Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Oh. My. God." Hailey said slowly.

"Oh my God," I confirmed nodding my head.

Axel saw us staring across the bar then he smiled and raised his drink to us.

"Oh my God," I said under my breath as I looked down. "He saw us." I continued.

"No shit," Hailey said. "He's walking towards us." I can hear the panic in her voice. "Act normal."

I raised my head and swigged the Old Fashioned to the bottom. God, I'm nervous.

He's casually walking in all his glory, completely unaware of the effect he has on me, wearing a white button-down shirt with 2 to 3 buttons undone tucked under his perfectly tailored dress pants and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I want to pinch myself.

He's getting closer and I feel my heart pound uncontrollably. This isn't healthy.

I open my mouth to say something when he gets to us then he walks past us to go to the three girls sitting on the 4-seater table where I sat earlier.

I immediately closed my mouth as I felt my face heat up.

"Oh, God," I said as I touched my face feeling the heat. "I'm so embarrassed."

Hailey exhaled dramatically and drank down the Gin and Tonic. "Oh, that makes the two of us."

"Hey, Sam. 2 shots of tequila please," Hailey said calling Sam's attention to which he happily obliged.

I'm still shocked by what just happened. "I think I need a minute to process this."

"You think?" Hailey replied.

Sam chuckled disapprovingly. "Axel James?" he shook his head. "Pretty much a regular, different girls every time."

"Did you say girls? With an 's'? Plural?" I ask intrigued.

"Heard it right." He shrugged.

"Wow," Hailey said. "How come I've never seen him here before?"

"Eh, the guy goes here mostly on lean days. It's actually a bit surprising to see him here on a Friday." Sam replied.

"Axel, my man!" A guy shouted towards Axel. Axel stood, hugging him with a pat on his back.

I shake my head in disdain. "I can't believe I had a major crush on him back in High School."

"Oh, that's cute, hun. But I think everybody did when we were 16."

I pouted then drank the tequila waiting for me. I feel it burn down my throat. It feels better than my embarrassment. Thank God, I haven't said anything yet, that would definitely make it worse. Who would've thought I'll see him in real life 10 years later? My 16-year-old self would've lost her shit. Who am I kidding? I nearly lost my shit 3 minutes ago. I don't even know what got to my mind – expecting he'll notice me.

I glanced at their table. He's sitting between two girls, making out with the brunette while the blonde has her hands all over him. The third girl is now making out with the guy who greeted Axel earlier. The whole scene is disappointing. I didn't know Corrigan's became this kind of place. Axel opened his eyes then saw me looking at them. I immediately looked away.

"C'mon, Hailey. Let's get out of here." I tell Hailey.

"Yes, you're absolutely right. We need to forget about this and just party," she replied then gave his card to Sam to bill out. I gave Sam 10 bucks as his tip. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in as soon as I went out the door.

It was about a minute before Hailey joined me outside hugging the coat she has on.

"I don't know how you do it, Laure. No coats," she said and I just shrugged. She shook her head. "Come now," she linked her left arm with my right and we began to walk. "let's not ruin our night. Forget that we ever saw Axel being a man-whore. You can drink your heart out; I'll be the responsible one tonight." she promised but I saw instant regret in her eyes which made me laugh.

"You sure about that, party girl?" I say with my left brow raised at her.

"Don't make me change my mind!" she said aggravated. We laugh as we walk towards Crosshair which is about 5 blocks away.

* * *

There was a pounding in my head when I wake up. I winced and closed my eyes as I looked away from the light streaming in between the blinds. It took me a little while to realize that I'm at Hailey's and I slept on her couch. Fuck, what time is it?

Josh went to the kitchen and grabbed 2 glasses of water.

"Hey, Josh!" I said still feeling a little dizzy. He walked towards me, handing me a glass of water.

"You must be thirsty," he said.

"Parched," I replied then went on to drink the water.

"I'll just go give this to Hailey," he said referring to the water. I nodded.

Wait, Hailey? I thought she said she wasn't drinking. The last thing I remember was going to Crosshair and drinking and dancing. I tried recalling more of the events from last night but the pounding in my head gets worse so I just stopped altogether.

"How did we get here last night?" I asked Josh when he went back to the kitchen, grabbing some meds.

He opened his mouth but then stopped for a second before proceeding. "I was going to ask how you don't know but then I remember how drunk you both were last night."

As if on cue, Hailey went out of their bedroom looking like hell with her right hand on her head.

