Chapter 20: Heart & Milk shakes

Laura's POV:

I’m the first one to admit that, sometimes, you push things to the back of your head to protect yourself from heartbreak. Like the memory of some drunk teenager assaulting you in a dark hall or one of you being drunk and in the arms of a complete stranger rocking you on.

The stranger staring at me right now.

I shot an eyebrow at him. Didn't Jaxon say he nearly raped me last night?

It seemed the hotter men were, the more dangerous they were.

Gwen looked between us, confused. She looked at me, then back at him.

“I'm sorry…” He paused searching for the right word. His Adam's apple bubbling in his throat as he swallowed a spittle.

In some sense it wasn't entirely his fault. I was drunk and untamed and I knew too.

I shouldn't make it hard for him.

I squeezed a polite smile. “It's alright, Williams.”

From the corner of my eyes, Gwen's mouth fell open, and her bright blue eyes shot at me. comprehension etched into them.

Ofcourse I told her about everything.

Williams looked at Gwen curiously as he dropped the milk shake in the garbage.

I tooked the initiative, reaching for her hands. “This is my best friend, Gwen.”

She flashed him a friendly smile.

“And Gwen, meet Williams.”

“You mean the guy from last night? The one you went clubbing with?” Her eyes widened, almost budging out.

I nodded, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Hi, Gwen.” He extended a hand.

“Hi. So you took my best girl clubbing?” She asked curiously taking his hands.

He smiled gently. He wore a black muscle shirt that showed all of the dark, intricate tats and there was a lot of them. A lot!

He turned the smile on me. “Can I have your house address, so I can have someone send your car over and your jacket and beanie as well.”

“Ugh..” That came unexpected. I had totally forgotten about those. “I could you just drop my number with you. You can ring me up then.”

“That's fine with me.” He took out his phone, and handed it over.

“Alright.”

I grabbed it and casually typed my contact information and handed it back to him.

“Thank you.” I tugged at Gwen, who had been staring at me with a bemusing smile all along. “Thank you last night. I had fun.”

The last line made me blush deeply.

It felt unnatural.

“Sure.” He flashed his cute-boy smile again. We walked past him into the yoga studio.

“Shit. Laur.” Gwen began once we were out of earshot. “You've got yourself a hot-ass man. You're really lucky huh.”

I laughed at her. “Memo for you, girl. I ain't got no time for men and you sure as hell know that.”

She snorted “And why were you blushing all over, huh?”

I glared at her. “That was because of what happened last night.”

She coughed loudly to mask her laughter. “Talking about last night, didn't you go clubbing with him?”

“That was because I was sober!” I retorted.

I knew where this was heading and I didn't like it. Not at all.

“You call clubbing with a total stranger something that happened because you were sober?” She turned on me.

My face flushed red.

“Are you trying to sell me off?” I snapped back.

“You kissed him. Didn't you?”She continued croaking a finger in my face, if my cheek had been any redder you could literally squeeze out my blood.

She laughed. “There you go. You enjoyed it didn't you?”

“I was drunk!” I defended, pulling her hand and dragging her inside the building.

Why did we have to run into that Williams?

Gwen had always tried to make me see reasons in romance and all those lovey-dovey stuff. But the only image I had off that was ruthless.

Men were ruthless and wild. Dangerous animals lurking in corridors to tear at unsuspecting minds.

I was not going to have any man!

And whatever happened last night, was because I was drunk and too eager to let out some steam.

As we stepped into the yoga class, the heat felt like a slap in the face. The hot air encased every part of my body like a body suit.

We were about ten minutes into the class when I threw a glance at Gwen. She looked green. Uh-oh.

“Gwen.” I hissed. “Are you okay?”

We weren't allowed to talk, but she looked ready to pass out anytime soon.

She shook her head, whimpering. “I'm a bit uncomfortable, can we leave?”

We weren't allowed to leave either. I peered at her.

I told her not to drink that milkshake.

And the instructor wanted us to lie down and get our breath back if we felt dizzy. Well, screw it.

“Let's go!”

Sympathetic eyes darted our way as I helped her up. The instructor scurried over to check on us. Gwen said she was fine.

In the hallway, the rush of air-conditioning greeted us like a taste of ambrosia.

“Fuck,yes!” Gwen said breathlessly, disentangling herself from my arms.

Pictures of Buddha and Asian gardens hung on the orange walls. Three bathroom stalls were installed on the right half of the room and the lockers on the left.

“I told you not to drink that milk shake.”

She groaned and went straight into a bathroom stall. “Why do I have to be lactose intolerant? Why? Why?” She lamented slamming the door behind her.

I knew her pain too. The pain of dying to have something good and never getting it. And if you're lucky to get it, you can never really enjoy it.

A pain familiar like my life.

I sighed.

A minute later her voice boomed from inside the closed bathroom. “Why the fuck don't people flush the toilet? Do they think I enjoy looking at their crap? Enjoy smelling it? Fucking flush the the toilet already!” She growled.

A gurgling sound, followed by water splashing announced she had finally flushed the toilet for her predecessor.

She made me want to laugh.

It reminded me of what I told Jaxon just this morning. 'cleaning up other people's mess.’

We all find ourself doing it one way or the other, because I society had alot of irresponsible beings parading about polluting the lives of others in the name of living.

There existence alone is dangerous and toxic.

Minutes later she scrambled out of the rest room.

“Good thing, you're done now.” I said, about to leave.

“Laura.” She called softly, her blue eyes seeking for mine. I halted.

“What is it?”

“Lately, you've been looking pale too often and unhappy. You're so sad that it bothers me.”

I breathed slowly. That was right!

“I was glad you went out last night and had fun. Even moreso when we ran into Williams this morning.”

I stiffened, eyeing closely trying to determine what she was driving at.

“You need to settle down with a man.”

“What?” I choked out. “Did I say it was a man bothering me?” I asked my eyes widening.

“Oh, yes. You don't need to say it, but I can see it.” She continued.

“That's a lie.” I defended. It was.

I didn't need any man. None!

She folded her arms, staring intently at me. “That Fallon boy. I see how uncomfortable you've been since he started showing up.”

I looked away.