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“What do you mean?”
“He hasn’t responded to any of my texts.”
“He’s just having a hard time.”
I put my hand on my hip. “So it’s okay to ignore somebody when you’re having a hard time?”
He raised his hands up in surrender. “Hey, don’t kill the messenger.”
I looked down at the light brown liquor in my glass. I raised it to my lips, tilting my head back to let the liquid burn its way down my throat.
Tanner elbowed Tina. “Watch her tonight.” He turned to walk out of the kitchen.
“I don’t need anybody to watch me!” I called after him.
He shot me a look before turning the corner.
“You fell for the wrong brother,” Tina murmured. “That boy is pure fire.”
“You know what happens when you play with fire.” I held up my empty shot glass. “Another.”
She smiled. “Atta girl!” She poured us another round, and we slammed them back.
I immediately felt better as the tingling sensation began to flow throughout my body. If Chase was going to ignore me, then there was nothing I could do – except drink until I forgot about him.
Tina tugged on my wrist, motioning to the dance floor back in the living room. I looked down at her colorful arm of tattoos as I followed her out of the kitchen. She had a tough looking exterior, and an even tougher interior. I often wondered how she was able to be so detached from everything. She wore a cropped top with low-sitting torn jeans, and combat boots. Her black bob atop her head now had a bright red color streaking through it.
“I love the red in your hair,” I yelled into her ear as we took our spots on the makeshift dancefloor. “It suits you.”
“Thanks. Let me know when you want to spice up your look.”
I laughed. It was a foreign, yet natural feeling all at the same time. The loud music helped drown out any thoughts that tried to threaten my good time. Tina and I danced until there was sweat glistening on our chests. Several partygoers tried dancing with us, but we danced away from them. I felt angry again when I saw Tanner watching us from the other side of the room, as if he perched himself there to keep lookout for Chase.
“I’ll be back,” I shouted to Tina. I stomped over to Tanner, who was now wearing an amused expression on his face. “Did they promote you to supervisor here, or are you just watching me so you can report back to your brother?”
He laughed once, ignoring my question. “So, I came by earlier to see if you wanted to come boxing with me.”
I scrunched my face up. “Boxing?”
“You’ve got fight inside of you. You just don’t know how to channel it yet. Come to the gym with me tomorrow. I’ll introduce you to my coach.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is this where you give me the I-used-to-be-you speech?”
He shrugged, unfazed by my attitude. “I don’t need to give you a speech. When you’re ready to see what I’m talking about, you can let me know.”
“I’m glad you like the gym membership I got you for Christmas, but I don’t really think boxing is for me.”
“Suit yourself. Just know that drunk isn’t really a good look for you.”
“I am not drunk.” I spun on my heels, and stomped away from him. I was going to return to dancing with Tina, but I decided to make a quick left into the kitchen. I poured myself another shot of tequila, and downed it quickly. When I arrived back on the dance floor, Shelly and Brody were dancing alongside Tina.
“Where were you?” Shelly asked.
“Talking to Tanner.”
“Has he heard from Chase?”
“Yup.”
