Head in the clouds

Nineteen- Morgan

Jordan slipped another drink in front of me and with all the boys watching me, I helped my eye contact. I wasn't about to back down to a challenge. Not tonight anyway. I'd been working all month on starting this album and tomorrow morning not only was I off to London again for the next month and leaving everyone behind, again, Theo was leaving for tour so I wouldn't even have him around. I'd been working from home which I kind of preferred? I had full artistic freedom and I could really set the mood for the album then which was perfect. But the downside to that was I was starting to feel a little lonely.

Leaving Ava and Noah here sucked balls. But I'd see them when they came up when they could. Ava had some shoots up here in the middle of the month and I know Noah had an away game coming up too so he'd be crashing at my London place whilst he was there. It was only a 2 bedroom apartment but we'd make it work. It's fine.

"Come on then Branners. Show me what that mouth does." I smirked.

"You'd love to know wouldn't you Jay?" His eyes ran down me for the millionth time. This flirty game of ours never led anywhere, it was more entertainment than anything. Egging each other on since we were both so competitive. "Maybe I'll show you." His eyes widened. "Danny?"

"You wouldn't dare." I chuckled, grabbing the bottle and downing it. The group cheered me on, chanting as I emptied it, slamming the 4th bottle down on the side. "I will not be beat Morgan."

"And I don't lose Walker."

"Okay, break it up you two. We both know Branners will win. Again. And I'd love to make it to the club tonight." Noah shook his head at me. "You're trouble."

"The best kind of trouble though Tate." Being out with Noah and his football friends was always fun. We've been friends with some of these guys as long as we have with Noah so I guess we were all one giant friendship group where me and Ava were the only two girls. The guys' girlfriends sometimes came along to check us out, our names getting dropped into conversations and seeing us around the club, training sessions and whatever. I got it. If 2 girls were hanging around a huge group of guys and one of those was my boyfriend, I too would be concerned about what went on there. The boys liked to say we had a curse on them all because as soon as the girlfriends met us, they tended to end the relationships. The guys who did bring their girls out, aren't ones me and Ava particularly talked with either. It was normally Noah, Jordan, Danny, Freddie, sometimes Stephen too but not that often. The other guys tended to keep to themselves most of the time. Or in their own little cliches.

"I don't mind a little trouble Branners." Jordan smirked again.

"Hands off her Walker." Noah rolled his eyes. "Let's go, Ava's already well on her way to drunk town."

"Have you swapped her to just coke? You know she can't tell the difference when she's being a light weight."

"Do you want to be the one being caught skimping her out?"

"Look, if you guys are too weak to handle drunk Ava, I have no problem doing it but I need to be sober."

"Nope." Noah shook his head. "Come on, it's fine. I can sort her."

"Are you sure Tate?"

"Yes. You're not getting out of celebrating your birthday Branners. Jordan, get her outside I'll grab everyone else."

"Aye aye captain." Jordan saluted Noah who rolled his eyes and turned around. "Think you can handle the skipper instead of Captain for the night madam?" He held out his arm and I took it with a light laugh, walking out of the packed pub with him.

"I don't think I have a choice. If I don't I think I'll be sat at the bar with shots lining up until I'm throwing up."

"Yeah. That's something Noah would do to make sure you're enjoying yourself."

"I don't need to be wasted to enjoy myself Jay. Ava's a handful-"

"Yeah, and there's about a million of us here to keep an eye on her. It's fine. It's your birthday Morgan. Relax. Stop worrying about Ava or Noah for once in your life. There will be other nights out for you to stress about them." I huffed, making him chuckle. "How's the new album coming anyway miss superstar?"

"Terribly. I'm going to quit and make you marry me so I can be a stay at home wife, spending all your money."

"Fine by me. I think there's one of those sweet machines around here we can get you a ring from."

"Perfect. Shame we're not in LA, could've gotten Elvis to marry us. Did you know I have more Grammy's than him?"

"Than an Elvis impersonator? I'd hope so." Jordan chuckled, moving us away from the door as the team started to filter out.

"No, dipshit," I thwacked my hand across his arm. "Elvis Presley. The King."

"You do not have more Grammys than Elvis Morgan."

"I so fucking do. Google it. He won 3. I have 4 already. I am officially greater than Elvis. Where's my crown?" I turned my head as he got his phone out, fact checking me like some fake news website. I wasn't wrong. Ava giggled under Noah's arm, not wasted but just past tipsy and the rest of the team was currently getting their instructions to keep an eye on her. Like Noah hadn't told them 50 times already.

Looking around the group, we looked like a mob. Like the guys were Secret Service Agents and me and Ava were princesses that needed the over top protection. It was straight up hilarious.

"JASPER." I laughed at Ava as she fought against Noah. "MORGAN IT'S JAS. NOAH LET ME GO." I looked down the way she was staring, really fighting against Noah who was stopping her from running to some random guy. He signed up to this, had his chance for me to be holding her back. He said no, not me. The guy down the road seemed to stop walking, knocking his slightly taller friend at the psycho fighting her way through a dozen footballers. My heart stopped as his friend lifted his head out of his phone. Dark blue shirt, only slightly visible under the street light turning him an off shade of orange. Theo fucking Wright.