Playing His Game

Chapter Twenty-Four | Moon Is Up

Twenty-Four:

"Carly, you know you're a genius, right?" I slung an arm around the brunette, laughing a little louder than what was probably necessary.

"True, but what made you finally notice?" She joked, turning away from Sean and focusing her attention back on me.

"This, of course!" I held my red solo cup out like an offering, showing her the dark liquid that sloshed within. "Genius! I mean, who would've thought to mix whiskey and Coke?"

Carly quickly glanced at my cup before her gaze returned to me. Her hazel eyes flitted over my face and she smirked. "A lot of people, actually."

I ignored her amused tone and took a large gulp of the mixed drink, reveling in the blissful feeling that came with being drunk. Surprisingly, I had stayed true to my word to Lauren and was currently working on my fourth drink. The volume of the music had been lowered to a more tolerable level and most of us were lounging on the various couches.

"Your hair is tickling my cheek," I said in a sing-song voice to Carly, touching the dark strands. She rolled her eyes and pulled away, sipping from her own drink as she turned back to her boyfriend.

I shrugged to myself, shifting so my body was facing the person on the other side of me: Jake. He sat straight up and quickly ran a hand through his blond hair when he noticed me, giving me a grin. "Having a good time, Audrey?" he asked, completely disregarding the girl he had been talking to moments before.

"Mhm," I nodded and took another drink, my mouth almost completely numb to the burning effect of the alcohol. "How are you doing, Jake? I haven't seen much of you since our oh-so-special moment in the hot tub." With a giggle, I thought back to when I was dared to kiss him.

My words, combined with the fact that I was definitely slurring half of them, were enough to make him choke on his drink. Hastily coughing and placing his cup down on the table in front of the couch, he laughed. "Actually, we talked about two hours ago. In the other room, when you were sober."

I frowned, racking my foggy brain to remember what he was talking about. I vaguely remembered talking with Grace on the couch, with Jake sitting across from us. "Oh, right! Duh! Anyway, have you seen Austin?" I looked around the dim, crowded room, scanning for a particular black-haired boy. Apparently, the alcohol was affecting my vision because I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me without it being blurry; that made it very difficult to distinguish one person from another.

"Last time I saw him was like an hour ago in the kitchen," Jake said with a shrug, bringing my attention back towards him.

"I'll check there, then, because I really need to talk to him," I announced, shoving my now empty cup at him and standing up.

My head spun as I attempted to stay balanced and make my way through the room. I thought about saying hi to Lauren as I passed by, but seeing her sitting in Tyler's lap and making out with him made me think better of it.

"Austin, there you are!" I called with an excited yell as I stumbled into the kitchen.

He glanced around me without meeting my eyes, as if he was considering running away. He sighed in defeat and gave me a nervous smile when I came closer. "Audrey, hey. What's up?"

"Apparently, you and Allison are what's up," I said with a pointed look, trying to look dignified as I shoved loose strands of hair from my face.

He squinted. "Are you drunk?"

I shook my head, using one hand to brace myself against the countertop while I swayed in place. "Only a tiny, tiny bit, and don't change the subject!"