He softened at the sight of her. "Hey, baby," he said as he grabbed her by the waist then placed a kiss on her head.

"Here, drink this," he said giving her the Advil. He raised his head towards me, "You, too, Lauren. It'll help with your hangover."

I stand and regret came instantly. I squeezed my eyes shut as I hear my heart pounding in my ears. I try to take a couple deep breaths as I try to regain composure from temporary blindness.

As soon as my sight came back, I take small sure steps towards Hailey. "Fuck, I'm never drinking again," I said as I take the seat in front of her.

"I want to say the same thing but we both know that's not gonna happen." She replied.

"What exactly happened last night? I try to put the pieces together but it just makes my head hurt." I ask her.

Her left brow raised, "Wait, you don't remember?"

I shake my head, "No. And I thought you said you weren't going to drink."

She stared at me slack-jawed, "Lauren, you're the reason why I got drunk."

"What?" my voice sounds more accusing than I want it to.

"I know, believe me, it sounds impossible but it's true. You're the one to blame for last night." she nodded then sipped water from her glass. "God, I want this so badly to be coffee."

"So, how exactly did I get you drunk?" I ask, becoming more curious of the events of last night.

"You had a bet with Axel James -"

My eyes bulged, "- Axel James?!" I cut her off.

She sighed. "Do you want to know the whole story or not?"

"I do but how... Me having a bet with Axel James... I..." I stopped spiraling when I saw her face start to get irritated. "I mean, continue."

"As I was saying, you had a bet with Axel James."

Josh went to the table with about 10 layers of pancake on a plate on his right hand. "What did I miss?" he said as he placed the pancakes on the table. "Wait, don't say anything, I'm just going to get utensils."

After a few seconds, he came back with three plates, three forks, butter, and syrup, placed them on the table, and sat on the end so he's between Hailey and me.

Hailey began to get pancakes and realized that there were no knives so she got up and picked up three bread-knives for the butter.

"Sorry, baby. I forgot the knives." Josh said apologetically as Hailey placed a knife on his plate.

She smiled at him, "It's alright." then kissed him on the lips. I looked away.

When you are friends with Hailey and Josh, limit your third wheel instances because I guarantee you, it would make you feel very single and alone. You will want what they have – they just complement and balance each other well. They're really lucky to have found each other and I'm glad for the both of them. Honestly, I feel honored to have witnessed their love story grow.

Hailey giggled, "Alright, we're done, Laure."

I look back at the table, both of them smiling at me. I must look like a child who doesn't want to see her parents kiss. I shake my head at them with a smile, "I'm gonna say this in advance, thank you for waiting for me to leave before you transform into bunnies."

Josh blushed at my comment while he's getting pancakes on his plate.

"Okay, Lauren!" Hailey bulged her eyes at me. "Let's get back to the story."

"Okay," I said I as placed a pancake on my plate, spread some butter on top then finish it with syrup.

I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to eat now that Hailey dropped the Axel bomb. How did he even end up at Crosshair? It isn't a club for A-Listers and he has two girls on his lap last night as far as I can remember. But then again, I can't exactly remember everything.

"You and Axel had a bet. I don't know how exactly because I went to the bathroom for a while and when I got back, Axel was next to you."

I almost choked on the pancake. "Hey, you okay?" Josh said.

"Yup," I replied then drink some water. "Please continue," I say to Hailey.

"Yes, so both of you were completely wasted by then and the bet concerns more booze."

"What was the bet, Hailey?"

She exhaled nervously. "The bet was..." she stopped then put her fork down. "If he and his friend win at beer pong, you'll go home with him. Axel." she clarifies.

My mouth opened involuntarily in shock. "And me being the sober one, knows how ridiculous it is but you were insistent on fighting him so you went with the game." she continued.

"I..." I began but no words came out.

"I don't know what's in it for you though, I just know that I'd be a bad best friend if I let you go home with him so I called Josh to pick us up because I'll be drinking because of the bet. We won obviously but it was down to one drink each. We're lucky your aim was good at the last one."

As she was telling the story, I get flashes of last night little by little. Axel was really there and there definitely was beer pong and there were people gathered around rooting for him.

"Oh my God, the people," I whispered to myself. "I remember some of it," I say to them. "People were around. What if they took pictures?" I panic.

Josh and Hailey looked at each other in silence. They haven't thought of that. Josh stood to get his phone and began scrolling. He stopped then closed his eyes with a small wince.

I held my breath as he showed us the pictures.