Crush (18+)

Chapter 34

It was Friday night and Tina and I were sitting on the old plastic chairs in my backyard. The long and dry grass desperately needed to be mowed, but that didn't stop us from having a much needed girls night accompanied by red wine and salt and vinegar chips.

I was feeling alone like most nights and I was so grateful when Tina told me she would ditch the bonfire she was originally invited to and come over to my place instead.

The night had been relaxing so far, but I knew I needed to tell Tina about my new job tonight. I wasn't sure how she was going to take it but I did know that I couldn't keep any more secrets from her. I was honestly dreaded to tell her and that's why I kept procrastinating it.

Tina had never been one to judge though so I knew she wouldn't stop being my friend. It's no secret that I didn't have lots of friends and after losing Mia, I couldn't bear losing another one.

"So I need to tell you something," I smiled nervously just as Tina was about to take a sip from her red wine. She stole a bottle from her father's wine collection since we were both not old enough to buy it ourselves. Tina frowned and sat back in her chair, waiting for me to continue.

I nervously played with my fingers and looked anywhere but at Tina. I loved Tina so much, but sometimes that intense look in her eyes scared the crap out of me.

"I've got a new job. I.. I kind of work for Noah Adams now." There, I said it. It didn't come out as smoothly as I wanted it to, but I said it. There was no turning back now, but based on the mortified look on Tina's face, I wish there was.

"What the hell, Val? I though you ignored the man and deleted all of his emails!" Tina exclaimed and I immediately gave her a look that told her to keep it down. We weren't home alone and even though my mom and brother already knew about Noah and me, I wasn't exactly keen on them finding out I work for him now.

"Sorry," Tina whispered and she looked around to make sure no one was listening. "I just don't get it. I thought you hated that man! You do hate him, right?"

I finally found the courage to look at my best friend and I nodded. "Of course I do, but this job pays so well and I just felt like I didn't really have a choice, you know? We both know that all I want is to make enough money to get the hell out of this place."

It was quiet for a moment and I saw the expression on Tina's face change from confusion to sadness. "You always have a choice."

I knew she was right. I knew there were other ways to make money, but of course I chose for the easiest way. I wish I was more like Tina and actually have the patience to make enough money to leave Los Angeles. I wouldn't have had to disappoint my previous boss at the flower shop with the news I was leaving. I wouldn't have to be reunited with Noah Adams in order to make enough money the fastest. But I did because it was easy. I'm not a fighter, I'm a failure.

Our conversation ended quickly after that when Rafael and Alex joined us with some cheap beers. I knew this conversation was far from over though, that's one thing that's for sure. Tina wasn't happy with what I just told her and even though she only wanted what's best for me, I wasn't in the mood to be lectured about all that's negative about me working for Noah. So I was kind of relieved that Rafael and Alex had invited themselves to our girls night.

And so the night continued with us having drinks and getting more and more drunk. We were now rearranging our chairs though, since Tina came up with the amazing idea of playing a game. Rafael decided we should play truth or dare. Personally, I hated games like these and I hated telling shit about myself so this game wasn't exactly made for me. But I wanted this to be a fun night so I decided to play along.

Since Tina was the one who came up with the idea of playing a game, she was the one who'd start. That was her logic at least. With a small grin on her face, she turned to Alex. "Truth or dare, Alex?"

I'd expected she would choose him first. Tina had always been the curious type and I could tell that ever since Alex walked into our backyard, she was intrigued. Obviously Tina had a boyfriend and she would never try anything with another guy, although that wouldn't stop her from trying to get to know every single detail about the poor boy.

"Dare," Alex confidently said. We were all looking at Tina to see what kind of dare she would come up with. Tina looked amused as she innocently batted her lashes. "I dare you to take off your shirt for the rest of the game."

I rolled my eyes and looked at Tina with a sheepish look on my face. What were we, twelve? Tina seemed content with her choice though so instead I looked at Alex and watched him take off his shirt.

"That'll do," Tina grinned and I just shook my head, feeling bad for Alex. This was what? His second time at our place? And he already had to spend the night without a shirt. He didn't seem that bothered though since he was laughing, causing his dark curled to bounce up and down.

"Your turn Alex. And make it spicy," Rafael winked.

Without even thinking, Alex turned to me and said the following infamous words. "Truth or dare to you, Valeria."

"Dare," I said. Like I had mentioned before, I hated telling shit about myself to anyone. I just really hoped Alex wouldn't dare me to do some crazy shit like giving someone a lap dance or take off my clothes. Why did I agree on playing this game again?

Alex had to think about it for a second, even though Rafael kept telling him stuff to dare me. Luckily for me, he ignored Rafael's bullshit talk and came up with his own dare. I just hoped his own dare wouldn't be as bad as Rafael's ones.

"I dare you to go on a date with me."

After those words let his mouth, images of Noah flashed before my eyes. I heard Tina gasp beside me and Rafael was mumbling a confused 'what the fuck?' but it was all so far away. Why was I even thinking about Noah right now? He couldn't possibly keep me from going on dates with other guys. Just because he wanted me back didn't mean I was going to just let him.

I didn't even know Alex that well but he was cute and actually nice for a change. He was normal and normal was just what I needed. He had really nice abs as well, which was a total bonus. Even though I had told myself to stay away from boys for a while, I couldn't possibly tell Alex no. Well, of course I could but I didn't want to. 

Before answering, I looked at Tina who just seemed really excited which meant she was a fan of Alex and Rafael just seemed annoyed. I wasn't going to let my brother influence my decision though, since his choice of girls was questionable enough. Like dating my former best friend. If he could date Mia, I could definitely go on an innocent date with Alex.

"I can't wait," I grinned.

Alex didn't say anything else but for the rest of the night he kept smiling at me as if he just won the lottery. Of course I knew better than to fall for the first nice guy I'd meet and that's not at all what was going to happen. Especially since I knew exactly nothing about Alex and the fact that he's friends with my brother worries me enough to even consider dating him.

But what was an innocent date going to do?

It was starting to get dark now but we were all having way too much fun to call it a night already. I was drunk and for the first time in a while, I was actually having fun. So you could say I was totally in when Tina asked us if we wanted to go the bonfire she was  originally invited to. I usually didn't like bonfires and running into people I usually wanted to avoid, but tonight I was way too drunk to care. 

So here I was, in the taxi with my head sticking out of the window, actually enjoying life for a change. Oh, how wonderful would it be to always be this happy?