Author's note: This story was written for 'Brent'. May it always be Springtime.
*****
I'd told myself not to get too worked up about the party. It was supposed to be a normal evening of having fun with my mates, cracking jokes and acting silly together. But because of my own fault my expectations had become much higher and now my hopes on an intimate encounter with Brent were crashed. Tina was his date for the party and that made my stomach turn as if the excited butterflies had been shot down the moment they walked into the room together.
When the pair joined our group I noticed some of the guy's attitudes changing from fun and flirty to their typical competitive cockiness. Not wanting to act childish I smiled at Tina and complimented her on her cute dress. Brent in my opinion had to be more than grateful for the short nod I gave him. He raised a suspicious eyebrow but didn't say anything about my cold shoulder treatment. Instead he asked if anybody wanted a drink. Most guys raised their beers indicating they had enough for the time being. When he looked at me with an inquiring look in his eyes I shook my head, "I can get my own drink."
I quickly turned away and walked over to the drinks area. As I pretended to think of what to get I glanced back at the group to see Brent leaning over and whispering into Tina's ear. Like seeing them together wasn't painful enough they were now openly flirting too? Brent obviously had already forgotten our little bet from the volleyball game. Perhaps coming to the party was a bad idea and going home with a sloppy excuse would be the best solution.
"Such a pensive look doesn't suit a pretty girl like you very well."
A dark voice interrupted my train of thoughts. I turned around to see a tall, blonde guy staring at me with a cheesy grin on his face. Even though I'd never seen him before all it took me was one glance to be able to tell he was far from sober. I smiled a polite smile to the stranger and turned away from him, hoping he would take the hint. As I ordered my drink I felt a warm sweaty arm snake around my waist.
"Why don't you take something stronger than that?" the same slurry voice was now much louder as the guy pushed himself up to me. As if the unwanted arm around me wasn't bad enough he leaned in even closer and whispered next to my ear, "You need to live a little, sweet cheeks."
Trying to be nice and not make a scene, I gently pushed the guy away to create some distance between us.
"Please stop touching me, I'm not interested."
"Oh believe me, babe," he continued while pointing at his crotch. "Every chick wants a piece of the Matt man!"
I let out a sound of disgust and turned my back towards the drunken lout. Seeing Brent and Tina together had really ruined my mood. I felt even worse about the fact that it affected me so much. All I wanted to do was hang around for a bit and fake a headache so I could go home early and forget about it all.
The bar area was crowded and I had to wait a little bit before the bartender gave me my drink. As I turned around, glass in hand, I suddenly felt a hand on my behind. I gasped in shock at the unwanted grope. The glass slipped from my grip, shattering on the floor and I felt liquid and glass splinters hitting my bare ankles. I turned around in anger and braced myself to punch whoever felt the need to rudely feel me up.
"What the f-" I exclaimed, but my words were cut short as my foot slipped on the wet floor. In an attempt to steady myself my arms searched for any sort of support but failed miserably. I staggered on my feet and felt my foot tilt sideways as the heel on my shoe snapped off. Before I realised what was happening I landed on the floor with a hard thump.
It took me a moment to gather my thoughts as I looked up to see the same seedy intoxicated guy. Some minutes ago I thought my night couldn't have gotten any worse, but now I was sitting on the sticky floor with a broken heel and a sore ankle. All I wanted to do was cry and scream at the harasser.
Even though there was a lot of noise around another voice joining in sounded loud and clear.
"Hey idiot, apologise to the lady!"
"Why would I?! She certainly doesn't dress like a lady!"
Before the bully could even think about insulting me further, he gasped as a strong hand roughly grabbed the front of his shirt.
"Brent!" I cried out, surprised to see him standing next to me, "Please don't...He's just a drunk asshole."
To my relief my shriek was heard over the loud music and Brent released his grip, drawing his arm back slowly. The drunk guy gave me one last dirty look, shrugged his shoulders and walked away on his wobbly legs. For a moment I thought Brent was going to run after him but after a short pause he turned around and crouched down beside me.
"Are you okay?" Brent's voice sounded more concerned than I expected and I felt my cheeks blushing.
"I'm fine..." I replied, looking down at my broken shoe and the swelling on my ankle. Realising my answer sounded quite harsh, I looked back up at Brent and smiled a shy smile.
"I mean...I just really want to go home."
"That I can understand," Brent replied in a friendly voice, "I'll get you out of here, Lori."
His words sounded determined as if he had been planning the escape. Perhaps he was just relieved to see my swollen ankle. It meant that he was getting out of the awkward dance deal we had. He surely would drop me of at home and rush back to his date. I'd be out of the way so he could make a real move on Tina. A soft gasp escaped my lips as two strong arms lifted me off the floor and pulled me out of my train of thoughts. Brent smiled down at me and gently placed me on a nearby barstool.
"Just wait here for one moment. I'll be right back!" he said before I watched him return to Tina in a hurry. The two exchanged looks, whispered back and forth and to make me feel even more embarrassed Brent even pointed over to where I was sitting. The look that crossed Tina's face seemed sympathetic, but that was easy now she realised I was leaving soon. After a few more words between her and Brent, Tina threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. The smile on her face made my stomach turn and I could only guess what sort of images were running through her mind.
I quickly looked away as Brent paced over towards me again. There was no need for him to know how I really felt about his date with Tina and a cold shoulder or straight face seemed like the best options for now. An hour from now I'd be in my bed, hopefully asleep or at least trying hard to forget about this disaster.
"Ready to leave?" Brent asked while gently placing his hand on my shoulder. There was a strange sort of caution in his touch, almost like he was afraid of hurting me. Perhaps it was him not wanting to cross a line and upset his date.
I nodded my head at his question, but suddenly felt a twang of guilt for possibly ruining Brent's evening. The fact I was hoping the earth would open up beneath me to swallow me whole didn't mean that he shouldn't have an enjoyable evening.
I took a deep breath and looked up at him, "Brent, you don't need to do this..." I swallowed hard, realising I was ruining my own chances on a somewhat interesting end of the evening, "I...I can ask one of the other guys to take me home."
