his room is open if you want to share it. He has the master, so he's got his own bathroom up there. Feel free to use the shower or whatever else you need."