Page 74 of After Hours Lectures

Once she had her drink, we moved toward the living room, where all the furniture had been pushed aside to create a makeshift dance floor. A couple of minutes later, I spotted Emily grinding against Wilson.

“Looks like she found someone.” I pointed to her friend.

Lia rolled her eyes. “That didn’t take long.”

I scanned the room for Ford to see if he was aware of what was going on. Not that I cared if he was bothered by Emily dancing with someone else, but I didn’t want things to pop off between him and Wilson. Although, based on him having begged me to give us another chance, I doubted he would be concerned about someone he had briefly hooked up with.

I finally spotted Ford waiting for his turn at beer pong. Either he hadn’t seen Emily, or, as I suspected, he didn’t give a shit about whatever she was doing.

Lia and I continued chatting for a bit before I finished the last of my beer and asked her if she wanted another.

She nodded, and we walked back to the kitchen. “Actually, that beer is pretty nasty.”

She wasn’t wrong. We usually bought cheap crap for our parties.

“It’s not the best,” I agreed.

“How about we do shots instead?” she suggested.

I shrugged. “Sure. What do you want? Tequila? Vodka?”

She pointed to a bottle filled with green liquid on the counter. “Let’s drink that.”

I checked the label and figured anything apple-flavored couldn’t be that bad. I poured us each a shot, which we immediately threw back. My mouth puckered at the sourness I hadn’t been expecting.

“You don’t like it?” she asked.

“It’s not the worst I’ve ever had.”

“Good. Let’s do another.”

Eventually, Emily joined us, looking dejected, and told Lia she was ready to go home. Lia swayed and grabbed hold of her friend.

“Are you going to be able to get her home okay?” I asked Emily. I’d lost count of how many shots we had taken and how much time had passed, but I was feeling the effects of the alcohol flowing through my system, so I could only imagine Lia was worse off since she was tiny compared to me.

“Yeah, I drove, and I haven’t been drinking.”

I did my best to help Emily get Lia into her car, which was parked a few houses away. After they drove off, I went back inside. The party was a bit more subdued as people were passed out drunk or busy hooking up. Deciding I was done for the night, I headed to my room.

As I reached the second floor, Ford appeared out of nowhere. “Are you going to bed already?”

My head began to spin, so I braced myself against the wall. “Yeah.”

“Oh.” He looked down at his feet. “I was hoping we might hang out for a bit.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

Was he kidding me? “You know why.”

“I didn’t realize you couldn’t hang out with your friends just because you’re seeing someone.”

“I’m not doing this with you right now,” I stated as I brushed past him.

“Tyler, wait.” He grabbed my arm, and before I could react, he pulled me to him and crashed his lips against mine.

The second his actions registered in my brain, I pushed him away. “What the hell are you doing?”